{"id":828,"date":"2020-01-23T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T19:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/?p=828"},"modified":"2020-01-23T15:10:18","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T20:10:18","slug":"alfalfa-in-bermuda-checklist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/2020\/01\/alfalfa-in-bermuda-checklist\/","title":{"rendered":"Alfalfa in Bermuda Checklist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There has been some questions on inter-seeding alfalfa in bermudagrass. Attached is a link to the <strong>Southeast Cattle Advisor<\/strong> website for good references and a good article on what all factors you need to consider for this to be successfully done.<\/p>\n<p><b>This article was written by Dr. Jennifer Tucker (UGA Beef Nutrition and Forage Managment Specialist)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.secattleadvisor.com\/2019\/04\/15\/alfalfa-in-bermudagrass-checklist\/\">https:\/\/www.secattleadvisor.com\/2019\/04\/15\/alfalfa-in-bermudagrass-checklist\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here is the article written below as well.<\/p>\n<p><u>Selecting the Area:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.secattleadvisor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Photo-May-01-1-27-30-PM.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2187 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.secattleadvisor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Photo-May-01-1-27-30-PM-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/u><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Soil Test<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Target pH should be 6.5 or greater and subsoil pH (~1 ft below soil surface) should be 5 or greater. Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) levels should be in at least the medium range, and micronutrients Molybdenum (Mo) and Boron (B) are very important in Alfalfa production.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Soil Type<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Be sure to select an area with a well-drained, deep, and fertile soil. Avoid areas that tend to hold water for long periods of time.\u00a0 Just like bermudagrass, alfalfa does not like to have \u201cwet feet\u201d.\u00a0 Poor drainage can be detrimental to alfalfa stands.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prior Weed Control<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Avoid areas that have had broadleaf chemistries with residual soil activity applied within the last year (i.e., GrazonNext and Pastora).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u>Prior to Planting:<\/u><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Secure Seed<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Consult your local extension agent and review regional alfalfa variety test results to select a variety suitable for growth in your area. Not all alfalfas are created equal \u2013 selecting the right variety for your location is imperative! \u00a0Purchase seed well in advance of need.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.secattleadvisor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/March-1st-2017-4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2186 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.secattleadvisor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/March-1st-2017-4-e1555343069944-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Apply Fertilizer and Lime<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Based on soil test results, apply fertility to keep soil within the recommended ranges. Do not expect lime to increase soil pH in less than 6-8 months.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Suppress Sod<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Bermudagrass should be grazed or mowed very short (1-2 inches) just prior to interseeding with alfalfa. After cutting, spray with a light rate of a non-selective herbicide (glyphosate) to induce dormancy and suppress the bermudagrass sod.\u00a0\u00a0<strong>This will not kill your Bermudagrass<\/strong>, rather it will induce dormancy (\u201cput it to sleep\u201d).\u00a0<u>This is a<br \/>\nvery important step<\/u>! If skipped, greater challenges and potential alfalfa stand failures are likely.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Plant\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Using a calibrated no-till drill, plant alfalfa directly into bermudagrass sod. Plant\u00a0<strong>no deeper than \u00bd inch!<\/strong>\u00a0Alfalfa is a small seed, so err on the shallow side.\u00a0 Stand failures due to improper planting depth are common, especially in sandier soils.\u00a0 Recommended seeding rate of alfalfa is 20-25 lbs\/acre, however if interseeding on a wider row spacing (i.e. 14-15 inch vs 7-8 inch) you can decrease the seeding rate to 12-15 lbs\/acre.<br \/>\n**Note:\u00a0<em>Most alfalfa seed comes pre-inoculated, however it is always good to check to make sure prior to planting your material!<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u>After Emergence:<\/u><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Insect Pest Management<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Immediately after alfalfa emergence, spray with insecticide (i.e. Mustang Max or Karate) to control mole crickets and other insect pests that may damage young alfalfa plants over winter.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.secattleadvisor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/April-20-27-e1518202488369.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2099 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.secattleadvisor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/April-20-27-e1518202488369-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Weed Pest Management<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 If using an alfalfa with RR technology, use glyphosate as necessary to control winter weeds and re-induce dormancy of bermudagrass in unusually warm winters. Once alfalfa is established, pre-emergent technologies are recommended to help combat common volunteer annual weeds (i.e. annual ryegrass, crabgrass).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Want a one page print out of this checklist? Download our pdf version:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.secattleadvisor.com\/2019\/04\/15\/alfalfa-in-bermudagrass-checklist\/se-cattle-abg-checklist-download\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2179\">SE CATTLE ABG Checklist download<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There has been some questions on inter-seeding alfalfa in bermudagrass. Attached is a link to the Southeast Cattle Advisor website for good references and a good article on what all factors you need to consider for this to be successfully done. This article was written by Dr. Jennifer Tucker (UGA Beef Nutrition and Forage Managment [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cattle","category-forages"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":831,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828\/revisions\/831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/worthag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}