Alfalfa Checkoff Looks To Invest In The Future

In May, the National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance announced their second round of research funding through the Alfalfa Checkoff.  NAFA President Beth Nelson said they looked at projects that would benefit growers nationwide, not just in one specific region or microclimate.  She said they ran the gamut, including projects focused on herbicides.

"A digestibility project.  Digestibility is key for us, because dairy is our number one consumer of alfalfa, and making sure we have the most up-to-date research on alfalfa digestibility is always a key.”

With the exception on the southeastern corner, Nelson says alfalfa is grown across the continental U.S., and has moved into the five largest commodities in America, even though many don’t consider alfalfa a member of the “big five”.  Nelson noted the practice of growing alfalfa has changed rapidly over recent years.

She said it use to be where alfalfa was only grown for one’s own operation.  However that has changed.

“And there’s  lot more commercial production of alfalfa going on, where people are first and foremost alfalfa farmers and they might be growing for a neighboring dairy, or trucking it across statelines, and for that matter, on the west coast a lot of alfalfa is actually exported.”

Research projects in Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Mexico were funded. They include:

• Use of Alfalfa in Crop Rotations to Control Herbicide-Resistant Pigweed

-       John Jennings, University of Arkansas

• Do FAE-Producing Microbial Inoculants Improve Fermentation and Improve Digestibility of Stored Alfalfa Forage?

-       Dennis Hancock, University of Georgia

• Developing a Soil Bioassay for Alfalfa Autotoxicity

-       Kim Cassida, Michigan State University

• There’s an App for That! Validating Real-Time Assessment of Alfalfa Nutritive Value

-       Krishona Martinson, Craig Sheaffer, University of Minnesota

• Evaluation of the Efficacy of Herbicide Tank-Mixes and Sequential Applications for the Control of Plantain (Plantago ssp.) in Alfalfa

-       Leslie Beck, New Mexico State University

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