Alfalfa—Feeding Animals and the Soil
Alfalfa is an excellent cover crop. It grows thickly, which reduces soil erosion problems that occur on bare soil.
It also adds nitrogen to the soil. As a legume, nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert the gas into a form that the plants can use.
It's sown both spring and fall, and even can be harvested 3-4 times a year.
Some organic farmers use it as a cut-and-come-again crop, cutting down what they need and letting it grow back to be harvested again.
It does best on well-drained soils with a neutral pH.
If you harvest the alfalfa early enough, when it's still dark green, then you can add much of that nitrogen to the soil in another location. Chop it finely and incorporate into the top one or two inches of topsoil.
Other Facts About Alfalfa
This crop is an excellent high-protein feed for animals, from forage to freshly harvested to pelletized.
The multileaf variety, which has three leaflets per leaf, has a higher nutritional content by weight mainly because it has more leaf matter for the same amount of stem.
It's susceptible to Texas Root Rot and leafhoppers (small leaping insects that suck the juices of plants).
Alfalfa also makes an excellent mulch, slowing adding nutrients to the soil as the hay breaks down.
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