Forage Varieties

Alfalfa

Alfalfa currently tops all other perennial forage crops as a producer of homegrown feed. Most of the alfalfa grown in New York state is seeded with perennial grass. High-yielding and versatile, alfalfa serves well for hay, silage, green chop, and pasture. It produces a high-protein, palatable feed. Alfalfa also fills an important role in crop rotations, improving soil structure and building soil fertility for future grass and grain crops.

Alfalfa is a deep-rooted crop that does best on deep, well-drained soils. Alfalfa also needs a well-limed soil; it gives top performance on soils with pH levels of 6.5 or higher. It does poorly on acid soils, and soil acidity is often noted as the major limiting factor on alfalfa growth in New York. Acidic soils must be limed to a pH of 6.5 or higher to maintain high-yielding alfalfa stands.

On well-drained soils, alfalfa can produce high yields for many years, but it will yield poorly and die soon on poorly drained soils. Tile and other drainage aids can improve the soil's ability to grow good alfalfa. Trefoil and red clover offer better choices for good production on sites with poor or spotty drainage patterns.

Alfalfa seedlings need phosphorus and potassium at planting time. Older stands need topdressing to maintain high yields. An ample fertility program provides nutrients for recovery after harvest, good winter survival, and high yields. Phosphorus and potassium are musts, but nitrogen rarely, if ever, pays on alfalfa because nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules can provide enough nitrogen for top yields. For details on fertilizer suggestions, see Table 3.

Modern alfalfa varieties have been bred for resistance to one or more of five diseases that can thin alfalfa stands in New York. These diseases include bacterial wilt, caused by bacteria present in most New York alfalfa soils; Verticillium wilt, a soilborne disease that can kill susceptible plants in their second or third year; Phytophthora root rot, caused by a soilborne fungus often found in wet areas of fields; anthracnose, found in warmer areas of the state, particularly the Hudson Valley; and Fusarium wilt, common in New York soils but probably not often economically damaging. Phytophthora hits hardest in the seedling year, and the other diseases affect mature stands in their second and third year of production.

Check Table 5 for variety reactions to these specific diseases. Choose varieties that are listed as R (resistant) or HR (highly resistant) for diseases found in your area.

Several diseases and insects attack alfalfa in other parts of the country but have not been identified as problems in New York. These include Aphanomyces root rot and pea aphids. Resistance to these diseases appears to have no economic value in New York.

The varieties listed in Table 5 include several that were developed at Cornell for specific adaptation to New York State conditions. These include Eclipse, Guardsman, Oneida Ultra, Preferred, and NY9558.

Claims of improved feeding quality are being made for several varieties, including multifoliolate alfalfa strains. Several recent varieties have been released with claims of improved feeding quality. Our tests show that minor differences in feeding quality do exist. However, effects on milk production have yet to be established.

Timely cutting and leaf-saving harvest practices are far more important in affecting forage quality than leaf or plant type. Choose varieties with strong disease resistance and high yield potential that are well adapted to your farm and needs.

Several leafhopper-resistant varieties have been released. Resistance comes from fine hairs on stems and leaves, which hoppers tend to avoid. Resistant varieties may surpass other strains when leafhopper pressure is heavy. Spraying may still pay under heavy hopper pressure.

Birdsfoot Trefoil

Birdsfoot trefoil is a long-lived legume with high yield potential on slightly acidic soils with drainage less than the best for alfalfa. Trefoil also does well as a perennial forage on hard-to-plow meadows and pastures. Trefoil is bloat free, with no case ever recorded in animals grazing on trefoil. On fields where drainage is a problem, trefoil can outyield alfalfa and outlive red clover by many years.

PARDEE (Cornell, 2000) is a vigorous, upright, hay-type variety. It resists the Fusarium wilt disease that often kills trefoil in New York meadows and pastures. Pardee has surpassed all other varieties in yield regrowth, and survival. Limited supplies of certified seed will be available in 2001.

NORCEN< is a high-yielding variety that combines features of both Empire and Viking and is intermediate between the two in type.

VIKING (Cornell) features high yield, good regrowth, and semierect growth. Viking plants tend to grow erect and so are better adapted to hay harvest than to continuous grazing.

EMPIRE (Cornell) is a low-growing, extra-long-lived, and very winter hardy favorite for pastures or for hay on fields that cannot be cut early. Empire reseeds under close grazing to maintain stands. It flowers two weeks after alfalfa and Viking and thus provides a high-quality crop for hay, silage, and pasture after July 1.

TRIAD (AgriCulver) is a blend of trefoil strains will-adapted to New York.

Red Clover

Red clover is useful for short-term stands and on land where drainage is not adapted to alfalfa. It can be high yielding and produce high-quality forage but typically is difficult to dry for haymaking. Red clover is normally a two-year crop, including the year of establishment and one year of top production. Modern varieties may persist for a second hay year because of their resistance to anthracnose stem disease. Root borers (the clover root borer and the clover root curculio) soon destroy clover root systems. These insects can and will kill out most clover plants by the end of the second hay year. Red clover has been used successfully as a companion crop during establishment of reed canarygrass. As red clover dies out, it is replaced by the slow-to-establish reed canarygrass.

MARATHON is a high-yielding variety with resistance to northern anthracnose and powdery mildew. Marathonšs parents include lines selected for resistance to the clover root borer. Marathon appears to persist better than many other clover varieties, averaging slightly higher yields in the second harvest year (third year after seeding).

ARLINGTON (Wisconsin) features high yield and resistance to northern anthracnose and powdery mildew diseases. Arlington has been widely grown and has proven its dependability as a first-rate clover variety.

Other modern varieties include PLUS (Seedway), ENDURE and TEMPO (AgriCulver), START (Barenbrug), CINNAMON and ROYAL RED (Agway), CHIEFTON (Chemgro), RED BARON (Hoffman), and VESNA and KVARTA (DLF Trifolium).

Alsike Clover

Alsike clover persists on poorly drained sites and was commonly included in mixes for wet soils. Alsike will normally yield less than birdsfoot trefoil or several grasses. Individual alsike plants rarely persist beyond a year or two, although self-reseeding may maintain a partial stand. Alsike makes good feed for cows but not for horses. Horses will not graze alsike unless they have nothing else to eat. Horses forced to eat alsike may suffer a photochemical reaction that can cause hair loss and, in rare cases, liver damage and death.

Crownvetch

Crownvetch is a perennial legume that spreads by underground roots and natural reseeding. It develops excellent ground cover for soil conservation purposes on steep slopes, road banks, and other easily eroded areas. Once established, crownvetch spreads over a wide area, and its vigorous, dense vegetation effectively suppresses weed growth. It grows on well- to moderately well-drained soils and has pH and plant nutrient requirements similar to those of birdsfoot trefoil.

Crownvetch can also be used as a hay and pasture crop, although its long stems make traditional hay harvest difficult. Normally crownvetch is not equal to alfalfa in hay yields but is more persistent under pasture situations when grazing pressure is kept moderate.

PENNGIFT and EMERALD are varieties well adapted to New York conditions.