The "Queen of Forages", Alfalfa

 

 

Common Name: Alfalfa

 

Family: Legumesae

 

Scientific Name: Medicago sativa

Origin: Iran and central Asia.

Longevity: Perennial.

Season: Cool Season Legumes.

Major Uses Hay and haylage, but has potential for expanded pasture use. Good alfalfah hay has high nutritive value and is in high demand, particularly for horses and dairy cattle.

Season Growth: March-November and its has the longest productive season of any southern- adapted legume

 

The "Queen of Forages", alfalfa is not only the oldest cultivated forage crop in the US, but it is one of the most palatable and nutritious. Alfalfa is rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals. And, when cut prior to bloom, it is low in fiber and high in energy. Thus, it is prized as a primary component in dairy cattle rations and is an important feed for horses, beef cattle, sheep, and milk goats

 

 

 

Description:

Erect growing with many leafy stems arising from large crowns at the soil surface. Grown 24 to 36 inches tall. Compound leaves with three leaflets. Flowers of the varieties grown in the south are normally some shade of purple

 

Nodules are the result of rhizobium bacteria and particular legume roots.  Atmospheric nitrogen is converted

into a form usable to plants inside the nodule

 

Planting Alfalfa

Seeding of alfalfa can be done in the fall or late summer. Approximately 8 to 12 lbs of seed per acre will usually be needed.

Varieties: There are many different varieties of alfalfa

 

Pests: Alfalfa, like most plants, is vulnerable to be attacked by insects. One insect problem is the alfalfa weevil, which is a leaf-feeding pest. Much has been studied about the pest, so management can be effective. When present, the use of insecticide is often required to keep it from dramatically lowering yield of the crop. In exceptional cases, where the pest is not controlled, alfalfa can die as a result of alfalfa weevil feeding - for they "continuously graze" until root reserves are depleted and the plant dies.

List Legally labeled Forage Herbicide:

Links:

http://www.cas.psu.edu/docs/casdept/agronomy/forage/docs/species/alfalfa.html

http://www.alfalfa.org/

http://www.forages.css.orst.edu/Topics/Species/Legumes/Alfalfa/Images/index.html

http://www.naaic.org/Gallery/index.html

http://www.pickseed.ca/english/forage/info/alfalfa.html

http://agri.atu.edu/people/Hodgson/FieldCrops/StudentWork/Vicki_Shaw.html

REF:

Goicoechea N; Antolin MC; Sanchez-Diaz M. 2000. The role of plant size and nutrient concentrations in associations between Medicago, and Rhizobium and/or Glomus. BIOLOGIA PLANTARUM. 43(2):221-226

Bolsen,KK, JL Curtis, CJ Lin, and JT Dickerson. 1990 Silage inoculants and indigenous mircroflora: With emphasis on alfalfa. In TP Lyons(ed.), Biotechnology in the Feed Industry Nicholasville, Ky.: Alltech Tech Publishing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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