Alfalfa Food Plot Question

[Kdog]

Recently I was reading an article in my QDMA Quality Whitetails magazine about drought resistant food plots. The author rated alfalfa as the number one drought resistant crop. I have a nice open area at my lease in Kinney county with good dirt. I have been wanting to plant something there for a while. I have read where a few people in here have had good luck with alfalfa. I have a few questions and would like to hear any tips.

1) would fall be best to plant or spring?
2) we have hogs. Will they completely destroy this thing before it gets established?
3) how long before it becomes drought tolerant? This area of Texas is what I would describe as semi-arid.

Thanks!

Kevin

[Plain Lucky]

Based on pretty limited experience and research...

1) Fall so that it will have more time to develop a root system before the stressful summer heat

2). Probably unless you have the ability to put panels around your entire plot or hunt it often at night which might spook your deer

3) If you have a good stand next fall you should be good for another year or two

Also, alfalfa seems to do better in sandy soil from what I have seen. I would recommend taking a sample to the local soil conservation office for a test to make sure your soil is right for alfalfa. If you have no way of irrigating I would also check out your average rainfall to verify that it meets the needs if alfalfa.

[Kdog]

Thanks Lucky. I am most worried about the hogs. I have had a hard enough time keeping them away from my protein feeder. I have huge pens, but the food plot would be even bigger. Thanks for the advice!

[Plain Lucky]

Don't know if you've priced alfalfa yet but it is darn expensive too!

But it does draw the deer. If inadequate rainfall and inability to irrigate are issues you might consider planting only in your feeder pens somehow. That would eliminate the pig issue and make a small enough plot that you could haul water - some hassle to that though. The deer can also be a hindrance on small plots as they will nip it off too early and not allow it to grow. If you've been getting QDMA Quality Whitetail magazine very long you have likely seen their temporary fence systems that are designed to keep the deer out until the plot establishes and you are ready to let them in.

ttt for ya

[unclefish]

I've never planted it but have been researching it for a few years because I want to try it too. The ranch where we elk hunt in NM has been growing it for years and I've picked their brain about it.

Your pH has to be darn near 7.....6.5 and up is pretty much a requirement. It can't tolerate acidic soils. And it has to have good pH 1-2 feet below the surface. You may not have viable soils for growing alfalfa.

Their root systems can be 5-6 feet deep on an established field....very drought resistant.

Fall planted is best so they can establish roots all during the fall/winter. They have different dormancy varieties for northern and southern states. For Texas a 7-9 dormancy is best.

Cutting and baling keeps an established plot managed and you can get several years out of it....4-5 years. If you can't bale it then keeping it grazed will promote new growth that the deer love. Mowing without baling will cause thatch build up and will lessen the life of your plot.

[jmangrem]

I bought 20 lbs of dryland from Turner Seed this year. Planting this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes...

[BIG BONE]

^^^^^hopefully it goes well

[Kdog]

Well I made a lazy attempt at a food plot opening weekend. I got some "Bow Stand" from the whitetail institute. It has a mix of stuff. I used a rake to prepare my dirt. Didn't do much else. Looks like the only thing that grew was some of the clover and oats.

Not sure if I'll bother with planting in the future. My friend told me winter wheat and oats are the best thing that will actually grow where we hunt.

Like I said I didn't put a lot into it, but I figured it would grow better than this with all the rain we have had.

Sept 28th



Oct 20th