Page 22—Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 1, 1997
David E. Hurst,
Research Agronomist,
W-L Research, Inc.
Q: There has been some discussion
recently that alfalfa seeding rate
recommendations (12-18 Ibs/acre)
have been too high. Several public and
private alfalfa agronomists have sug
gested that seeding rates above 15 lbs/
acre rarely produce thicker stands, and
that seeding rates of 10-12 Ibs/acre
usually produce adequate stands. Will
these lower seeding rate recommenda
tions (10-12 Ibs/acre) produce adequ
ate stands?
Time to Rotate Out Of Alfalfa? Count The Stems
Dr. Marvin H. Hall
Penn State
Extension Forage Specialist
If you are starting to make plans for
next year’s crop rotation, then the
decision to keep or plow up an alfalfa
field because it has a thin stand is
extremely important.
The estimated cost of seeding an
alfalfa field is more than $2OO per
acre. This expense, combined with
relatively low production during the
seeding year, means that the decision
to take an alfalfa field out of produc
tion can be unnecessarily costly if the
field could have maintained produc-
Want To Serve On PFGC?
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.)
Do you have an interest in helping
develop some of the activities of
PFGC? Do you have some good ideas
you’d like to share with others about
the future direction of PFGC? Would
you like to assist in evaluating farms
for selection of the Outstanding Pas
ture Producer Award? If you answered
yes to any of the above qustions, do
we have a deal for you.
The standing committees of the
PFGC (Awards, Publications, Picnic,
Finance and Budget, Research and
HYTEST
EACHLEYHARD' SEEDCOMPA
ALFALFAS:
v Splendoor &
> Prism 11, A8T205,
> ABT 405,
x MAX 329,
Super Cuts
BEACHLEY-HARDY SEED COMPANY
454 RAILROAD AVE., SHIREMANSTOWN, PA 17011
1-800-442-7391 717-737-4529 FAX 717-737-7168
Here Are Some Questions, Answers About Alfalfa Seeding Rates
Complete Line of Forage Seed.
Buy 10 Bags of Com - Get 1 Bag Eree
See your Dealer for Details.
A: For some growers, 12 pounds/
acre is adequate, but for most seeding
situations a 15-18 pound rate is still a
good recommendation. It is true that
under ideal conditions 12 pounds per
acre would be adequate. In a perfect
world the soil moisture would be
adequate, the seedbed would be ideal,
good seeding equipment would be
used and the weather conditions after
seeding would be ideal. Unfortunate
ly, one or more of these things usually
isn’t perfect, and it is wise to seed at a
little higher rate to insure good stand
establishment.
Q: How much of an effect does the
tion for another year.
Typically the magic number of
plants that indicated that it was time to
rotate out of alfalfa has been 4-5
plants per square foot. However,
depending on fertility and weed inva
sion, alfalfa stands with five plants per
square foot can yield as much as a
stand with 10 or 15 plants per square
foot.
The correlation between plants per
square foot and yield is very low since
individual alfalfa plants respond to
decreasing stand density by producing
more stems. Increased stems per plant
compensates for fewer plants and
Education, Membership, Fall Confer
ence, Constitution and By-Laws, and
legislative) need people who have
ideas. These committees are made up
of and chaired by volunteer members
of the PFGC such as yourself. If you
would like to be in on the planning of
PFGC activities and direction, then
give one of the committees a try!
If you're interested in serving on a
committee, just call Richard Kaulf
man at (717) 653-9381 or Marvin Hall
at (814) 863-1019 to discuss the
rewards of this involvement.
< * x> *
type of seeding equipment have on
stand establishment?
A: Equipment used is a key factor
in successful alfalfa establishment.
There are many uncontrollable factors
(e.g. weather) in establishment, so it is
important to control those variables
that you can in order to improve seed
ing success. Good seeding equipment
will plant V* ” to 1” deep and firm the
soil around the seed either with press
wheels or with a cultipacker. If seeds
are planted deeper than 1 inch or are
not pressed firmly into the soil, there
is a good chance that the seeds will not
germinate or emerge. Even with good
maintains the yield. Recent research in
Wisconsin by Dr. Dennis Cosgrove
indicates that stem number rather than
plant number is a more accurate deter
mination of when to plow up an alfalfa
stand.
According to Cosgrove’s work, a
better indication of the productivity of
an alfalfa stand is the number of stems
per square foot. Cosgrove suggests
that fields with 55 or more stem per
square foot produce maximum yields.
As the stem number declines to 40
stems or less per square foot, yields
are reduced by 25 percent. He sug
gests that this is when alfalfa fields
begin to lose profitability and should
be rotated out of alfalfa.
Unfortunately, this technique of
counting stems works well if the deci
sion to reseed is made during the
growing season. The technique does
not work, however, when a decision
must be made early in the spring after
a hard winter. A decision at that time
of year to rotate out of alfalfa must be
based on the 4-5 plants per square foot
threshold. There is still time this fall to
utilize this stem counting method as
an aid, in your decision-making
process.
NEW &
EXCITING:
Turfs Up..
Custom Lawn
Mixes
GET THE QUALITY ROUND BALER.
GET CLAAS.
ROLLANT
ROUND BALERS
CIRMS The Harvesting Specialist
MEYERS IMPLEMENTS, INC.
400 North Antrim Way
Greencastle, PA 17225
Phone: (717) 597-2176 Fax: (717) 597-5349
seeding equipment adequate moisture
conditions only about 60% of the
seeds will emerge. This percentage
will be much lower if a grain drill with
no cultipacker or press wheels is used.
Q: Can lower seeding rates be used
if irrigation is available to the grower?
A: Unpredictable dry periods after
seeding can cause germination prob
lems. With irrigation, it is possible to
reduce seeding rates slightly since
moisture will not be limiting. Be very
careful, however, not to ovenvater the
establishing stand. Irrigation is not as
uniform as rainfall and wet areas in
the field are ideal for soil-borne see
dling disease organisms such as rhi
zoctonia, pythium and phytophthora
root rot.
Q: Can new seedings be
“thickened-up” if the initial seeding
comes up too thin?
A: This is very difficult. Even when
a thin stand is recognized early, any
attempt to thicken the stand usually
fails. The new seedlings will be out
competed for both light and moisture
by the established seedlings and usu
ally die shortly after emergence. If
there are patchy areas in the field with
very few seedlings, it may be possible
to reseed those areas by disking the
poor areas and reseeding them as soon
as possible. Early reseeding is very
important to take advantage of avail
able moisture and also to get the new
seedlings up so they can be harvested
with the rest of the field.
Q: Should the seeding rate be
adjusted if alfalfa is established with a
companion crop?
A: No. The alfalfa seeding rate
should remain the same. The seeding
rate of the companion crop should be
lower (e.g. 1-2 bu/acre for oats) when
planting with alfalfa as opposed to
planting it alone for grain. If a com
panion crop is seeded with alfalfa, it
should be removed early to allow the
alfalfa a good chance to get estab
lished.
• Fixed bale chamber with steel
roller • Smooth material flow for
all crops • Twine or Rollatex net
wrap • Roto Cut model processes
material while-baling • 4' x 4' and
4' x 5' models • Pickups up to 79"
CLAAS