For many years we have marketed FUTURE alfalfa and then STANDOUT alfalfa, of the four dairy hay varieties that we have had they proved to be the best. When we first had our plant breeder develop a variety for us it was FUTURE, a fine stemmed, very leafy dairy hay. Unfortunately what we found was that the stems were too fine for areas with a lot of wind around harvest. The wind would lay the whole field over. So, we went back to our breeder for a hay with a little bit heavier of a stem. That's how we came up with STANDOUT alfalfa STANDOUT alfalfa produced excellent hay but would withstand the wind. It also proved to be more drought tolerant and a bit more winterhardy. Of course, after complaining about the stems being too fine, we had a few dairies complaining about the stems on the STANDOUT being a little too heavy. That's when we started looking for a variety sort of in between the two. By crossing the best of the FUTURE and the STANDOUT alfalfa we came up with an alfalfa that because of it's aggressiveness we named it WOLVERINE.
WOLVERINE brand alfalfa has turned out to be a ferocious dairy hay, bred for the harsher conditions of the intermountain west. It produces a fine stemmed dairy hay that does well in a variety of soils and climes and will consistently yield over 7 tons/acre in the Boise valley. Longevity so far has been 8 years but that's all the longer that we have had it so we know that it will go longer. In areas that lose the water after the fist cutting our customers say that they can usually get a good second. In the higher elevations farmers are taking two full cuttings instead of 1½. It has shown to have better spring cool tolerance and better summer high heat tolerance than other tap root varieties. This is probably because we have always bred for hardiness as well as quality.
Fall Dorm. 3
BW R
Vert MR
FW MR
AN LR
PRR R
PeaA R
Stem N MR
* Relative Feed Value: 180 to 230
* Crude Protein: 22% to 28%
* Depending on location and cutting
We have found that alfalfa varieties that are hardy and have moderate rather than high resistance last longer. It seems that high resistance is directly related to lower longevity. In WOLVERINE we believe that we have the best for high yeilding, long lasting, high quality stand.
ALFALFA SEEDING INSTRUCTIONS:
Over the years I have had to seed alfalfa in different ways and under different conditions. I've also tried as many shortcuts as I could think of - most of which did not work. As my father used to say, (usually with a smack to the head) "DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME BOY!" Very good advice that I intend to pass on now. Alfalfa seed needs to be planted under the surface anywhere from 1/8th to 1/4th inches deep for optimum growing conditions. I've seen alfalfa seed put into the ground over an inch deep and still sprout because that is where the moisture was and the soil was worked above the seed so the sprouts didn't have to fight to get to the surface. This, however, is not the norm.
Alfalfa seed is small when the root first peeks out of the seed, if it hits an air pocket, it shrivels up and dies. To keep this from happening the soil needs to be tight around the seed. This can be achieved by compacting with a Groundhog, having good packer wheels on the drill, or the use rain or sprinklers to silt in around the seed.
The best way that I have found to apply alfalfa or grass seed, is to drill it in or broadcast with fertilizer into worked ground and roll it with a Groundhog or Cultipacker with the harrows up. This method works exceedingly well on frozen, worked ground. Broadcasting and harrowing does not work as well because the harrow has a tendency to roll some seed too deep, and to leave some seed on the surface where it will swell from the moisture and then dry out which kills the seed. Broadcasting onto unworked soil should be a last resort and needs to be harrowed extensively to get some soil around the seed. Seed can spread onto the snow in the winter but again, this is less than optimal.
Setting a drill can be difficult and frustrating. Most all drills have a chart that tells you what setting to use for each type of seed. Some are quite good while others leave quite a lot to be desired. I have found a method that works extremely well, but requires an accurate scale that measures Olbs to 20lbs. I tape baggies to each tube on the drill and drive a tenth of an acre, then weigh the seed from all the baggies.
This will give me 1/10th of the rate per acre. If you wish to plant the field at a rate of 20lbs an acre, the reading from the baggies would be 2lbs on 1/10th of an acre. I usually would try for 1.8-1.9lbs. (or 18-19lbs per acre) so that I don't run out of seed before the end of the field. Remember, you will lose seed to overlapping and to the turns at the end of each row. The way to calculate 1/10th acre is 44,000 sq. ft. divided by 10, divided by the width of your drill in feet. This will tell you how far you need to drive with that drill to seed 1/10th of an acre. (I use my laser range finder and two T posts to mark that distance.) Generally speaking, I can have any drill set in about three runs, with the exception of Brillion drills because they don't have any tubes to tape the baggies to.
I hope that my experience will help you . If need be, you are welcome to call me and I will do the best that I can to answer your questions.
The old timers always said that if you have four strains of alfalfa in a blend, and one dies, you will still have a 75% stand. We are doing this to improve the overall survivability of our forager products.
As many of our customers know, we at Ray Brothers Seed have been marketing our Forager PASTURE ALFALFA since 1991. Forager is just what its’ name implies, a pasture alfalfa. It is an extremely aggressive, extremely hardy alfalfa of the creeping root strain.
The parentage of Forager can be traced back to four plants that were brought in from Siberia/Russia at the turn of the century. Part of the parentage of Forager is TRAVOIS, a variety developed by Mel Rumbaugh when he was at South Dakota. We would like to give a special thanks to Mel because with out his encouragement and his patience in answering so many questions and his willingness to pass on some of his tremendous knowledge of alfalfas we would not have arrived at Forager.
Because we don’t have a large seed development budget we are not able to enter our seeds in a lot of the seed trials like the larger seed companies do. Therefore we must rely on what we and our customers find out about how Forager holds up. We have had satisfied customers that have planted Forager in environments that ranged from 7-8 in. annual precipitation to marshy creek bottoms and in soils that ranged in ph from 4.5 to 8.5. They have planted in soils ranging from sand and gravel to heavy clay and in shallow soil over rock or hardpan. Why Forager will grow and thrive in these varied situations we don’t really know but we suspect that it has to do with the aggressiveness of its’ creeping root system and the fact that the plants that we chose to make Forager from were extremely hardy survivor plants. Almost all of our customers plant Forager with grasses. Because of its’ creeping root habit we have found that it will co-exist with grasses for a long period of time. Although the oldest stand that we have in a pasture situation was planted in 1988 we feel that under normal conditions Forager will probably last for 15 to 20 years under grazing.
Forager PASTURE ALFALFA IN PASTURE AND HAY USE
Forager has been planted with just about every cool season grass in North America and some of the warm season grasses. Occasionally we have a customer who can’t seem to get it to start but the vast majority of our customers tell us that they have had excellent results with it. When planted correctly we have had much better success establishing Forager than other varieties of alfalfa. There are only a few grasses that have been able to crowd Forager and they are Garrison Creeping foxtail in very wet conditions and bermuda grass in hot conditions. Where we plant Forager with grass we have seen an increase in both the production and quality of the grass. Several of our customers have monitored their fields and found that within 10 - 12 months after planting Forager with grass that they were able to eliminate nitrogen from their fertilizing. We’ve had customers report as much as 9 ton/acre in 3 1/2 cuttings but we normally expect 6-6 1/2 ton/acre in 3 cuttings. Usually this will give us 10 - 14 inches of regrowth to late fall graze. We have found that spring grazing is very beneficial to Forager.
In the recent drought years some of our customers have been using straight Forager for hay production where there is very limited water for irrigation. What they have found has surprised us. Forager puts up a fine stemmed, high quality hay and will produce up to a third more in two cuttings than their other top hay varieties when there is limited moisture. Quite a few of our ranchers have been planting it lately for hay production instead of for grazing.
Forager is a hardy survivor that produces better than Travois and withstands grazing, drought, and competition better than Travois.
It is an alfalfa that thrives on stress. The plants in plots by themselves that get no grazing and no competition from grass simply do no grow as vigorously or last as long as the plants in a pasture situation.
Cattle and sheep consistently show much better gain in pounds per acre on Forager/grass mix than on grass alone and this is with more animal units per acre. Under rigidly controlled rotational grazing on Forager/grass mix under irrigation we have been able to double the animal units and show a 35% plus increase in lb/acre. With cutbacks being made in public land grazing allotments by the BLM most stockmen are having to look at revamping their programs to maximize return/acre on their land and Forager helps them do just that.
BLOAT INCIDENT
There will probably always be a problem with bloat as long as there are cattle and sheep and we don’t in any way claim that Forager is a non- bloating alfalfa. We have had some cattle and some sheep that have bloated. However, if you look at the number of sheep and cattle that have been grazing on Forager/grass pastures the percentages are remarkably low.
VIGOR AND GROWTH RATE
Forager shows a very vigorous growth early in the season which allows for a first cutting that is from 1 to 2 weeks earlier than most northern alfalfas. This is important in areas that only get one or two cutting as it allows for a better chance at putting up a good crop and allows more regrowth for fall grazing. Forager has shown healthier fields and heavier yields if it is grazed some. We have found that if it is foraged lightly at 8 to 10 weeks after germination that the plant will put more effort into root growth for a while and that the roots will expand up to 300% more than Forager plants that are not grazed initially.
PERSISTENCE Although creeping rooted alfalfas are the most persistent alfalfas under grazing some are more persistent than others and Forager has proved to be about the best. It will withstand extreme drought, extreme cold, very wet conditions, heavy grazing, and aggressive competition from grass. It has the ability to produce stem buds from laterally speeding roots which send up shoots and produces a plant that can range from 6 in. to 36 in. in diameter. Sometimes shoots will emerge as far as 36 inches from the parent plant and form a second plant.
This characteristic permits a close association between grass and alfalfa, reduces trampling injury, thickens stands and decreases winter loss from soil heaving. The “creeping root” characteristic should not be confused with Rhizomanous or spreading systems which don’t have the ability to stay in under intense competition of grasses or the stress of heavy grazing.
USE IN RANGE AND PASTURE
Contrary to other seed companies, we also raise cattle , horses, sheep and hay and have a working knowledge of the problems faced by our customers. Although we selected Forager as primarily a pasture alfalfa, we came up with an alfalfa that does quite well as a hay and extremely well in a grass/alfalfa combination. The primary use of Forager is long term improvement of pasture and range. Mixed with grass for new seeding or interseeded into existing grass Forager will greatly increase the AMU’s of the land. It also allows for a grazing and haying program that increases a ranchers’ land use options.
SEEDING
For irrigated pasture or hay Forager should be seeded at a rate of 2 to 5 lb./ acre with 6 to 10 lb./acre of grass. This is a rough guide based on our experience across the intermountain west. In some areas more alfalfa is needed and in some areas more grass is needed. For dry land seeding 2 to 5 lbs/ acre of Forager with 3 to 6 lbs/ acre of grass is a good average. A lot of the success rate depends more on how good a farming job is done than on how much seed is used. No seed is going to do well if it is buried too deep or is left laying on top of the soil. When interseeding into existing stands of grass it is best to graze or clip the grass as short as possible and then open the ground some by either harrowing or using a heavy double disk drill. When using a drill, 2 to 5 lb/acre of seed should be dropped into the groove behind the disks and then rolled in with presswheels or a roller/packer. If seed is to be put on with a broadcaster then the ground should be harrowed and then at least 5 lb. of seed broadcasted and then reharrowed and rolled. Care should be taken to ensure sufficient moisture and heat are available to guarantee germination. Forager can be spring or late summer seeded with good results and can be winter seeded for spring germination after the ambient ground temperature is below 40 degrees F.
We at Ray Brothers have felt for several years that far too much emphasis has been placed on diseases and disease index ratings while not enough emphasis has been placed on fall dormancy and winter survival ratings in regards to the persistence of alfalfa stands. Many breeding programs assumed that high disease ratings would promote winter survival and stand longevity. They were wrong ... DEAD WRONG! Winter survival and high disease resistances do not necessarily go hand in hand.
A less winterhardy variety of alfalfa simply won't survive as well as a more winterhardy variety no matter how many resistances are bred into it. Breeding a Brahma to be resistant to all kinds of diseases won't get it through a tough winter. You should have used a Hereford or an Angus to start with. The Fall Dormancy rating is a measure of how well the plant takes care of itself and how well it withstands the winters. Fall dormancies and resistances interact and affect winter survival (as can be seen in the following study). An alfalfa variety with a dormancy rating of 4 or higher tend to be more of a Flemish or Peruvian strain where as those with a dormancy rating of 3 or lower tend to be more of the Turkistan / M. falcata / M. varia strains which originated in Turkey, Afghanistan and Russia/Siberia. These varieties not only are more winterhardy but also tend to have finer stems.
The following is a portion of a thesis done by Ronald Blake Ipson which supports not only this but also the feelings that we have had for a good many years that Breeding Programs are breeding for resistances more to sell seed than to help the farmers. Over the years in the field we've found that the varieties with the longest viable standlifes have not necessarily had high resistances.
THIRTY YEARS OF WISCONSIN ALFALFA VARIETY TRIALS, by Ronald Blake Ipson. A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (AGRONOMY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON 1991. Used by permission.
The complete Thesis is available to anyone requesting it.
"The assumptions inherent in the variety recommendations made in the past have been that for alfalfa varieties to persist in Wisconsin, they need to have resistance to every major disease, and that higher levels of resistance will result in higher yields. This has led to the present situation, in which most new varieties, in response to market demands, are developed to have a disease resistance index of almost 25.
The analyses performed on yield data of varieties across Wisconsin showed that, overall, disease resistance had little or no effect on yield. The correlations of yield with disease resistance ratings were quite low and all decreased over time.
With the exception of Phytophthora Root Rot and Aphanomyces Root Rot, alfalfa diseases seldom effect yield in the first or second year, even when conditions are favorable for their growth. No increase in yield is seen by increasing levels of resistance above low-or moderate-resistant.
Inclusion of high levels of disease resistance comes at a cost. When those particular diseases are not limiting yield, resistant varieties yield less than susceptible varieties. A true biological relationship with persistence was observed with fall dormancy. While varieties with lower levels of dormancy out-yield more-dormant varieties in young stands, this advantage decreased over time, and reversed. In older stands, more-dormant varieties out-yielded less-dormant varieties. Fall dormancy ratings of 2 or 3 are required to maintain a stand for longer than 3 years. While it has been shown that diseases do affect plants and can cause illness and death, it has also been shown that all factors which affect plants interact. Thus any factor that places more stress on a plant makes it more susceptible to injury by other factors.
Newer varieties are expected to be higher yielding because they are the products of more cycles of selection, from improved parental sources. Most of the yield gain in newer varieties has been due to selection of parents that transmit improved yield potential to parental progency."
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