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Concerns alfalfa is underappreciated

The president of the National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance says alfalfa is underappreciated.

Beth Nelson tells Brownfield public research and federal policy investments are lacking despite new USDA figures that show alfalfa is the third-most valuable field crop in the U.S.

“Often (people) refer to the Big 5, corn, soybean, wheat, cotton, and rice.  And actually, with these new statistics, alfalfa is third.  Larger than wheat, rice, or cotton.  And yet is significantly under-recognized.”

Nelson points out the Agricultural Research Service spends more than $47 million dollars on wheat research every year, compared to less than $5 million for alfalfa.

She says risk management tools contained in the Farm Bill are also inadequate.

“The Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) products are not available to alfalfa farmers because it is not considered a program crop.  And although we’re okay with that, we do want to move forward through crop insurance products on par with those other major crops.  Currently, we do not have that.”

Nelson says while alfalfa is best known as a premium livestock feed, it also provides conservation and crop rotation benefits.

The USDA says the value of alfalfa in 2017 was more than $9 billion dollars.