Acre Feet Of Water Needed To Grow Alfalfa

Anyone who has grown alfalfa even a few years knows it needs a lot of water to produce high tonnage.

Acre feet of water needed to grow alfalfa.

2 alfalfa plant information. 4 alfalfa soil requirements variety selection weed management. 8 alfalfa harvest yield per acre. 1 alfalfa uses general info.

A north dakota study shows that irrigators can expect alfalfa increases of 1 6 to 1 5 ton per acre per year for each inch of water applied until irrigation and precipitation water total 24. 5 sowing and seeding rate of alfalfa. 9 alfalfa crop rotation. Alfalfa is california s single la rgest agricultural water user due to the amount grown typically about 1 million acres and its long growing season.

Not much water is exported with alfalfa hay. How long does alfalfa grow. Kearney alfalfa and forage field day september 18 2015 parlier ca how much water does alfalfa need. In fact on the average alfalfa needs about 6 of water in the soil available to the roots for each ton of dry matter produced.

On the average irrigated alfalfa will use approximately 4 to 5 inches of water for every ton of hay produced. Hay harvested at 12 moisture removes 240 lbs water ton hay or 1 800. A well fertilized healthy alfalfa crop may use as much as 8 inches of water from the soil in addition to 4 to 6 inches of water supplied by irrigation and rainfall before the first cutting. From about mid april to early august daily water use of a good stand of alfalfa in the farmington area averages between 0 25 and 0 30 inch figure 1 and totals more than 30 inches during this time period.

Over the entire alfalfa growing season from dormancy break in february or march to the first frost in mid october however et totals 45 to 50 inches and should produce 8 tons of dry hay or more per acre. Potential irrigated alfalfa hay yield at elevations near 4000 feet is about 7 5 tons acre. 3 how to grow alfalfa. 6 alfalfa fertilizer requirements.

Alfalfa is a. Requirements for alfalfa are 20 to 46 inches of water per season depending on climate elevation growing season number of cuttings latitude and fall dormancy rating of the alfalfa variety. How much water is required to grow one acre of alfalfa. 7 alfalfa water requirements.

Seasonal alfalfa water applications generally range from 4 000 000 to 5 500 000 acre feet.