Alfalfa, how does it keep growing??

[Herefordcross]

Been awful dry here but, can someone give me an experienced answer as to why I just cut, my third cut. of Alfalfa in this one field we have. I'm not saying that it's running out our ears but, it's a pretty darn good cutting. And we haven't had any rain for about a month now.

 

[Chuck]

How old is it? Established alfalfa stands can root half way to China. As long as you have water in the root zone it will still grow.

 

[Herefordcross]

You probably won't believe me but, this particular stand is on it's seventh year and is still in good shape, which is unbelievable around here. They guy that sold the seed has passed away and I have no Idea what kind it was. But, any other alfalfa we plant dies out completely within three to four years. When I said dry, I was working up the 20 acre field next to this ground to put out in a new hay planting the first of the month and when I was dragging it and turning at the end of the field I had to completely stop and wait for the cloud to scatter to see where the last pass was.

 

[Herefordcross]

I know they go deep when I was a kid we didn't have cab tractors and when we plowed a field of old Alfalfa under you could hear the roots popping. It was pretty cool at that age now, I wish I could plant it and it stay forever like fescue and other similar grasses. We've got about a five acre patch in a hay field that has been worked over and planted probably five times that I can remember and that darn rye grass keeps coming up in that area it amazes me that they haven't come up twith an Alfalfa like that.

 

[mnmtranching]

Your soil is in good shape nutrient wise, and you got good subsoil moisture. Maybe some clay or gumbo down there.

mnmt

 

[Daybreak]

Howdy,
Alfalfa is a very good drought tolerant crop. If its planted in the right kind of soil. If its in a clay type soil, it could have tap roots digging down for water that might be 12 feet deep. In that 12 foot range, its grabbing whatever moisture it can. A 7 year old stand and in a drought, it might be digging deeper than that too.

 

[NorCalFarms]

Alfalfa is tough for sure. Two things that kill it out early (around here anyway) are low PH (or really really high for that matter) and standing water in the winter or in the summer when it is hot. We routinely have stands last in the 7-9 year range. Low fall dormancys for this area (2'sand 3's) last longer but the yeild is less. It seems to like the PH in the 7 range but we have ground from 6.5 to 8+ that will grow good alfalfa. I've heard of roots going 30 feet or more, in loose soils. I know I've dug trenches for pivot wire and found roots at 6' that were big and healthy and still going down. If you have good submoisture and the fertility is right, it doesn't surprise me at all. Alfalfa likes P and K. I've hayed rental places that had a good stand of alfalfa, made 6 tons/year that were well over ten years old. Rough as all heck, but still growing hay.