The queen of forageskeeps the crown, even with higher costs of maintenance.

If you're going to bale hay, why put up anything except alfalfa? asked Shane Roach. "Alfalfa is excellent cow feed. Per pound of TDN [total digestible nutrients], it's the cheapest feed we produce," he said.

As manager of Niangua River Ranch, Roach oversees 450 beef brood cows, 500 goat does and a varying horse population that averages about 100 headÑand all species like alfalfa.

"On a per-acre basis, alfalfa is not cheap to establish and manage," he admitted. "But since I have started putting up alfalfa, my feed bill has dropped dramatically. I used to buy a lot of range cubes. About the only cubes we buy now are as a Ôconvenience' feed, to toll cows up when we need to check them or work them. Feeding alfalfa hay to beef cows has changed our entire operation."

Shane Roach gets a nod of agreement from Eldon Cole, University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) extension livestock specialist. "Per ton of quality forage, alfalfa is the cheapest protein you can feed beef cows. We've compared alfalfa with several supplements and alfalfa invariably comes out on top," said Cole.

"And, it doesn't take a lot of land to produce all the alfalfa a beef herd needs," added Roach, who grows about 60 acres of alfalfa in the narrow river bottoms on the ranch. "With dryland alfalfa, you should get three to four cuttings each year, so anyone with a few acres of decent hay land can grow a lot of alfalfa."

However, as Roach said, establishing and maintaining a productive alfalfa stand is not cheap. Melvin Brees, UMC extension economist, puts the cost of establishing an acre of alfalfa in northern Missouri at about $300, not including a charge for land.

Alfalfa does best on a deep, well-drained soil with decent water-holding capacity. Lime is the single most important fertility concern for establishing and maintaining a high-yielding stand; the new alfalfa field should be limed to at least pH 6.7 a year or more before seeding.

Field preparation should also begin well ahead of the seeding date. And, since tillage before stand establishment is the last chance to incorporate relatively immobile plant nutrients, adequate levels of phosphorus, potassium and lime should be worked into the seedbed. Incorporated phosphorus is typically more efficient than top-dressed phosphorus.

Time of seeding is important, but not critical. Fall seedings usually contend with fewer weeds and are favored by alfalfa growers south of about the northern tier of Missouri counties. North of that line, early frosts can kill out new seedings, so spring establishments are more popular.

"We usually seed alfalfa in late May or early June," said Shane Roach. "We're set up to irrigate out of the river and that lets us get by with doing it that time of year, and that's about the only time we irrigate alfalfa."

Roach believes in planting quality seed. The most recent 30 acres he established was seeded to WL 342 variety, an early maturing disease resistant alfalfa. WL 342 seed costs about $3.25 per pound, compared with common alfalfa varieties at $1 to $1.50 less per pound.

But Roach harvested 2.6 tons of hay per acre in four cuttings the first full year after seeding; he estimates that yield at a half-ton or more over what common alfalfa would have yielded.

"Another half-ton of hay per year over the life of the stand more than pays back the extra cost for seed," he reasoned.

Roach takes off the first cutting as soon after April 20 as he can get the hay mowed and makes the second cutting 26 to 28 days later.

"There's a better than even chance the first cutting is going to get rained on," he added. "When that happens, we bale alfalfa at about 50 percent moisture and wrap the bales in plastic. But I make everything else as dry hay.

"Alfalfa weevil is a problem about every year," he continued. "But by taking off the first cutting as early as we do, we don't usually have to spray for weevil until after that first cuttingÑand sometimes not until after the second cutting. I make fertilizer applications after each cutting through the season. I usually forgo what would normally be the last cutting, and I make a fall fertilizer application after our last cutting. That promotes root reserves to help the stand, and it lets alfalfa begin growing earlier the next spring."

Niangua River Ranch also grows several acres of hybrid Bermudagrass, primarily for summer graze. Roach also bales Bermudagrass hay for both cows and horses.

"We graze stockpiled fescue in fall and early winter; that's fescue's most valuable use for my purposes," he said. "I start supplementing the fescue with alfalfa hay or balage in mid-autumn, adjusting the amount of alfalfa to the value of the stockpiled fescue. And I start feeding my poorest quality hay firstÑhay that has been rained on or is weedy. As we get into winter, we increase the amount of alfalfa fed, until by the time fescue gives out about the first of the year, the cows are virtually on free-choice alfalfa," said Roach.