# oat cover crop for alfalfa



## jenkinsfarmsinc (Dec 8, 2011)

Im sure this has been discussed here before but, any thoughts on planting oats with alfalfa as a cover crop? I have 100 acres under pivots and am trying to decide the best avenue for getting my alfalfa started. I have done hundreds of acres with oat cover and flood irrigation, which was sporadic at best, and the oats helped keep the ground from drying out. I'm new to pivots and just wonder if the oats are necessary. Thanks!


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

We've always planted oats with alfalfa for spring planting to keep the weeds at bay. For late summer early fall planting of alfalfa it isn't needed. Now with RR alfalfa I'm not sure if planting oats with it is needed in the spring at all. I've always found oat hay to be a pain. harder to bale, harder to stack, and if you don't sell it quick the mice get to it. We do both flood and pivot irrigation. I still think it's necessary on pivots. Flood it's good so the water won't wash out the young alfalfa seedings.


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## HALLSHAY (Nov 30, 2008)

What did it have last year on it? My friend no-tilled RR alfalfa into wheat stubble last fall and right now it looks like he is going to have an awesome stand. I am curious and might farm and then seed a half circle to straight RR with no cover crop.


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## jenkinsfarmsinc (Dec 8, 2011)

it is an old sod farm, but the sod has been dead for a couple years now. I guess I am mainly concerned with trying to get rid of that many oat bales.


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## HALLSHAY (Nov 30, 2008)

Might be a good spring to have some oats in southern CO. It could move out pretty fast and probably get what we were getting for dairy hay a few years back. The Texas market will be hot again in the spring and everyone will be pricing new alfalfa at $200-$250 i bet. Your $150 oat-hay
may look like a bargain.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I will add also that my cousin planted RR alfalfa into corn ground this spring without oats and it was a terrific stand as well. He got two good cuttings off of it. He did have to spray it once. I sure hope alfalfa stays at the $200-$250 a ton next year. The snow pack is pretty lousy so it could even go higher. Grass hay might even be higher.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

It is a waste of time, it out competes your alfalfa for moisture and sunlight and lowers the quality of hay. Useful on highly erodable slopes. Was useful in the old days with low seedling vigor varieties so you could at least get a crop the first year.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Maybe plant the oats and harvest that for hay.And then seed your alfalfa after that in late summer.Seed it and turn the water on.Then your new seeding won't be competing with the oats.

No need for the higher priced RR seed for establishment anyway.


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## KCH (Jul 31, 2011)

We alway plant a cover crop mainly because of wind shear. Oats work great my general rule of thumb is to never plant them heavier than 19# per acre. I usually target 15#'s of oats and 15#'s of alfalfa. I also never have trouble selling the oat hay. Last year I used Millet as a cover crop and it worked pretty good as far as I can tell. The alfalfa came up first and was in the two leaf stage befor the millet emerged. I planted the millet @ 10#'s. I plan on doing the same thing this year on a 130 acre pivot and see how it does last year's planting was under side rolls and was pretty tough to get over with water. I am also going to plant an 65 acre pivot and 25 acre sideroll field into alfalfa with oats as a cover crop this year so I will have a good comparison.


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