# bermuda/ alfalfa mix



## Thad (Nov 29, 2011)

I am in south Arkansas and have established bermuda grass fileds. I have very little weeds and was thinking of drilling alfalfa in some of the fileds. The soil is well drained and PH is good. Have never had alfalfa before, dont have a clue. I know bermuda can be domonant and need some input, will it work or not?


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

I have a neighbor who seeds alfalfa into his bermudagrass PASTURE. Works well for him.

The timing for hay is enough different for bermudgrass and alfalfa it might be difficult. 
I will have 2 cutting of alfalfa in the barn before the first cutting of bermudagrass is ready to cut.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Alfalfa seeded into bermudagrass can be a workable system in a well-drained soil. The surface soil pH must be in the vicinity of 6.8 to 7.0 or higher for alfalfa. If this soil is a sandy loam and if it needs to be limed to elevate the pH to this range, application of about 3.5 pounds of boron will be needed for the alfalfa because liming to raise pH ties up boron. This is in addition to soil test recommended application rates of phosphorus, potassium, and other plant essential elements. In a low fertility soil with an alfalfa/bermudagrass system, the alfalfa likely will dominate the system if no fertilizer nitrogen is applied. If the soil has been fertilized and grazed for a number of years, and if recommended rates of nitrogen are applied for the bermudagrass, the bermudagrass can be very competitive with alfalfa. Like Hay Wilson mentioned, the alfalfa will initiate regrowth much earlier than will the bermudagrass; alfalfa in your area likely will begin regrowth in mid to late February. If seeded in narrow row spacings like 7 inches, the alfalfa will shade the bermudagrass and hinder grass growth in early summer.

If your soil is acidic, subsoil pH needs to be at pH 5.5 or higher to 3 - 4 feet deep in order for alflafa roots to penetrate the subsoil for water uptake. If pH is below 5.5, aluminum in the clay becomes soluble. As pH becomes more acidic below 5.5, this solubilized aluminum becomes toxic to alfalfa root growth and burns off the growing point of the roots. This becomes very important as rainfall declines, in a normal rainfall year, in July, August, and September in our area. In acid soils, before attempting to grow alfalfa, the subsoil should be sampled by one foot depths to at least 4-feet deep from about five random locations across the field. Soil samples from all one-foot depths should be placed in a separate bucket so that when sampling is complete, you have four buckets of soil. Mix the soil in each individual bucket and remove about one-half pound from random areas in the bucket for submission to a testing lab for pH analysis. You will want to number the buckets 1-4 and the sample bags 1-4 along with your field number or name and your name and address. If the pH test result is 5.5 or higher on these samples, alfalfa should work on a well drained soil. Soil pH doesn't have to be 5.5 in the lower depths, but alfalfa production will be limited by the depth of phytotoxic (plant toxic) levels of aluminum, say for example if only the top two feet have pH above 5.5 and the lower depths' pH is below 5.5.

Several other factors can affect an alfalfa/bermudagrass production system. If the bermudagrass is a common type (not a hybrid) don't even seed alfalfa into the grass. Common bermudagrass has a very dense growth pattern and will smother alfalfa, whereas the hybrid bermudagrasses have a less dense growth pattern that allows alfalfa to grow. If you have access to, or have applied broiler litter to the field, the chances of success with alfalfa seeded into hybrid bermudagrass are improved. If you do not fertilize the bermudagrass with nitrogen in a combination system, the nutritive value of the bermudagrass will be less than optimum, and the alfalfa will provide very little nitrogen to the bermudagrass. If you do apply commercial nitrogen, the alfalfa will use some of it and the benefit of nitrogen fixation by the alfalfa will be marginalized. In our area, fall seeding of alfalfa is recommended.

You might be interested in doing some additional reading on this idea at Soil and Crops « Texas AgriLife Research & Extension Center at Overton


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Don't know about Hay Wilson's neighbor's cattle, but in our experience, East Texas Brahman influenced cattle are like kids who don't like pecan pie even though they have never tasted it. When they finally are convinced to taste it, they like it. Where is this going??

Alfalfa was interseeded in rows spaced 10, 20, and 30 inches apart into established Coastal bermudagrass pasture. The first growth the seedling year was cut for hay. The second growth was grazed by cattle. On entering the mixed grass/alfalfa pasture, the cattle grazed the bermudagrass from between the alfalfa rows until they were forced by hunger to taste the alfalfa, after which they cleaned up the alfalfa. When these same cattle were turned in to graze the third growth, they grazed down the alfalfa and kept after the new shoots, almost totally ignoring the bermudagrass that became over mature and would have had to be harvested for hay to remove it to give the alfalfa a better shot at sunlight in order to regrow.


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## Thad (Nov 29, 2011)

Thanks for the help!


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