There is relatively little probability of bloat during this time of year. Generally, alfalfa should be stocked heavily for a short time rather than putting a few animals on a large area for many weeks. The stocking rate should be high enough to clean off all the available forage in 7 to 10 days. Electric fences can be helpful in confining animals to a small area for a few days and then moving them onto an ungrazed area. If cattle are left on an alfalfa meadow for a long time, they start grazing only regrowth from plants that were grazed earlier.
Some extras come with grazing alfalfa.
Perhaps the most important is the removal of stems in which alfalfa weevils lay eggs. If there are no convenient stems for the weevils, they lay fewer eggs and the onset of weevil damage the next spring will be delayed. Grazing may also help clean up fields of weeds. Cattle may kill certain weeds while grazing during the winter or late fall. The act of eating some of the small weeds kills them outright, and cattle hooves tear up the soil surface enough to destroy others.