# Annual Lespedeza



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I thought I would see if anyone had any experience growing annual lespedeza or knew anything about it. I'm interested in growing some but there is very limited information I can find on growing practices. There appears to be two kind of annual lespedeza......Korean and Kobe. I know it used to be grown as a hay crop in NC back in the 1950s. I have heard some of the older guys around here talk about it but I have never been able to get an answer of why it fell out of favor and is no longer grown.

From the limited information I have found online and from what some of the older guys around here have said is it was traditionally broadcast seeding into small grains in Febuary and early March and germinated in the spring but didn't really grow until after the small grain was harvested for grain in June. The lespedeza would then give a cutting of hay in the late summer.

What I am wanting to try is notill it into the small grain(barley) stubble after harvest. Since it is a summer annual and doesn't grow in cool weather during the spring anyway I just don't see why this wouldn't work?

Hayden


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Reading what you wrote, perhaps it is a slow germination (hence broadcast in the spring, taking advantage of wetter conditions) and once small grain was remove it took off like a rocket, seems to be the way I read it. By waiting, you could have dryer conditions, hampering germination and more weed/grass pressure.

My one cent at it's best. 

Larry


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Contact "Reed" here, he grows it, I haven't been down to see it yet but plan to.. I have plans to grow some myself but not this year....


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Hayden, I saw this info from Hancock seed....sounds pretty simple to grow....but it doesn't say anything about yield. Sounds as if it should already be in the ground.

Regards, Mike

https://hancockseed.com/kobe-lespedeza-seed-50-lb-bag-312.html


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

r82230 said:


> Reading what you wrote, perhaps it is a slow germination (hence broadcast in the spring, taking advantage of wetter conditions) and once small grain was remove it took off like a rocket, seems to be the way I read it. By waiting, you could have dryer conditions, hampering germination and more weed/grass pressure.
> 
> My one cent at it's best.
> 
> Larry


 You might be right.....I'm thinking though since it's an annual it should have rather fast germination.....seems like most annuals establish quickly. I'm going out on a limb here and guessing maybe the reason it was broadcasted in early spring as that was the easiest way to get it seeded back then without having to work the ground up. Since those were the days before notill the ground would have had to have tillage done after small grain harvest before planting. By broadcasting it in the early spring it would have had time for the spring rains to maybe get it down into the soil some where it could germinate?

I also get the impression from what I have read is that after a cutting of hay that the regrowth would be left to mature seed to either harvest or let it reseed itself for next year. My understanding is that it takes a pretty long growing season for it to mature seed so maybe that is why it needed to be established earlier in the spring? Just throwing out some ideas here.....all I'm after is a cutting of hay.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

SCtrailrider said:


> Contact "Reed" here, he grows it, I haven't been down to see it yet but plan to.. I have plans to grow some myself but not this year....


 If I'm not mistaken I thought he was growing sericea lespedeza which is a perennial......not an annual lespedeza like I'm talking about.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Here are the best two articles I have found on annual lespedeza production. The first one is from NC State back in the 1950s. It sounds like it was a major hay crop in NC back then.

http://www.forages.ncsu.edu/assets/annual-lespedezas-in-north-carolina.pdf
https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/naldc/download.xhtml?id=ORC00000446&content=PDF


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

We grew Korean for three years. First year was great, second fair, third flop. That was our experience and we quit after the third year when seed went to about $5 a pound. If you can get it put up good horse customers love it. It cures quickly but do have to consider leaf loss. Most instances can cut one day and bale the next. Doesn't require fertile ground and ph is not real important. If it is knee high and will make 100 50# bales to the acre. Recommend sowing in early spring. Can broadcast in your barley. We sowed with oats around the 7th of April and cut oats around the 7th of June and would have some Korean in oats. Need to not cut close, thought some of ours died from cutting it too short.

Jeff


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Here are some of the things from my files. Jeff reminded me that I had printed these out; if the links don't work let me know.

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/agr/agr18/agr18.pdf

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/agr/agr86/agr86.htm

http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/PDIS.1997.81.5.535

https://archive.org/details/CAT87205514

Shelia


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

RockyHill said:


> We grew Korean for three years. First year was great, second fair, third flop. That was our experience and we quit after the third year when seed went to about $5 a pound. If you can get it put up good horse customers love it. It cures quickly but do have to consider leaf loss. Most instances can cut one day and bale the next. Doesn't require fertile ground and ph is not real important. If it is knee high and will make 100 50# bales to the acre. Recommend sowing in early spring. Can broadcast in your barley. We sowed with oats around the 7th of April and cut oats around the 7th of June and would have some Korean in oats. Need to not cut close, thought some of ours died from cutting it too short.
> 
> Jeff


 Good info....thanks. My barley is in the dough stage right now and will probably be ready to harvest the end of this month. Do you think the first of June would be too late to drill the Korean lespedeza into the barley stubble? Does the Korean regrow after cutting or is it pretty much a one cutting crop? I'm guessing the leaf loss at baling would be pretty similar to alfalfa.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

I grow korean and could pretend to answer your questions, but what I think I know is pretty well summed up here

http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G4515

...inclusive of why it fell out of favor. It's worth the short read and explains a lot.

Mark


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

FarmerCline said:


> Good info....thanks. My barley is in the dough stage right now and will probably be ready to harvest the end of this month. Do you think the first of June would be too late to drill the Korean lespedeza into the barley stubble? Does the Korean regrow after cutting or is it pretty much a one cutting crop? I'm guessing the leaf loss at baling would be pretty similar to alfalfa.


Don't know about drilling in June, might depend on the rainfall. Always tried to sow early. April was latest. No experience later than that. We cut some with our oats and would grow back for a good fall cutting. Think drilling this late would probably be just one cutting. The nickname is "poor man's alfalfa" and use same baling methods.

Jeff


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

My experience is with Sericea, haven't played with any of the annuals. There was an improved variety "marion" that seems to be hard to find now. "Legend" seems to be the newer annual variety that is being promoted. I couldn't find anything anywhere other than claims on their website about it, though.

Friend retired from Clemson dealt with it quite a bit in his younger years. From what I remember, cut once, let it go to seed if you want the stand to come back. Cut twice in a year for more yield, but no seed so the stand will be done after that.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

glasswrongsize said:


> I grow korean and could pretend to answer your questions, but what I think I know is pretty well summed up here
> 
> http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G4515
> 
> ...


 Does it do well for you.....any issues with disease? It sounds like it could possibly be a issue from what the article said.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

I was baling whatever weed patch crossed my path 4 or 5 years ago, became interested in making quality hay 3-4 years ago, became consumed by soil health (trying to fix mine) last year, etc... We got almost 9" of rain over the past couple of days and I'm still wetter behind the ears than the fields are right now, so...anything I think is probably what someone else thought that I read. So take my opinion with a salt block.

I've had so-so luck with it and seed it with OG if in a new field.My ground is too poor to be used as a yard-stick on something's okie-dokieness. I absolutely cannot grow alfalfa yet until I get my soil health in order; so... lespedeza or clover are my options for legumes; lespedeza can handle my soil. The lespedeza in each of my various fields tends to be spotty...really good in a lot of places and not-so-much in others (again, it's mixed with and has to compete with OG or KY32 grasses and the soil health is lacking).

I've had no problems with disease.

With the benefits of CT forage, I'm strongly considering going to a Sanfoin or Sericea.

Lespedeza of any kind seems to be an easy sell for me and feeds well, but the benefits of a CT lespedeza is appealing and requested by some of my customers due to it's anti-parasitic qualities.

Mark


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

When we had the problem the leaves just kinda fell off, turned gray and mossy looking down in it. Looked right pretty on top but problem was lower. There was some disease that it's symptoms matched. It was the beginning of wetter years here. The first good year was a normal dry season.

Had some people hearing we had lespedeza thought it was sericea that they wanted for parasite control in goats.

Jeff


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I'm thinking that I may go ahead and give it a try and plant as soon as the barley is harvested.....most likely the first of June. I know that is much later than all of the articles and publications on it suggest but if I can get a decent cutting of hay I will be happy.

I had originally intended on planting double crop soybeans after the barley but after losing some hay acreage this winter I really need to plant it into a hay crop. Summer annuals like teff, millet, and Sudan aren't a good option for me so that is what got me interested in annual lespedeza. With it being similar to alfalfa I know I won't have an issue selling it and should get a premium price for it.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Hope it works great for you. Keep us all informed.

Jeff & Shelia


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

FarmerCline said:


> If I'm not mistaken I thought he was growing sericea lespedeza which is a perennial......not an annual lespedeza like I'm talking about.


I didn't catch the annual part, well it didn't sink in anyway....


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## Troy Farmer (Jul 31, 2011)

Great article from U of Missouri! Thanks for the link. My dad said when he was young (in the 1950's) lespedeza was very popular. I had wondered why it fell out of favor.


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## chengchaobo (Apr 20, 2017)

hello! I don't have much experience about planting lespedeza, but the company I am working for does planting hay. So I think I can give you some advice:

I am here to talk about advice on How to rake and dry hay

Hay can be raked into rows as it is cut, then turned to dry, and if a modern swather is used. Or, especially with older equipment or methods, the hay is cut and allowed to lie spread out in the field until it is dry, then raked into rows for processing into bales afterwards.

During the drying period, the process is usually sped up by turning the cut hay over with a hay rake or spreading it out with a tedder.

If it rains while the hay is drying, turning the windrow can also allow it to dry faster.

However, turning the hay too often or too roughly can also cause drying fall off, and reduce the nutrients available to animals.

Drying can also be sped up by mechanized processes, such as use of a hay conditioner, or by use of chemicals sprayed to speed evaporation of moisture.

discussion and advice are welcome!


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Lol.....good info Cline! Make sure to get some of them chemicals, I may have to order some of 'em myself


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

somedevildawg said:


> Lol.....good info Cline! Make sure to get some of them chemicals, I may have to order some of 'em myself


 Maybe we could advertise the hay as "Chinese style chemically dried hay"......lol.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

FarmerCline said:


> Maybe we could advertise the hay as "Chinese style chemically dried hay"......lol.


just for fun, Hayden you can try the chemical with your new baler and report back, 'dawg & I will let you get all the glory 

Shelia


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Thought I would give an update to this thread. I decided I was going to give It a try so I ordered some korean lespedeza seed. I had planned on planting it the first week of June after the barley was harvested. That didnt work out because it took until the latter part of June to harvest the barley due to combine problems. I wasnt sure if there would be any point at all in planting the lespedeza this late but since I already had the seed which was pretty inexpensive I figured I would go ahead and give it a try......if nothing else it could be a cover crop until I plant orchard grass this fall.

I planted the seed on Saturday afternoon and by this afternoon the seedlings were already mostly out of the ground.....only 72hrs after planting. I was concerned that since all the literature I read said it was to be planted in early spring it could have a long germination period that required it to be planted early......but typical of an annual it germinated quickly. I will be interested to see how quickly the seedlings grow now. If it will grow enough to provide a good cutting of hay by September I will be pleased. That will then allow me to plant orchard this fall the end of September/early October.


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

Hmm, definitely looks different than Sericea. Hope that it does well for you. If any year you could get away with planting it this late, it would be this year. That may work pretty well. Hope it does.


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## Waterway64 (Dec 2, 2011)

Would you explain how you planted it, herbicides, etc.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Waterway64 said:


> Would you explain how you planted it, herbicides, etc.


 Sprayed with roundup a couple days before planting to kill any weeds present(mostly volunteer barley). I no till drilled it with a JD 1590 using the small seed box into the barley stubble. Gauge wheels on the openers set on the shallowest setting and just enough hydraulic down pressure on the openers to cut a shallow furrow for the seed. Looks like almost every seed came up. If I have any weeds in crop I plan on using select for grasses and butyrac(2,4db) for broadleaves.


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## Waterway64 (Dec 2, 2011)

Thank you for the information. I have don similarly with other crops. I try to avoid tillage as much as possible. I have never heard of annual lespadeza but will read up on it.


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

Where did you find cheap lespedeza? The price of seed has kept me from giving it a try


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Waterway64 said:


> Thank you for the information. I have don similarly with other crops. I try to avoid tillage as much as possible. I have never heard of annual lespadeza but will read up on it.


 You won't find a lot of info on lespedeza.....the links that have been posted in this thread are about as much info as I could find on it. I will keep this thread updated as it grows.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

kentuckyguy said:


> Where did you find cheap lespedeza? The price of seed has kept me from giving it a try


 I bought it from Pennington Seed. I was able to buy it wholesale through my families business. It cost me $55 for a 50 pound bag. At 25 pounds an acre that is pretty darn cheap.


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## Waterway64 (Dec 2, 2011)

I found a little information. Our soil runs a strong 7 ph and then I am in western SD. I am not sure it would adapt here. Keep us up dated on your progress.


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## TJ Hendren (May 12, 2017)

It's very easy to grow in small grains, however it needs to be broadcast in early spring but not so early it will germinate and be killed by frost. IT IS NOT COLD TOLERENT. It is also an annual, unless it goes to seed it is an every year planting. Dad would mix it in with the spring nitrogen and spread it that way and after grain harvest wait around a month and cut for hay. Mow in the morning and bale the next day, he said the straw would absorb the excess moisture and also flavor the straw and the cattle would eat it all. And they did.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

The lespedeza is coming along pretty good. It looks very much like a new seeding of alfalfa. So far it's looking like it might be a promising crop to grow.....supposedly is a lot faster drying than alfalfa.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Lookin' good!



FarmerCline said:


> The lespedeza is coming along pretty good. It looks very much like a new seeding of alfalfa. So far it's looking like it might be a promising crop to grow.....supposedly is a lot faster drying than alfalfa.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## TJ Hendren (May 12, 2017)

FarmerCline said:


> The lespedeza is coming along pretty good. It looks very much like a new seeding of alfalfa. So far it's looking like it might be a promising crop to grow.....supposedly is a lot faster drying than alfalfa.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It will get too dry Hayden if you ain't real careful. Good hot weather and about 24-36 hours is all you need, much past 48 and you will loose the leaves.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

TJ Hendren said:


> It will get too dry Hayden if you ain't real careful. Good hot weather and about 24-36 hours is all you need, much past 48 and you will loose the leaves.


 That sounds really good to be able to bale it that soon after mowing. Since this won't have any straw mixed with it do you still think it will be ready to bale that quick? Are the leaves bad to shatter like alfalfa if it's not baled in the morning or evening with some humidity moisture or can you pretty much bale all day once it's ready?


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

You definitely want to use the humidity to keep your leaves. Middle of the day, you'll be slinging leaves everywhere.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Well I cut the lespedeza today. It was only about 12-15" tall and I think it could have grown a couple more weeks but I had a problem with patches of dodder in the field and it was spreading fast so I wanted to cut it before it got any worse. Two weeks ago I didn't hardly see any dodder but since then it had started popping up everywhere and you could almost watch it spread. The only thing I found that would control it was Pursuit and I couldn't use it because of the replant restrictions.....also the dodder had got too large to kill by the time I realized I had a problem. If I grow the lespedeza again I think I will try to find some certified seed.....I know the dodder came as a contaminate in the seed.

Even though the lespedeza was pretty short it was very thick so I think it will still make a decent amount of hay.....I'm guessing about a ton per acre. I'm hoping it dries as quick as what I have heard as it has to be baled Tuesday since they are calling for rain Wednesday. The ground was almost too wet to get on it when I cut today.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

What the hell is dodder.....


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

somedevildawg said:


> What the hell is dodder.....


 A parasitic weed. I forgot to add the pics I took when cutting the field today. The orange viney thing is the dodder.....you can see the clumps throughout the field.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

That's nasty looking stuff....purty sure I ain't never seen dodder before, hasn't gone to seed yet has it?


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

somedevildawg said:


> That's nasty looking stuff....purty sure I ain't never seen dodder before, hasn't gone to seed yet has it?


 No it hasn't gone to seed yet....that's why I wanted to get it cut asap. It is a parasite on legumes and other broadleaf plants but not grasses......I bet it could be an issue in perennial peanut. I had a few patches in a new field of alfalfa back in the spring......by the time the hay was dried out you really couldn't find it......but there is a lot more of it in this lespedeza so I'm not sure how it will affect the hay. I have not been able to find any info that says it is toxic......just that it can reduce the palatability of the hay.


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

Dodder is nasty. The bane of the lespedeza grower. Pursuit and Prowl h2o are the options I know. Being the annual, you won't need prowl


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

reede said:


> Dodder is nasty. The bane of the lespedeza grower. Pursuit and Prowl h2o are the options I know. Being the annual, you won't need prowl


 Yeah the fact it is an annual makes it a little difficult since Pursuit has a long plant back restriction. Since I am planning on planting this field into some kind of grass in the nest 4-6 weeks I knew Pursuit wasn't going to be an option. I don't have a seed bank of dodder in the soil so I guess the best control for future plantings of lespedeza would be to make sure I plant dodder free seed.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Well I got the lespedeza baled yesterday evening. It didn't dry quite as fast as I had hoped.....no way it could have been baled the next day after cutting....I'm sure the wet ground didn't help. It still dried a day faster than alfalfa though. Just like alfalfa leaf loss was an issue but it was a little different animal than alfalfa and I would say a little easier to manage. It definitely needs to be raked with some moisture before completly cured but seemed to be more forgiving of baling a little too dry since the leaves don't crumble to a powder like alfalfa.

It yielded right at a ton per acre.....considering it had only been 50 days since it was planted I was happy with that. I would have liked to have seen what it would have done if it could have grown another couple weeks. Overall I was pretty pleased with my lespedeza experiment and I think it definitely has potential of being a good hay crop here and I will likely plant it again. Pretty much the only issue I had was the dodder and in the future I will just make sure to find some dodder free seed.

It made some really pretty hay......super fine stemmed and extremely leafy. I'm going to send off a forage sample to see how it tests.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Here are a few pictures of the hay. I will add that it has a rather faint but very distinct smell.....reminds me of the smell of new money....seriously.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

FarmerCline said:


> Well I got the lespedeza baled yesterday evening. It didn't dry quite as fast as I had hoped.....no way it could have been baled the next day after cutting....I'm sure the wet ground didn't help. It still dried a day faster than alfalfa though. Just like alfalfa leaf loss was an issue but it was a little different animal than alfalfa and I would say a little easier to manage. It definitely needs to be raked with some moisture before completly cured but seemed to be more forgiving of baling a little too dry since the leaves don't crumble to a powder like alfalfa.
> It yielded right at a ton per acre.....considering it had only been 50 days since it was planted I was happy with that. I would have liked to have seen what it would have done if it could have grown another couple weeks. Overall I was pretty pleased with my lespedeza experiment and I think it definitely has potential of being a good hay crop here and I will likely plant it again. Pretty much the only issue I had was the dodder and in the future I will just make sure to find some dodder free seed.
> It made some really pretty hay......super fine stemmed and extremely leafy. I'm going to send off a forage sample to see how it tests.


What is the market for lespedeza? Tough sell or highly desired hay - i.e. similar to Teff, customers that know of it seem to love it, convincing someone that never heard of or used it to buy it can be difficult.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Glad it worked for you! It would have probably cured a bit faster a little more matured.



leeave96 said:


> What is the market for lespedeza? Tough sell or highly desired hay - i.e. similar to Teff, customers that know of it seem to love it, convincing someone that never heard of or used it to buy it can be difficult.


Old timers here called it "poor mans alfalfa". Back in the '50s it was really popular but alfalfa gave higher yield with multiple cuttings. When baled properly it has a pretty green color; it does smell good so usually not difficult get buyers to at least try it. Everyone that bought from us came back for more. The price of seed four or five years ago stopped us from raising it. May put some back into production.

Shelia


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## skyrydr2 (Oct 25, 2015)

They say it is good for beef cows? Grows plenty fast too? Wonder how it would do here in New England?


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

It looks good in the bale Hayden. It doesn't look as stemmy as I had it figured. Be anxious to here how it sells. I am glad it worked out for you.

Regards, Mike


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

I have really wanted to try it but the price of good seed runs me off.

We have sheep and the AU Grazer lespedeza is supposed to be great for them.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

leeave96 said:


> What is the market for lespedeza? Tough sell or highly desired hay - i.e. similar to Teff, customers that know of it seem to love it, convincing someone that never heard of or used it to buy it can be difficult.


 Most folks haven't even heard of lespedeza so I can't say there is anyone looking specifically for lespedeza hay. I'm not concerned about being able to sell it though. With it being similar to alfalfa but even leafier and finer stemmed I think it will be an easy sell. I'm going to price it the same as premium alfalfa.

When I try growing a different kind of hay for the first time I never try to find a market first.....I always wait until I get it baled and let the hay sell itself.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

skyrydr2 said:


> They say it is good for beef cows? Grows plenty fast too? Wonder how it would do here in New England?


 From what I have heard all kinds of stock like it and do well on it. Not sure how it would do in New England since it is supposed to like hot temps for growing.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> It looks good in the bale Hayden. It doesn't look as stemmy as I had it figured. Be anxious to here how it sells. I am glad it worked out for you.
> 
> Regards, Mike


 Stemmy would be the last word I would use to describe this lespedeza. It is way leafier and much finer stemmed than any alfalfa I have ever made. I would guess it is over 60% leaves by volume. Im really impressed with how great it looks in the bale.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

kentuckyguy said:


> I have really wanted to try it but the price of good seed runs me off.
> 
> We have sheep and the AU Grazer lespedeza is supposed to be great for them.


You probably know, but the AU Grazer is a perennial lespedeze of the sericea family of lespedezas. The annual lespedeza is different, I presume, as the AU Grazer is higher in condensed tannins (the part that makes it "good" for sheep and also the thing that reduces pallatability) I want to try AU Grazer, but nobody seems to have or want to share info on it; I *know* the Korean is good.

I have absolutely no problem selling lespedeza here even though very few grow it. It's old enough forage that most people already have heard of it; it's not like trying to sell someone on teff (not that I've tried...just an example).

Mark


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Your bale is a LOT finer stemmed than ours would be at the maturity we cut. Ours was first of April sowing, mow in September.

One unique thing, Korean lespedeza hay can be fed in a tub with some water applied to soften the stems. Not something to really want to do, but will work. Don't go to thinking rained on hay in the field, that's ruined for sure though.

Shelia


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

RockyHill said:


> Your bale is a LOT finer stemmed than ours would be at the maturity we cut. Ours was first of April sowing, mow in September.
> 
> One unique thing, Korean lespedeza hay can be fed in a tub with some water applied to soften the stems. Not something to really want to do, but will work. Don't go to thinking rained on hay in the field, that's ruined for sure though.
> 
> Shelia


 How many pounds per acre of seed did you plant and what stage of maturity did you try to cut? I ended up planting it thicker than I meant to and that may be why the stems are extra fine. By the looks of it I don't think they would have gotten any larger as it matured.....just longer. I was planning on cutting at bud to early bloom like alfalfa if I would not have had the dodder infestation. I can see how the stems could get kind of wiry though if it got too mature.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

I saw this today, you maybe Hayden??

https://greenville.craigslist.org/grd/d/serecia-lespedeza-hay/6279129012.html


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

SCtrailrider said:


> I saw this today, you maybe Hayden??
> 
> https://greenville.craigslist.org/grd/d/serecia-lespedeza-hay/6279129012.html


 No that is not my add.....I don't have any serecia lespedeza.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

FarmerCline said:


> How many pounds per acre of seed did you plant and what stage of maturity did you try to cut? I ended up planting it thicker than I meant to and that may be why the stems are extra fine. By the looks of it I don't think they would have gotten any larger as it matured.....just longer. I was planning on cutting at bud to early bloom like alfalfa if I would not have had the dodder infestation. I can see how the stems could get kind of wiry though if it got too mature.


We drilled 15# Korean and 1 1/4 bushel oats on 4/8/11, baled 7/2/11 and some on 7/11/11 that oats were over mature. Baled 10/1/11 and Korean yield about 100 bales (~ 50# bales) acre

3/4/12 drilled 15# Korean, 10# orchard grass, 1 1/4 bushel oats, baled 6/7/12 and again late September/early October with 100 bales/acre/

I been looking back through my pictures but can't find any of the bales close enough to show texture. Even though it had larger stems than yours, buyers were happy.

Shelia


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

RockyHill said:


> We drilled 15# Korean and 1 1/4 bushel oats on 4/8/11, baled 7/2/11 and some on 7/11/11 that oats were over mature. Baled 10/1/11 and Korean yield about 100 bales (~ 50# bales) acre
> 
> 3/4/12 drilled 15# Korean, 10# orchard grass, 1 1/4 bushel oats, baled 6/7/12 and again late September/early October with 100 bales/acre/
> 
> ...


 I was wanting to plant 20-25 lbs. an acre but not knowing where to set the drill I ended up planting most of the field about 30 lbs. an acre. I bet the high seeding rate is part of the reason my stems were so fine. I do think that 30lbs. was a little too heavy.

Even though your stems were larger was the hay still very leafy when it was cut more mature?


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

It was really leafy.

Shelia


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

About a week ago I sold some of the lespedeza hay to my largest customer. She feeds a lot of alfalfa and at first she thought the lespedeza was alfalfa when she saw it in the shed. When I started to load her she pointed to the lespedeza and said that was the best looking, leafiest, and finest stemmed alfalfa she had seen and wanted me to load her that. I informed her it was not alfalfa but she still wanted to try it.

I heard back from her and she said that so far she liked the lespedeza. She said at first the horses were hesitant to try it but after a while they started to eat it......from what I'm told this seems to be a common theme when feeding a horse a kind of hay its never eaten before. She said after they tried it that they really liked it and that when putting out a flake of alfalfa and a flake of lespedeza she has a couple horses that now eat the lespedeza before touching the alfalfa.


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

That sounds about right. And I can imagine that the "looks" of the lespedeza would be nicer. Here's a question for you, since you've been playing with alfalfa for a while, and the lespedeza is new: Have you ever made alfalfa that looks as good as the lespedeza?

Got the sample, and I made my last round of sericea over the weekend, so I'll get samples sent off here in the next week or so.

Reed


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

reede said:


> That sounds about right. And I can imagine that the "looks" of the lespedeza would be nicer. Here's a question for you, since you've been playing with alfalfa for a while, and the lespedeza is new: Have you ever made alfalfa that looks as good as the lespedeza?
> Got the sample, and I made my last round of sericea over the weekend, so I'll get samples sent off here in the next week or so.
> 
> Reed


 Color wise I have had a couple cuttings of alfalfa that stayed nice and green like the lespedeza(not this year) when we had some unusually low humidity drying conditions with very little dew. Lespedeza dries so much easier and faster than alfalfa so that helps it keep its color since it's not laying in the field as long. As far as fine stemmed and leafy I have never had any alfalfa look as nice as what this lespedeza does.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

I'm convinced enough to put it 5-10 acres next spring.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

hillside hay said:


> I'm convinced enough to put it 5-10 acres next spring.


 Your farther north than what I have read that it has been grown. Never know until you try though. How I planted it this year was not the traditional way it was grown either.

To me the biggest downside to it I have seen is there is zero regrowth after cutting so it is just a one cutting crop. If it can be double cropped after something else one cutting is okay but as a single crop for the season it just doesn't have the yield for a single cutting to work.

I'm trying to figure out how I can best use in the future. Works good double cropped after small grain but I'm going away from growing grain. I have been wondering how it would work notilled after first cutting Timothy for a second cutting that would be mostly lespedeza. I'm pretty sure it would work if I sprayed off the Timothy with plans to replant in the fall after cutting the lespedeza......would prefer if I could get it to establish in the living Timothy sod though. I'm going to try it next year.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

We are kind of north but we run a little warm. We have peaches and grow millet. Normally have corn in the ground first week of May. Sorghum Sudan has been my lifesaver for my own animals


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

Farmer Cline did you ever get any results back from the testing on the lespedeza


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

kentuckyguy said:


> Farmer Cline did you ever get any results back from the testing on the lespedeza


 I did.....it was tested by UGA since I entered it and a couple other samples into the hay contest. I was actually disappointed in the test results on the lespedeza considering how young it was when I cut. The protein 18.7% but the RFQ was only 135. I had expected the RFQ to be much higher than that. I was going to send a sample in to another lab to have it tested by wet chemistry instead of NIR to see how the results compared but I never got around to it.

Still yet my main customer that has been feeding the lespedeza says the horses absolutely love the stuff and many prefer it over the alfalfa that is all testing over 150 RFQ.

I have located some clean dodder free lespedeza seed so I'm going all out and planning on planting over 40 acres of it this year. Sure hope it does well again and maybe get more than one cutting off of it.

Hayden


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## kentuckyguy (Apr 13, 2015)

I will be looking forward to seeing your results. I have thought many times about planting it but never took the plunge.


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## clowers (Feb 11, 2011)

Good luck Hayden, I hope it turns out well.


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