# No till Alfalfa



## cornshucker (Aug 22, 2011)

What do you all think of no till Alfalfa, especially getting good soil to seed contact as opposed to getting seed to deep.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I've done it on several fields that were just too rolling to risk working then having a big rain recreate the 2 foot deep gullies we've fixed in the past.

We've always planted at an angle in one direction at a little more than a half rate of normal in one direction then run again at a different angle so it's cross hatched. If you normally plant 15lbs/acre then go for 18-20 lbs/acre.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

mlappin said:


> I've done it on several fields that were just too rolling to risk working then having a big rain recreate the 2 foot deep gullies we've fixed in the past.
> 
> We've always planted at an angle in one direction at a little more than a half rate or normal in one direction then run again at a different angle so it's cross hatched. If you normally plant 15lbs/acre then go for 18-20 lbs/acre.


Me, too. And sometimes, I'll make 3 passes, i.e., corner to diagonal corner both ways (makes like a diamond), then add a normal down and back pass, to make a line through the points of the diamond. Usually use about 125% of the total seeding rate. This depends on who's drill I'm using.

Ralph


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## cornshucker (Aug 22, 2011)

Marty, Ralph agree with the diagonal passes have used this before in tilled ground. Will use a Sunflower drill if I decide to go this route. Would you set the depth at about 1/4 inch? Thanks


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

cornshucker said:


> Marty, Ralph agree with the diagonal passes have used this before in tilled ground. Will use a Sunflower drill if I decide to go this route. Would you set the depth at about 1/4 inch? Thanks


That sounds about right for alfalfa--I'm not familiar with a Sunflower, so I think I would run it about 20-30', then get out and check the actual depth and how firm the ground is being closed up. Adjust appropriately.

Ralph


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

General rule of thumb is that you should see at least 10% of your seeds laying on top of the ground, or it's in too deep. I avoid working any ground if at all possible, and I've never done the diagonal. I've used a Krause drill and now use a Crustbuster. Set the down pressure as low as it goes to start. You need to see disturbed and bare ground behind the press wheels, and you should see quite a bit of seed.

Rodney


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Over the years we have done custom notill planting and have owned several notill drills . The 9411 sunflower we used for many years in my mind is not capable of accurately planting at 1/4" . Many drills are. I do agree 1/4 inch


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

If your ground is in good enough shape to no till I think the drills ability to maintain a shallow depth and meter the seed will be the crucial part to whether it will be successful. Does your drill have a small seed box.....that may be needed for alfalfa. I'm not familiar with your sunflower drill but with my JD no till you can control the depth with the gauge wheel on the single disk opener. I have never tried to plant alfalfa with it but got a nice stand of orchard grass with it last fall.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Not certain about a sunflower drill, but successfully seeded alfalfa using a 10 ft JD 800 drill with a small seed box and no depth bands. Set the hydraulic cylinder using spacers so that the dbl disk openers cut 1/4 inch deep and made two perpendicular passes using slightly less than half seeding rate on each pass so that I had some seed left to make three outside edge rounds to seed turn-around areas. I attached a 10-ft water-filled roller behind the drill to close the opener slits. Obtained an excellent stand. Field needs to be very smooth and firmly packed at initiation of seeding and be sure to accurately calibrate the drill seeding rate.


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

Agree with the 1/4 inch depth, and you will still find yourself too deep in areas. We always had a difficult time with our JD no-till drills keeping consistent depth that shallow. We used to run the culti-mulcher with teeth all the way up both before and after seeding, which helped a lot.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

vhaby said:


> Not certain about a sunflower drill, but successfully seeded alfalfa using a 10 ft JD 800 drill with a small seed box and no depth bands. Set the hydraulic cylinder using spacers so that the dbl disk openers cut 1/4 inch deep and made two perpendicular passes using slightly less than half seeding rate on each pass so that I had some seed left to make three outside edge rounds to seed turn-around areas. I attached a 10-ft water-filled roller behind the drill to close the opener slits. Obtained an excellent stand. Field needs to be very smooth and firmly packed at initiation of seeding and be sure to accurately calibrate the drill seeding rate.


Well saidfields that are rough and uneven make it much more difficult to maintain. Quarter of an inch


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

planted April 15 2014. cut for the second time this week..15#alfalfa 3orchard grass . Used JD 15090 drill. 1 pass


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## siscofarms (Nov 23, 2010)

Just a suggestion if you can , I'd run another pass of alfalfa the opposite way of the rows you got .It will close up the gap in the rows helping with the weed and unwanted grass prevention . And if you don't do it now you'll be to late with alfalfa , after this fall you'll be stuck with grass till you renovate the field . But overall it looks good .


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## notil750 (Aug 27, 2014)

we used our 1890/1910 notill john deere to seed our alfalfa, we seeded anywere from 8 to 12 lbs with very good luck.... i had some sod (old alfalfa turned into june grass) 2 years ago so i sprayed it off then hayed it before it burned down then seeded millet into it, then last year i went in and notilled alfalfa into it, basiclly sod, seeded one notch deeper than what i usually do(@12lbs), didnt have much rain just stayed short so we left it til this year and it was a very thick stand... seeded a few more little pieces to alfalfa this year they were soybean stubble, seeded it at 8lbs an acre and just cutting it now, lots and lots of rain this year really thick and im worried it wont dry out.... i read on the internet that when notilling alfalfa you should be able to find a few seeds that didnt make it into the ground, if they are all making it into the ground your too deep.... i still put mine in a little deeper to make sure i cut the trash but it all seems to come up, i think because a notill leaves a trench in the ground that it still can pop up through, if it was conventional tillage i wouldnt do that as it could get a crust.... we are 100% notill and wont seed alfalfa anyother way


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