Yield, maturation, and forage quality of alfalfa in a black walnut alley-cropping practice

Abstract

There is interest in producing alfalfa as an alley crop because alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is the most profitable hay crop in the USA. Field experiments were conducted near Stockton, MO in 2003 and 2004. Treatments consisted of alfalfa grown in open plots and in plots that were alley cropped between 20-year-old black walnut trees (Juglans nigra L.) planted in rows 24.4- and 12.2-m apart. Alfalfa was sampled for three harvest cycles each year. In the alley-cropping plots, samples were taken beneath the canopy (2.5 m from the tree row) and in the center of the alleys. Data were taken on dry-matter yield, maturity, and forage quality. At all harvest dates over both years, yields from beneath the canopy of both alleys and the narrow alley centers were less than yields from the wide alley centers and open plots. Yield from the wide alley centers was similar to that in open plots in every harvest but the final harvest of 2004. Transects across the plots indicated that yields increased linearly from the tree row to the center of both alleys. Alfalfa tended to mature faster in the open and wide alley centers compared to beneath the canopy of both alleys and the narrow alley centers. Forage quality differences were inconsistent across treatments. Alfalfa yield was significantly reduced and maturity was delayed by the narrow 12.2 m tree spacing, but yield was not reduced in the centers of the wider 24.4 m alleyways.