Haby, Vincent A.

Leonard, Allen T.

Redmon, L. A.

Robinson, J. V.

English

Texas A&amp;M Repository

    PUBLICATIONS 2004 YIELD ESTIMATES FOR ALFALFA FOLLOWING FOUR YEARS OF ON-FARMPRODUCTION RESEARCHVincent Haby, Allen Leonard, Larry Redmon, and James RobinsonBackground. In 1999, the USDA Southern Region Sustainable Agriculture Researchand Education program provided funding that allowed us to expand our research on alfalfa toinclude evaluation of field-scale plantings of alfalfa on stakeholder farms. Sites were located onselected farms using criteria determined from previous studies on Coastal Plain soils in thevicinity of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Overton. Selection criteria included (1) awell-drained and aerated soil, (2) subsoil pH above 5.5 or soluble aluminum levels less than 1.5ppm in the top four feet of surface soil, and (3) a sandy surface soil with yellow to red color in thezone of clay accumulation or B-horizon. Gray colored clay in the B-horizon indicates prolongedwet soil conditions that alfalfa could not tolerate, so those sites were rejected for alfalfa.Selected sites were treated with limestone to raise soil pH to 7.0 and fertilized withphosphorus, potassium, sulfur, magnesium, and boron according to recommendations based onsoil analysis. The limestone was incorporated into the soil by disking, followed by rolling the soilto firm the seedbed. Bermudagrass was eliminated by disking. Regrowth was sprayed withRoundupill where needed. On low-fertility soils, the typical annual fertilizer treatment included120 lb P20 S, 350 lb K20, 40 lb S, 20 lb Mg, and 3.5 lb of B/acre. The potassium treatment wassplit-applied so that Y3 of the total was applied in late fall or during winter as a blend with thephosphorus, sulfur, magnesium, and boron, Y3 was applied after the second cutting, and theremaining Y3 was added using muriate of potash (0-0-62) and K-Mag (0-0-22, 11% Mg, and22%S) blended to apply additional magnesium and sulfur.) When the soil tested medium inphosphorus, the annual rate of P20 S was decreased to 80 Ib/acre. The alfalfa varieties,Amerigraze 702 and GrazeKing were seeded in early Dec. 1999. Seeding this late in fall is notrecommended, but we waited for adequate soil moisture to ensure germination and survival of theseedlings. Broadleaf weeds and grasses were controlled as needed using Pursuit and Poast,respectively. Alfalfa weevil was sprayed using Fury 1.5 EC at the threshold level of about 40%of stems on which new leaves showed chewing damage by the weevil larvae. Lady beetlescontrolled aphids. Alfalfa leafhopper that appears in summer needed control on only a few sitesand Sevin XLR Plus or Malathion adequately controlled this insect. Stakeholders harvested thealfalfa usually at 1/1Oth bloom. Just before each harvest, we collected four yield estimates fromeach variety by hand clipping all the forage inside a randomly placed meter square quadrant.These samples were oven dried and yield was estimated based on 12% moisture hay.39Research Findings. Alfalfa production evaluations were located on stakeholder sites inGregg, Cherokee, Anderson, and Smith counties on the Griffin, Taylor (now Threlkeld), Riley,and 7-P Ranches, respectively. Alfalfa established on the Kilgore College Farm succumbed towet soil the second season. Four-year total yield was highest on the 7-P Ranch where the averagewas slightly more than 5 tons/acre/year for both varieties (Table 1). Alfalfa yield on the GriffinRanch followed closely averaging 4.8 tons/acre for Amerigraze 702 and 4.5 tons/acre forGrazeKing. Yield was similar between varieties on the Taylor and Riley Ranches. Whenaveraged over all sites and years shown in Table I, the total yield for GrazeKing was 17.92tons/acre and for Amerigraze 702 was 18.19 tons/acre. Amerigraze 702 is dormancy rated 7 andGrazeKing is 5.Table I. Four-year total yield of 12% moisture alfalfa hay by variety and ranch, 2000-2003.VarietyAmerigraze 702GrazeKingAmerigraze 702GrazeKingGriffin ranch Taylor ranch Seven-P ranch Riley ranch----------------------------Hay, tons/acre at 12% moisture--------------------------19.16 17.83 20.70 15.0718.09 17.57 20.74 15.29----------------Stand remaining after four years of production, %-----------------47: 76t 57: 54t13§ 64 53 41t Taylor and Riley alfalfa was rated as percent coverage of the soil surface in alfalfa near harvest time.t Griffin and 7-P alfalfa was rated as percent of crowns at 20 ft intervals along a tape.§ GrazeKing was on field area closer to a drainage way and had extensive invasion of bermudagrass.The major soil series and taxonomic class descriptions on which alfalfa was grown oneach ranch are shown in Table 2. The Bowie soil on the Taylor and Seven-P Ranches is anexcellent soil for alfalfa production. The Kirvin soil on the Griffin Ranch also produced goodyields because the subsoil pH levels were well above 5.5 to 4-ft deep. This Kirvin is a morehighly leached soil than is the Trawick. The Trawick is a Hapludalf that is a red soil with higherclay content and base saturation. The Trawick subsoil pH was marginal and this site did notproduce alfalfa as well as the other two soils.Table 2. Major soil series on which alfalfa was grown on each ranch.Ranch Soil series Taxonomic class (all begin with "fine")Griffin Kirvin very fine sandy loam mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic HapludultsTaylor Bowie fine sandy loamSeven-P Bowie fine sandy loamRiley Trawick fine sandy loamloamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Plinthic Paleudultsloamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Plinthic Paleudultsmixed, active, thermic Mollie Hapludalfs40

Yield estimates for alfalfa following four years of on-farm production research

Texas A&M University

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Yield estimates for alfalfa following four years of on-farm production research

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Yield estimates for alfalfa following four years of on-farm production research

Abstract

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Full text

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Texas A&amp;M Repository

Texas A&M University

Texas A&M Repository