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Alfalfa Tour
ELDON COLE
MT. VERNON, MO.
Tim Schnakenberg, extension agronomy specialist and Andy McCorkill, extension livestock specialist teamed up with Tri-County Farms near Ash Grove for an alfalfa event in late April. Tri-County raises 350 acres of alfalfa and are experimenting this season with irrigation.
Justin Williams, partner in Tri-County spoke and led off by saying alfalfa is good feed! His buyers may be skeptical at first, since it costs more than mature fescue. He said once they try it they keep coming back. His hay is finding a good market in the south and south eastern part of the U.S.
Craig’s List is a good marketing tool for him. He stressed that his 65 pound bales sell for $6 each. To get that price you must test it. His hay runs it he 180 to 225 RFV range.
His goal is to harvest at 30-day intervals at one-quarter bloom. He does not use a tedder as it causes the loss of too many leaves which is where the quality nutrients are. He prices his big bales based on the RFV number.
Tim offered this wisdom in his talk, “there’s a place for alfalfa in the Ozarks.” He said, those attending today fall into these categories.
• Some may grow and feed it.
• Some may grow and sell it.
• Some may buy it to feed.
• Some will decide it’s not for them.
I’m a big booster for alfalfa as a supplement for cattle consuming fescue. We’ve had two trials at the Southwest Center using alfalfa haylage as a fall-born calf creep feed. Try it, you’ll like it as the calves really go after it and have gained around 0.75 lb. over the non-creeped calves. ∆
ELDON COLE: Extension Livestock Specialist, University of Missouri
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