Alfalfa in full bloom!

Alfalfa seed is my favorite crop to grow.  It seems there is so much that goes into it, and always so much to learn about growing it.  This year, we have some established alfalfa seed fields, and some spring seeded alfalfa seed fields. This post will be on the established alfalfa seed fields.

Alfalfa seed is the seed that people plant when they want to grow alfalfa.  Alfalfa is grown across the world and is mostly cut as hay to be fed to livestock.   Alfalfa is a perennial that lives for several years, so once we plant an alfalfa seed field, that same crop will remain and produce for 3-6 years. An actual alfalfa field may produce even longer than that.  Established alfalfa seed means the alfalfa has been planted in a previous year, and there has already been a crop produced from it.

Our established alfalfa seed fields are in their 2nd production year.  We fall seeded them in 2013, and harvested our first seed crop from them in the fall of 2014.  Even though we do not have to plant them again in the spring, we usually do some field work to get them ready for the year. This may include running the field cultivator, the roller packer, and/or a land roller.

Alfalfa seed grown under center pivot

Then it is time to water, water, water! The majority of our alfalfa seed is irrigated with center pivots.  We do have a small flood field which we use gated pipe to irrigate with.

As an alfalfa seed field, the alfalfa is never cut as hay.  We want the alfalfa to bloom, as the blooms are what turn into seed.  The blooms have to be tripped, usually by cutter bees, to turn into seed.  I will do a separate post on the cutter bees, as they are one of the reasons I love raising alfalfa seed. 🙂

Below are pictures of the journey so far this year:

Prior to blooming

I love when the field is full of blooms! There are so many beautiful colors and it smells like a flower shop! My favorite color is purple, and when I walk into the field, I am presented with every shade of purple possible!

So many shades of purple!

Purple/yellow blooms

Here is a close up of a single bloom. This bloom has already been tripped as can be seen by the arrow. When the cutter bee goes to collect the pollen, it trips the flower.  This flower will now turn into seed. 🙂

Purple alfalfa bloom

The cutter bees have been out in the established alfalfa seed fields for about 2 weeks now.  As I walk in the field, I can see a lot of seed already forming.  Here is a picture of the blooms turning to seed pods.

From blooms to seed pods

Keep up the good work bees! Until next time!

Click here to see pictures of our previous alfalfa seed crops.