Alfalfa
Often called the queen of the forages, alfalfa tops all other perennial forage crops as a producer of homegrown feed. High-yielding and versatile, alfalfa serves well for hay, silage, green chop, and pasture. It produces high-protein and palatable feed, which livestock like and do well on. 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, drought-tolerant 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 acidic 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.

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 perennial forage on hard-to-plow meadows and pastures. Trefoil is bloat free, and no case of bloat has ever been recorded in animals grazing on trefoil. On fields where drainage is a problem, trefoil can outyield alfalfa and outlive red clover by many years. Birdsfoot trefoil should always be planted with a perennial forage grass and at harvest time, leave 5 to 6 inches of stubble to allow for regrowth of the trefoil.

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 survival. Pardee flowers three to five days earlier than other trefoil varieties, and is earlier to flower than alfalfa in the spring.

Red Clover
Red clover is useful for short-term stands and on land where drainage is not suited for 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 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.

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.