You have several choices on what,when and how to plant/seed your hay.
If you are going to sow alfalfa then I would early spring plant it with oats and orchard grass. You will have to watch the oats like a hawk. They are in the correct stage just a few days when the weather gets really warm. The yields will not be great the first year. I usually just get one cutting on the alfalfa and then let the fall regrowth get tall. It seems to let the roots get established better than when you cut that last cutting.
IF you are going to have a grass hay like timothy or Broome then I would seed them in the fall. I would plant soybeans this year and harvest them as early as they are ready. Then seed the grasses down with wheat,Rye or Spelts. IF you want clover in the mix, late winter frost seed it. You while have a grain crop this year in the soybeans and a small grain crop next year. Plus in the right places the straw is valuable. Then if you get good rains after the small grain harvest then you should get a small grass crop that same year.
I personally have both types of hay. I actually are switching over to more grass bases hay stands. They fit my cattle operation better. I do not need the higher protein of alfalfa. The grass hay is much easier to work with. Get the wrong weather and alfalfa is a nightmare to fool with and get dry.
Also a thought. If you have livestock of your own and you want alfalfa. It is easier to chop the oats earlier an make hayledge out of them and the green growth. You can get them off earlier and that will let the alfalfa grow faster and better. I have had the weather turn wet right at Oats harvest time and they will smother the alfalfa out when the oats get too mature.
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