# Alfalfa on the Diagonal



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

From Farmlife...

Regards, Mike

http://www.myfarmlife.com/crops/alfalfa-planted-on-the-diagonal/?page=all


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## Tjim (Feb 23, 2014)

We've planted alfalfa that way for 40 years and it works very well for us. We use 6" spacing, though. I would imaging 7.5" spacing is really good for that way.


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## panhandle9400 (Jan 17, 2010)

Where I have good irrigation water , I will plant my wheat in 2 different directions and it does help with yields . The grain yields and straw yields are both better than just a single planting. As far as my alfalfa goes I always seed it by AIR and will fly on 12 to 13 lbs one way and then 12 to 13lbs oppisite , then turn on center pivots on a fast loop until all seed has sprouted and shut off when it has all come to a stand.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I no till drilled some orchard grass last fall in two different directions like that last fall so the rows wouldn't be 7.5 inches apart. My thinking was the closer spacing would also give weeds less open ground to invade. For worked ground I really like the solid stand a Brillion seeder gives......that is what I used to plant my alfalfa. I can see how if you didn't want to invest in a Brillion seeder that drilling in 2 different directions would be a good alternative.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I do something similar when I no till alfalfa, plant at a slight angle the first time then go across the first passes at about a 30 degree angle seems to work pretty well. On our drill when I'm planting worked ground we took the tubes off the small seed box that went to the coulters and instead fastened a piece of flashing under the meters at 10 to 15 degrees below horizontal, seed hits the flashing and spreads out before hitting the ground, works pretty well as you can't see any rows when it comes up, just like broadcasting ahead of the packer.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

I got a couple fields up north in the hills that diagonal pass would get little interesting on the backside of the hill headed down towards the trees


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## foz682 (Jan 10, 2013)

I planted part of our oats that way this year, didn't see hardly any difference in yields there, but there was nearly zero weeds in that area.


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## shortrow (Feb 21, 2012)

Article says he used to spread alfalfa seed with an airplane. Wow.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

shortrow said:


> Article says he used to spread alfalfa seed with an airplane. Wow.


Panhandle says the same thing.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

perhaps seeding twice gave him a firmer seed bed and he got a better stand?


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

I remember seeing university research indicating alfalfa planted in 6"to7.5"out yielded broadcast seeding and survived more years . Also 12% to 22% less seed in banded rows . They talk close to $400 per bag I would not spin that on . It would go threw a drill with a properly adjusted and CALIBRATED !! seed box. With Gauge/Depth-Wheels set so every seed would be placed at the proper depth


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

endrow said:


> I remember seeing university research indicating alfalfa planted in 6"to7.5"out yielded broadcast seeding and survived more years . Also 12% to 22% less seed in banded rows . They talk close to $400 per bag I would not spin that on . It would go threw a drill with a properly adjusted and CALIBRATED !! seed box. With Gauge/Depth-Wheels set so every seed would be placed at the proper depth


If you are paying $400 a bag for alfalfa I suggest you find a better seed dealer.  The most expensive RR alfalfa I was quoted this year was $250/bag. I bought some that was $180/bag and it has done very well.


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## panhandle9400 (Jan 17, 2010)

endrow said:


> I remember seeing university research indicating alfalfa planted in 6"to7.5"out yielded broadcast seeding and survived more years . Also 12% to 22% less seed in banded rows . They talk close to $400 per bag I would not spin that on . It would go threw a drill with a properly adjusted and CALIBRATED !! seed box. With Gauge/Depth-Wheels set so every seed would be placed at the proper depth


In this area most circles of alfalfa will have been seeded by air and most circles will be good producers for 9 to 10 years . Under center pivots it is common to seed 25 to 30 lbs per acre, which has increased tonnage by 1/2 ton per acre plus giving the growers a finer stemmed plant at harvest time. More leaves mean better hay. With a center pivot you can incorporate the seed so seeding by air or broadcasting is much better. I will change my nozzel pads to get a spray pattern that will cover more or cover less. I am like teslan, I buy all my seed directly from a grower in Idaho and bypass those big seed companies to get a much better price and he sells some of his seed to those big seed companies too. The cheaper seed has made as much or more tonnage than that high priced seed. If I can grow 6 to 8 tons per acre and get rfv test over 200, it must be good. I know it is different in other places around the country.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

panhandle9400 said:


> In this area most circles of alfalfa will have been seeded by air and most circles will be good producers for 9 to 10 years . Under center pivots it is common to seed 25 to 30 lbs per acre, which has increased tonnage by 1/2 ton per acre plus giving the growers a finer stemmed plant at harvest time. More leaves mean better hay. With a center pivot you can incorporate the seed so seeding by air or broadcasting is much better. I will change my nozzel pads to get a spray pattern that will cover more or cover less. I am like teslan, I buy all my seed directly from a grower in Idaho and bypass those big seed companies to get a much better price and he sells some of his seed to those big seed companies too. The cheaper seed has made as much or more tonnage than that high priced seed. If I can grow 6 to 8 tons per acre and get rfv test over 200, it must be good. I know it is different in other places around the country.


I don't buy my alfalfa seed direct. I don't buy enough of it. I guess we just have good seed dealers around. The brand I bought this spring was WL alfalfa. It was an older variety of RR, but it has really done well.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Teslan said:


> I don't buy my alfalfa seed direct. I don't buy enough of it. I guess we just have good seed dealers around. The brand I bought this spring was WL alfalfa. It was an older variety of RR, but it has really done well.


Just curious how much does a bag of alfalfa run?


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

We do not plant Roundup Ready Alfalfa . We have made red shale hill ground productive growing alfalfa . There was a time these hills yielded very little ... I think the Varity is important on these thin soils . I agree $400 is to much . I tried 5 bags of "Phirst Extra" a new fine stem Hybrid Alfalfa. He said it was a little pricy I paid $362 per bag on a promotion it lists for $400. It will have to be spectacular for me to buy more. They have 3 conventional varieties for $295 and $325 and $340 . I usually chose one of them. He said you can get anyone of them in Roundup Ready all you have to do is add the Monsanto Tech Agreement cost. I never bought R.R. Alfalfa they say you add $2.50 to $3.00 PER POUND to the price of the bag just for Monsanto I am not sure never went R.R ... I do not care how good your seed dealer is Monsanto gets its share if you go R.R. I know we generally pay a little more for seed in the east because we use less than out west .


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I paid about $225 per bag of my RR alfalfa in 2012....it was worth every penny of that too....we get a load of weeds here in a hot, humid, high rainfall area. I would not even fool with alfalfa here if I could not get RR. It has been a blessing this far South.

Regards, Mike


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Vol said:


> I paid about $225 per bag of my RR alfalfa in 2012....it was worth every penny of that too....we get a load of weeds here in a hot, humid, high rainfall area. I would not even fool with alfalfa here if I could not get RR. It has been a blessing this far South.
> 
> Regards, Mike


We plant RR corn and RR beans but one of our hay biggest customers will have nothing to do with RR alfalfa and now that we have a smidge of orchard grass mixed in I don't know if we would go RR. Vol I bet it is a blessing when you have weeds. Do you grow any mixed hay


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

I've been thinking real hard about planting a small patch in alfalfa just to see how it does. With the price of seed I think I will be better off using a brillion vs my older grain drill. I look forward to the trial, if anybody has a good seed source that will ship let me know.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

14.5 lb Ameristand 455 TQ RR alfalfa seed per acre for each direction. Image taken Dec. 22, 2013 several weeks after spraying 22 oz Glyphosate per acre. Seeded using a 10-ft wide JD 800 drill with 7" spaced dbl disks with a small seed box with seeding depth controlled using spacers on the lift cylinder shaft. Water-filled roller was attached behind drill to pack the soil.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

endrow said:


> We plant RR corn and RR beans but one of our hay biggest customers will have nothing to do with RR alfalfa and now that we have a smidge of orchard grass mixed in I don't know if we would go RR. Vol I bet it is a blessing when you have weeds. Do you grow any mixed hay


I grow alfalfa, alfalfa/Orchard grass, straight Orchard grass, Timothy/Orchard grass, which all is small squared and then I roll my fescue/mix uplands.

I was worried a few years ago(first planted) about how my greenie horse customers would respond to me growing RR alfalfa, but it has had zero effect. I was surprised. No one ever asks if it is RR and I don't mention it....

I could not grow a clean field of pure non-RR alfalfa here because of the weed pressure.

I hope someday that a RR Orchard grass will be developed....or something similar.

Regards, Mike


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

The thing is weeds are becoming Roundup resistant so idk how much longer RU will even be useful.

Here water hemp and pigweed are becoming resistant and other chemo have to be added to the spray mix in corn and beans.farther south Palmer Amarath is a huge issue.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Teslan said:


> If you are paying $400 a bag for alfalfa I suggest you find a better seed dealer.  The most expensive RR alfalfa I was quoted this year was $250/bag. I bought some that was $180/bag and it has done very well.


I will do more research . I believe the people growing NON RR alfalfa are getting the short end . Or the people I buy from ? well . Ok RR for $180 lets just a little over $50 for grower, seed company, and seed dealer after Monsanto gets its cut.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

endrow said:


> I will do more research . I believe the people growing NON RR alfalfa are getting the short end . Or the people I buy from ? well . Ok RR for $180 lets just a little over $50 for grower, seed company, and seed dealer after Monsanto gets its cut.


It appears I made a mistake on the price. I'm sorry about that. My first bags of WL 355 RR Alfalfa was $280 a bag. I had to buy 2 more bags to finish and they had run out of the 355 then it was $325. It shows now that they have gone up a little. But the highest quote I had was $350. I think if I remember right the guy that quoted me (A neighboring farmer and Syngenta seed dealer) the $350 said it was about $75 a bag for the Monsanto license fee.

The place I buy Alfalfa has a hybrid non RR seed WL 343 HQ for $4.40/lbs. And the old Ranger seed for $3.75/lb.

For me the RR was well worth it as the field I planted it in has lots of weed seeds in the soil from past bad farming or past ignoring weeds by previous owners. If I hadn't planted RR alfalfa I either would have planted the $4.40/lb stuff or some conventional seed with oats then this year because of all the rain (like every year I've ever tried to plant oats as a cover crop) watched the oats seed out before I could cut and bale. Then just have a frustrating mess. Or I would have just planted the alfalfa seed and clipped the weeds all year and next year would have had a fairly good stand, but still would have had to spray the grasses.

But with the RR alfalfa I was able to get a good 1st cutting that more then paid for the seed, planting, irrigation, and first application of Roundup (actually Cornerstone). Then I most likely will get at least a 2nd cutting. Maybe a 3rd. As it is the part of the field we flood irrigate I have a few weeds growing that the seed came with the irrigation water. I guess RR activists would call those Superweeds.


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