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Growing forages

You can better manage your farm’s legumes by understanding how alfalfa and other legumes grow and adopting proven strategies to handle winter injury. 

Legumes

Understanding the characteristics of forage legumes — Forage legumes vary in terms of their life cycle, the amount of nitrogen they can fix, how well they can adapt to challenging conditions and their susceptibility to insect damage and diseases.

Forage grasses

Alternative annual forages: Warm-season grasses

Nutrient management

Fertilizer recommendations for forage grasses and legumes — Nutrient guidelines for alfalfa, grasses for hay and pasture, grass-legume mixes, and other legumes. Includes link to alfalfa fertilizer recommendation calculator. 

Crop and weather damage

Alfalfa during drought — Alfalfa's water use, its tolerance to drought, and drought effects on establishment and existing stands.

Alfalfa winter injury: Weather and management effects — Factors that affect alfalfa's ability to overwinter; management practices that reduce the risk of winter injury; winter injury risk calculator.

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