← Forage and pasture H15-04 · Module 4 of 7 · Pages: 19 · Worksheets: 6

Lucerne and clovers

How to choose, sow, cut and dry lucerne (alfalfa), red and white clover, bird's-foot trefoil and sainfoin, and how to graze them without bloat

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Lucerne and clovers

In short

  • Lucerne needs pH 6.5–7.5 and free-draining soil; on acid or wet soil red clover or bird's-foot trefoil does better.
  • Sow lucerne at 2 g/m² (20 kg/ha, 18 lb per acre), shallow at 1–2 cm (½ in), in April–May or from mid-July to early August.
  • Cut at early flowering, every 30–40 days; the last cut 4–6 weeks before the first frost.
  • When drying, the leaf is the most valuable part: turn while it's still a little damp with dew.
  • Bloat: never put hungry animals on young, wet lucerne or clover; 7–10 days to switch over, hay before grazing.
  • Buy only certified seed, because of dodder.

What's inside

Chapters

  1. Why legumes
  2. Which species for your soil
  3. Soil and preparation
  4. Sowing
  5. The first year
  6. Cutting and cuts
  7. Drying lucerne and clover
  8. Grazing without bloat
  9. Annual mixtures for green fodder
  10. Dodder, pests and diseases
  11. Rotation after lucerne
  12. Common mistakes
  13. Printable checklist

Worksheets

  • Seed and lime calculator
  • Lucerne per animal
  • Cutting log
  • Field plan and rotation
  • Buying seed and cost sheet
  • Lucerne and clover calendar

Fields and checkboxes can be filled in with Adobe Acrobat Reader (desktop and mobile), and the calculator adds up by itself. Filling in may not work in some browsers. A print version comes with the screen PDF.

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