This is an alfalfa hay field. The goal in growing alfalfa hay is to produce as much green leafy material as possible because the leaves are what makes the best food for stock animals. Keep in mind, that the stems are also good for the stock, but are not as desirable. The plant will be allowed to grow to the point in it's life when it's mostly leaves and soft stems. Just before it starts getting hard stems it will be cut and stored.
A common method of storing is baling. From there you can toss the hay to whatever is eating it at your leisure.
This is an alfalfa seed field. The goal of an alfalfa see field is to produce as much seed as possible. While a small plant is best for having lots of leaves, a larger plant is best for having lots of seeds. Because of this, an alfalfa seed field will be much more orderly.
Plants grow from seeds, this you know. As a hay field is cut before it matures enough to grow seeds you need an outside source. Pretty simple, right?
An alfalfa plant can grow quite large, but it grows from these little tiny seeds. If they look like little beans to you, that's because they are. More accurately, alfalfa and beans are both legumes.
I'm sure you'll get tired of me talking about alfalfa some time in the near future, so I'll keep this short. For now, the biggest difference between alfalfa hay and seed fields is the plant spacing. More differences will become apparent soon, though. Stick around and see!
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