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Falcata - Yellow Alfalfa

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Cowpuncher

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I got a call this morning from the Wind River Seed Company in Wind River, Wyo.

They have Falcata seed available at $7.50 a pound ($7.56 inocculated).

They have a couple of tons available. Anyone wanting to get some of this seed can call Rick at 307-568-3361.

We will be planting ours in April and we will let you know how it all comes out.

CP
 
cowsense said:
What's the story on Falcata alfalfa-new variety or ???? Just curious as I haven't heard of it before!


You might find out about in the archives. If i remember correctly it is a long lived grazing type . Old variety from Siberia.Should work good where you live. I need the Sahara variety.
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
cowsense said:
What's the story on Falcata alfalfa-new variety or ???? Just curious as I haven't heard of it before!


You might find out about in the archives. If i remember correctly it is a long lived grazing type . Old variety from Siberia.Should work good where you live. I need the Sahara variety.

BMR I bought some yellow blossom alfalfa seed a few years ago. One of the selling points for it is that instead of dying when it gets dry it just goes dormant until it rains again. The reason I haven't planted it is that after I bought it someone told me that where it was grown and harvested they had leafy spurge. We don't have any of that at the moment so I've been scared to plant it.
 
I am wondering if Falcata grown on irrigated meadows retains its drought resistance and other dry land traits? What would be the difference between the two varieties?
 
Tumbleweed said:
Big Muddy rancher said:
cowsense said:
What's the story on Falcata alfalfa-new variety or ???? Just curious as I haven't heard of it before!


You might find out about in the archives. If i remember correctly it is a long lived grazing type . Old variety from Siberia.Should work good where you live. I need the Sahara variety.

BMR I bought some yellow blossom alfalfa seed a few years ago. One of the selling points for it is that instead of dying when it gets dry it just goes dormant until it rains again. The reason I haven't planted it is that after I bought it someone told me that where it was grown and harvested they had leafy spurge. We don't have any of that at the moment so I've been scared to plant it.


Could you send a sample to a seed lab and get a purity test done on it?
 
BMR some of the seed I bought had been tested and no weeds were found but I know for a fact where it was harvested there was leafy spurge growing along with the alfalfa. No weed seeds were found but I don't think that meant their might not be any. Kind of worisome.
 
I could be wrong here, and there are always exceptions, but: coming from W. Montana where there is a LOT of leafy spurge, we never did see it growing in hayfields. There is some in the northern part of Fallon County and no one mentions it growing in hay fields.

As I say, I could be wrong, but perhaps your seed is clean because of this. You see it lots of places, that is for sure, but have you ever seen it growing in a hayfield?
 
There seems to be very little of it in the area where I live so far. There is some about twenty five miles from where I live that I have seen in road ditches and pastures. The story I've been told is that an old fellow who ranched there for many years bought hay and got the spurge started there that way. As far as I know no one has moved any hay off that place because of the fear of spreading the seed.

Falcata alfalfa will grow and spread itself in pasture conditions the same as leafy spurge. This seed could be clean and I hope it is. At the time I bought the seed I had only seen leafy spurge a couple of times and couldn't readily identify it. I was told sometime later by people who were very familiar with the weed that there was some growing with the alfalfa where this was harvested.
 
Faster horses said:
I could be wrong here, and there are always exceptions, but: coming from W. Montana where there is a LOT of leafy spurge, we never did see it growing in hayfields. There is some in the northern part of Fallon County and no one mentions it growing in hay fields.

As I say, I could be wrong, but perhaps your seed is clean because of this. You see it lots of places, that is for sure, but have you ever seen it growing in a hayfield?

Spurge WILL grow in hayfields.....I have had it move into the irrigated fields thru the ditchs-- Luckily I have been able to keep it from spreading into the fields and localized to small areas (10-15 plants on about 10 spots all growing in or within 5-10 feet from the ditch- this is on 320 acres of hayland), but for the life of me can't kill it out- without total sterilization of the ground ( which doesn't work in the ditchs).. All grows next to the ditch- but if you do nothing the next plants will show up 10-20-30 feet further out next year........
 
I have 10 acres of Bud Smith's yellow alfalfa planted in the Texas Panhandle under irrigation. We only harvest about 1,000 pounds of seed per year.

We intend to plant about half and sell about half at $15 per PLS pound. We paid $30 per pound for ours.

I would like to know how most people plant and manage their grazing on it, especially when it's extremely dry.

Kim Montgomery
Box 576
Vega, Texas 79092
[email protected]
 
WE plan to plant Falcata in about 1000 acres of new CRP (without NRCS blessing) and another 320 acres of ex-farm ground which has already been seeded to grass twice with poor results.

The seed will be added to the CRP mix, but planted straight in the other ground. The neighbor bought some of that $30.00 seed and just broadcast it into several areas of native pasture with no tillage. It seems to have taken hold and he has ordered some more of the new seed from Wind River

Leafy Spurge is a @#$%^& pain. We have had a lot of it but is is now mostly gone, killed by heavy mixture of 24-d and detergent to make it adhere to the waxy spurge leaves. It is about 99.9% gone and I go out with a hand sprayer several times each year to kill any residual. Haven't had any problems with it spreading by roots.

Our real problem is that the seed has some sort of sail on it and the wind scatters it. Most of what we have left is in scrub oak trees and a real pain to work with.

By the way, spurge will show up in completely new places several miles from existing infestations. We believe that deer eat the stuff and the seed passes through still live. No real other explanation. I would guess that that is how it spread so quickly in the Black Hills area of Wyo-SD.

Nothing worse than a neighbor that doesn't do their part, either.

By the way, I asked Wind River about the seed purity. Their fields are not in a spurge area, but that a small amount of common pennycress seed may be in their Falcata. This is a rea concern only if the pennycress somes up in an aread with dairy cattle since cows that eat it will give milk that is not very flavorable. Pennycress is common throughout tghe western states.
 
If you want to get more information on Falcata give Bud Smith a call. He is a rancher from Lodgepole, small town in NW South Dakota. He has been using it in his pastures for a number of years and is very knowledgeable. He has had a few tours on his place and has worked with SDSU and with the state of Wyoming in its development. He interseeds it in his pastures to increase forage production. Uses an old corn planter with two rows about 5 or 6 feet apart. It will naturally spread over time. Best thing about it is that it wont cause bloat! His number is 605-564-2181.
 
I have used 2,4-db on my falcada, and it seems to work pretty good if broadleaf weeds are small, and temps are under 80 degrees. Velpar is supposed to be good, but expensive. Kochia and spurge are the worst prolbems here in Texas.

Any recomendations?
 

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