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Irrigated Alfalfa in Ontario
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Ben D, N CA
Posted 10/15/2007 21:29 (#220054 - in reply to #219778)
Subject: RE: Irrigated Alfalfa in Ontario



Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot
How would it be irrigated? What is the water source, deep well or surface-pump lift? That is a pretty shallow soil for alfalfa, which means it may need frequent irrigations. Might not be a problem with a pivot, but might get expensive flooding it. One other thing I'd be concerned about is how well the rock is fractured. If it isn't fractured enough water can sit on top of the rock and end up waterlogging the alfalfa. Friend of mine has a pivot that has some real shallow rock in spots with heavy clay. They can't ever rip the ground deep enough to break up and mix the clay because of the rock, as a result it gets waterlogged everytime the circle goes around. Ends up killing those spots out.

I've got a spot of shallow rock on the field next to my house, and it ends up drying up in between cuttings. The soil there just can't hold enough water like the rest of the place can. We try and dry the field up 10 days before cutting, maybe 7 when it is real hot and dry. Add seven days to do the hay, and those two weeks without water really hurt those spots. The hay never dies, it just never produces much. It takes an extra week to green up and start growing, and then it runs out of water. These spots are real small so I can't change much but it does show you how important being able root down deep is.

UC Davis has lots of info on alfalfa.

http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/+producing/irrigation.html
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