Planting Alfalfa with Cover Crops on Forage Dry Matter Yield and Nutritive Value of Alfalfa.

Alfalfa is a very important cash hay crop in southwest Kansas where rainfall is very limited and alfalfa is usually grown under irrigation. A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of planting alfalfa with cover crops such as oats, rye, triticale, oilseed radish, and turnip on forage dry matter yield and nutritive value of alfalfa. Planting alfalfa with rye cover crop in late summer had the highest dry matter yield and the lowest with oilseed radish in the first production year of alfalfa in Southwest Kansas. Cover crops did not generally affect the nutritive value of alfalfa.