Semi-Dormant Alfalfa – Nitrocoated Seed (lb)

Description

Medicago sativa Resilient perennial legume for improving soil health and supporting forage systems.

This alfalfa cover crop is a dependable perennial legume favored for its ability to fix nitrogen, enrich soil, and support pollinators. Well-known as a hay forage and bee forage plant, it is especially productive in fertile, non-acidic soils with fair to good drainage. A drought-tolerant legume, it thrives in high desert areas of the Western states, northern California valleys, lower elevations of the Four Corners region, and the northern Gulf Coast states. Recommended for USDA Zone 8.

As a warm-season cover crop, alfalfa contributes significantly to long-term soil health. It can yield up to 10 tons of organic matter per acre and brings up subsurface minerals, functioning as a natural soil conditioner and organic matter builder. When supplied with adequate phosphorus, calcium, and sulfur, it can fix up to 200 lbs of nitrogen per acre, making it a powerful nitrogen fixer in sustainable rotations lasting 35 years.

• Application Rate: 0.51 lb/1,000 sq ft or 25 lb/acre
• Inoculant: None needed, seed is nitrocoated
• Germination: 510 days
• Plant Height: 1824″
• Uses: Hay, forage, beneficial insect habitat, bee forage, nitrogen fixing
• Facts to Note: Plant shallowly in early fall or spring. Requires summer irrigation and produces the most growth in warm weather. Suitable for multi-year soil improvement cycles.

Note to Certified Organic Growers: All our cover crop seed is untreated and non-GMO. Although this is conventional seed, it is coated with Nitro-Coat Organican OMRI-listed coating made with rhizobacteria, naturally water-absorbing calcium carbonate to speed germination, and an organic adhesive.