Learn how to achieve top yields to maximize profits. This 2011 edition offers the latest information and strategies for alfalfa establishment, production, and harvest. Includes many color photos and charts.

Learn how to achieve top yields to maximize profits. This 2011 edition offers the latest information and strategies for alfalfa establishment, production, and harvest. Includes many color photos and charts.

This comprehensive guide for western alfalfa growers brings together the most current information and recommendations in nearly all areas of alfalfa management, including stand establishment, fertilization, irrigation, pest management, and harvesting

How to grow great alfalfa and other forages. Growing a healthy stand, promoting vigorous forage growth through soil life, weed control and balanced soil fertility. Describing when forages should be cut (pre-bloom, first bloom or mid-bloom). This book shows how to measure forage quality.

A vigorously growing, dense stand of alfalfa forms the basis for profitable forage production, but it depends on high yields. Land, machinery, & most other operating costs stay the same whether harvesting 3 tons/acre or 6 tons/acre. Top yields in the U.S. have approached 10 tons/acre while average yields are around 3 tons/acre. This book describes what it takes to move from a 3-ton yield to 6 or 9 tons/acre. Chapters: select a field carefully; test soil before planting; select a good variety; planting; fertilize annually; management of manure, weeds, disease, & insects; when to rotate from alfalfa; forage quality; & management of harvest, fall, & hay. Illustrated.

Cover crops slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. You¿ll reap dividends on your cover crop investments for years, since their benefits accumulate over the long term. This book will help you find which ones are right for you. Captures farmer and other research results from the past ten years. The authors verified the info. from the 2nd ed., added new results and updated farmer profiles and research data, and added 2 chap. Includes maps and charts, detailed narratives about individual cover crop species, and chap. about aspects of cover cropping.

Alfalfa is considered the “queen of forages” because it is high yielding, high in forage quality, a persistent perennial, and resistant to many pests and diseases. Because of these qualities, alfalfa is not a crop that is typically thought to benefit from overseeding or companion cropping. However, overseeding can enhance your yield and the quality of your stand, and companion cropping may hold significant pest-management advantages. Find out when and why you may want to overseed or companion crop to reap these benefits. Inside you’ll find information on: • Factors to consider for overseeding including selecting the right species • Seeding dates and rates for various crops used in overseeding • Harvest compatibility • Risks and benefits of companion cropping • Various possible companion crops • Pest interactions in mixed alfalfa crops • Quality, market and economic considerations of mixed alfalfa crops This concise, easy-to-use, 31-page guide is profusely illustrated with 31 color photographs and 12 tables.

This publication will assist growers, crop advisors, and farm managers in making well-informed decisions about weed control strategies on newly planted alfalfa. You'll learn management practices that can help avoid herbicide injury problems on alfalfa. You'll also learn about herbicides that can be used on alfalfa and how they can be combined to increase effectiveness. Includes 34 color photographs that show herbicide phytotoxicity symptoms on seedling alfalfa and on weed, four useful herbicide susceptibility tables, and an herbicide quick guide.