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North Dakota | I've done this same thing over the years. What seems to happen to me is I plant alfalfa when grain prices get low and there's no profit in grain. It always seems I should have planted it a year or 2 earlier than I did so it was well established when grain got low. And about the time a stand gets well established grain prices start to rebound and then it's hard to tear up that really nice alfalfa stand. Also we take a yield hit for about 2 years after taking alfalfa out and try to bring that ground back to grain production so I have less grain and good prices. Also as stated above alfalfa has become a expensive and high management crop with aphids to scout for and spray and fertilizer costs. Now I keep a % of my acres in alfalfa and rotate fields that usually are poor drained or have weed issues that need cleaned up. And just plant annual forage crops like oats and peas. I raised the peas a few years ago and oats every few years, clean my own for seed. I figured I have about $10/ac seed cost, no fertilizer, do a preplant burn down and have had pretty fair yields. Now silage corn has higher yields but costs much more to put in, also I am able to plant a fall grazing cover crop behind the oats and peas and get a second crop to utilize. Just what has evolved here. | |
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beans and corn in the crapper-going to alfalfa
