Make Hay While the Sun is Shining
By UW Extension Educator Dan VanderPloeg
Wyoming might be the best place in the nation to grow alfalfa hay using irrigation. With hot days and cool nights and less pesky rain to mold a windrow, the Cowboy State has many advantages for hay growers.
Over the last 20 years, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) surveys show Wyoming has a stable hay production base averaging 1.5 million tons. This is a stable 20-year trend with the high tonnage mark coming in 2020.
The stability we see locally is not the national trend, however. Nationwide alfalfa hay as a commodity has been falling year-over-year for decades. In the last 20 years, 2003-23 hay tonnage has gone from 76 million to 50 million tons – a reduction of 35 percent.
New seedings were the lowest on record for 2023, so it is doubtful an upward trend is coming.
Expectations for a new genetically-modified alfalfa breakthrough aimed at boosting forage hay plantings will leave many disappointed.
Alfalfa has had two separate traits approved for use.
First was Roundup ready, the trait allowing Glyphosate to be sprayed on hay and control many of the weeds growers battle. The second, in 2014, was HarvXtra, a trait which reduced lignin in alfalfa hay, making it even more available for animal nutrition.
Unlike many genetically engineered (GE) traits in other crops – corn, sugarbeets, etc. – traits in alfalfa never gained the same level of adoption.
Roundup ready hay has never broken 30 percent of the new planted acres in USDA surveys. Low usage rates, lower per acre seed cost and fewer anticipated crop plantings make the prospect of a company shouldering the $100 million-plus expense of a new GE trait incredibly unlikely.
With fewer acres nationwide being used for alfalfa hay production, the seed industry responded. The year 2024 will be the last year Pioneer Seed will offer alfalfa seed.
Corteva Agriscience, the parent company of Pioneer/Dairyland, sold their alfalfa seed business in 2023 to DLF USA, a grass seed company. This was similar to the decision Bayer made when it also removed alfalfa from its portfolios of seeds.
The alfalfa seed industry is going through a transition with fewer people researching and producing seed.
The year 2025 will be the first year Bayer and Corteva Agriscience will not have alfalfa seed on offer. But, this does not mean alfalfa seed will not be available.
Public varieties can also still be found in most areas. One may need to switch to a different variety, a different trait or a different company, but they will not need to find a different crop.
DLF USA, Forage Genetics and Legacy Seeds are all still breeding and producing seeds for use in Wyoming and the West. An excellent resource for all available varieties and their disease resistance can be found at alfalfa.org.
Dan VanderPloeg is the University of Wyoming Extension educator for agriculture and natural resources serving Washakie County. He can be reached at dvanderp@uwy.edu or 307-527-8568.
