Kingdom of Callaway - Fulton, Mo 65251 | jd7520 - 8/2/2021 08:47 Why do you guys spend big money on roundup alfalfa? You are going to mow every what 28 days? If you have the stand for a number of years, you will go through the seed bank and field will get cleaner with no added expense. It is all about profitability and spending money on an un needed chemical application cuts into the bottom line.
At least here, 90% of our alfalfa is planted in the fall, and it is not roundup ready. We plant it with a bushel of wheat, and after silage wrapping the first cutting, we then can cut it once a month, and weeds are never a problem. But this year, we had several small square bale hay contracts that we were worried about filling, so we went against our better judgement, and planted 50 acres of spring alfalfa. Spring alfalfa around here has a hard time competing against weeds in a wet year, so that is why we went with roundup ready seed. And of course, we had 14 inches of rain in a two week period. So we are glad to have the ability to spray the alfalfa with round up, because we just could not physically get in the field to cut it when we needed to without rutting it all up.
We cut all our alfalfa the day after we see the first bloom, weather permitting. We make enough selling the alfalfa in bundles of small squares that the additional expense of the roundup spray is minimal compared to not having quality hay for our customers.
I do agree, the best alfalfa for us is fall planted, then mowing often is more than enough to control the weeds. |
Roundup resistant waterhemp in alfalfa
