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| I face the same problems you are asking about, each fall, as we usually plant at least 2 & sometimes 3 new pivots of alfalfa. I prefer fall planting because of the weed control you get, over spring seeding. With fall planting, the seedling has several months to get well established before it is “bombarded” with chemical (Raptor) in the spring. This, in my opinion, is a real set back for this new seedling. With fall seeding and then spring application of Raptor, I feel the effect are not quite as severe on the new plant.
VanElder, the BASF rep. in Boise has told me that you can replant into newly established alfalfa
to “sweeten it up” about 10-14 days after the application of Raptor. However, it is for drilling only and not for broadcasting the seed. Since Raptor has some soil residual, the disc openers on the drill will throw it out of the way for the new seed. I have done this for years and never had a problem with the 2nd seeding. It has come up and blended into the 1st seeding real nice. There may be a few weeds that will come up in the drill row, but are very minimal, usually are gone after the 1st cutting and their presence in the baled hay is not noticeable.
There is no such thing as autotoxcity in seedling alfalfa. Replanting to touch up spots is no problem.
I have sprayed Select on fall germinated cereal’s and it has cleaned up nice. Some years we just do not get it all sprayed as there are more important project going on. In that case, I will spray the Select with the Raptor in the spring. I think the volunteer cereals actually may help insulate the new seedling alfalfa during the winter. In my area, it is not unusual to get below 0 for a couple of months each winter.
The one problem you may have with spraying Select now is that the cereal needs to be actively growing to take up the Select. You may get some kill, but I question the effectiveness of spraying at your current temp’s.
You will also find that Select will work 100% better with the help of AMS at about 2 qts / acre.
Crop oil at 1 qt./acre. | |
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Raptor on Alfalfa in cold weather
