fertilizer for alfalfa?

[Trg WY]

Here's the deal, my wife decided to forever pay a mortage by buying her Grandpa's river property, its mostly covered over by russian olives in most of the fields but still have a 30 acre alfalfa and grass field. What kind of fertilizer to apply to it to increase production? Its been there 3 years. Flood irrigated, and her father who share crops it for her has never put any on before. Her Grandpa died last year. Right now, here in Wyoming maybe get 3 cuttings and all total can't make enough to feed the 10 cows 4 calves so far that came with the property. I think its a total waste since the balance of the 220 acres on both sides of the river is mostly russian olives that took over except for a 19 acre pasture that her old man wants to plow to plant more alfalfa to lose more money of you know whose. I am so totally screwed but what do you guys use? Thanks for advice.

 

[rrlund]

Alfalfa likes potash. (potasium)

 

[Allan in NE]

100 lbs of phosphate every three years or so.

Allan

 

[Anonymous-0]

If you want to get rid of those Russian Olive trees the local NRCS office or Game and Fish Dept may have some help to offer.

 

[phillip d]

This is going to add to the confusion,but we use 5-10-30.What ever you do,DO NOT use 34-0-0,will kill it for sure.

 

[sd pete]

i used 18-46-0 or 11-52-0. It seemed to keep the baler full if it rained.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Best to start with a soil test. Alfalfa needs phosphorus and potash and a pH near 7.0 for best results. It makes its own nitrogen. On my ground it wont stay more than a couple of years regardless because I have poorly drained soil.
I dont know what Russian Olives are, but often weeds can indicate a soil deficiency.

 

[JMS MN]

34-0-0 is straight nitrogen. Why would it kill alfalfa- just totally unnecessary since alfalfa adds N, but uses a lot of potash,...depending on the soil test, might need some phosphorus.

 

[paul]

Soil test.

1st off, does it need lime (low ph) or not? You can pour all the fert on you want, if the ph is low, it won't make good use of the fert.

Alfalfa makes it's own N, so you do not need to add any N at all - it is a total waste.

It typically needs a lot of P & K. It will be difficult to add a lot to an existing stand - it does not work into the root zone very fast on it's own.

Sounds like you have mixed grass & alfalfa actually? Still plenty of N from the alfalfa...

Alfalfa also might want some boron or sulfur, esp on sand.

'Flood irrigated.' Don't know if you have light soil & you add water, or if this is low ground & it floods out from time to time?

Either way, alfalfa doesn't like real light soils, and it doesn't like real wet soils either.

Soil test. It is not a perfect thing, but it helps you figure out close to where you are, and where you need to head with fertilizer. Ph is the #1 thing to check out 1st, don't need to worry about N on alfalfa, and you likely have used up the P & K that was there. The minor nutrients - boron & sulfur - are important too.

--->Paul

 

[phillip d]

That's what our crop scouts tell us anyways,they say it will burn it,even manure applied at the wrong time is discuraged here anyways.

 

[Allan in NE]

Well yeah,

But, he's in Wyoming. Whole darned state is sitting on limestone.

All he needs is some phosphate and some water......unless of course, he is located out there where there is absolutely no top soil.

In that case, forget the alfalfa and perhaps a wind generator would be in order. :>)

Allan

 

[paul]

They mine limestone around my part of Minnesota too, so ph is not a factor - though it can get too high around here.

--->Paul

 

[GordoSD]

I'm in SE SD. I did a soil test last fall on my 3 year old stand of alfalfa. Tests came back indicating a need for 0-45-25. Soil is mostly alluvian clay.

Gordo

 

[bc]

Think about hiring or buying a bobcat with a tree saw for the russian olives. Don't know how thick they are but it sounds like you might have a lot of acres of them.

Last fall we had 16 acres or crp land cleared of an estimated 300 large eastern red cedars. Took one bobcat with a saw 3 hours to cut them and another one worked along side with a clam shell loader stacking the cut trees. $90 an hour per machine. They really worked fast. Spent the rest of the day clearing the 34 acre pasture plus the yard. The pasture had a lot of big mulberry trees in the fence line that took some estra time cause they were cutting them above the fence and trying to pull them back into the pasture. The saw has a spray head on it so they can cut a tree, back up, and spray tordon on the stumps(except cedars don't need spraying).

I tried cutting some with a chain saw but that was slow and too much work and you can't cut at ground level. Those bobcat mounted tree saws are slick and fast and cut at ground level. Took out a couple 3' diameter elms up by the house really quick by cutting around it. I'd like to make or buy a saw for my loader. A dozer would work for clearing them off too but those trees need to be stacked to burn very well.

Some rental places have them too. Most rental places used the pincher which may be a little slower but you can pick them up and move them when you cut. Only one place also rented the saw but they charged a lot more for it. The couple grand spent was well worth it cause those guys were experienced and fast. The cutting is easy but the moving and stacking really took quite an effort. I was going to work behind them with my loader and stack but it was no match for the bobcat with the clamshell.