Alfalfa

[SWEDE]

Any tips on this for plots. Can it be broadcast. Is there a readily avalable seed for it

[stubborn1VT]

It can't be broadcast IMO.  It's too expensive.  You can buy seed at co-op, online, from WI etc.  It requires better soil conditions than most things you could plant.  It is great feed for cows and deer, but not worth the extra cost and effort to me.  I know deer like it, but I would choose clover over alfalfa 95% of the time.  If you were plowing/tilling up existing farmland, then it might work fine.  I'm not saying you shouldn't try it, but I wouldn't put all my eggs in that basket.  

[SWEDE]

Ok yea not an option. Just pull behind tiller. I have small clover plots now and bigger turnip radish plots. They just ate tops of both again this year. Probably digging roots now.thought theyd dig the diakon earlier. Geez they stick out of ground 4 inches. Just a nibble on a few

[grampy]

42 minutes ago, SWEDE said:

Ok yea not an option. Just pull behind tiller. I have small clover plots now and bigger turnip radish plots. They just ate tops of both again this year. Probably digging roots now.thought theyd dig the diakon earlier. Geez they stick out of ground 4 inches. Just a nibble on a few

For late season, try some oats and winter wheat. 

[phade]

Alfalfa is a popular plotting option but for me personally, I can't justify the time cost and effort for it. I've seen deer react very positively to it from a draw POV but also see it where it is less preferred at times too. Kind of a toss up.

If you want to blend, and people debate the merits, I'd do a mix of clovers, oats, wheat and then brassicas with radish and turnips. It allows you to have a few options with the clover established the following year too.

We finally had a good stand of oats this year but were planted early with our brassicas. The oats lost palatability after a few weeks into the season because they grew too much. But wow what a draw on them. 

[LET EM GROW]

Alfalfa is great, and right up there with nutrient quality and preferred-ness as soybeans. The best 2 crops to plant for whitetail IMHO. It can be broadcasted with no problem. I highly recommend you use it in a seed blend with other perennials like a few white clovers and a chicory all together. They all serve their purpose in the yearly cycle. They also provide a layer system having foods at different heights and preferred foods at all times of the year. 

I broadcast a like blend this spring along with my soybeans while doing no till plantings and had zero issues, You just need to pack them in with a roller and have a rain following your planting, as well as rid weed and grass competition. 

Alfalfa does have autotoxicity so you can not re seed new alfalfa seeds into a standing alfalfa stand.. just FYI 

[SWEDE]

All good stuff. I'll try the oats winter wheat in New clover plot and the alfalfa clover mix in another. Thatll give me huge diversity with what I do now.