Alfalfa is the fourth most widely grown crop in the United States, with an estimated annual value of 11.7 billion dollars. There are 26 million acres cut for hay with an average yield of 2.3 tons per acre. One of the most important characteristics of alfalfa is its high nutritional quality. Alfalfa contains between 15 to 22% crude protein as well as high amounts of 10 different vitamins. Alfalfa can be a very productive crop with high levels of biomass accumulation. The record yield of one acre of alfalfa is 10 tons. Alfalfa hay is used as a feed primarily for dairy cows but also for horses, beef cattle, sheep, and other farm animals.

Our laboratory has research programs that are aimed at improving the efficiency of alfalfa production by:

1. The development of improved germplasm -
    Dr. T. Austin Campbell
2. The study of cytogenetics and analysis of annual medics-
    Dr. Gary Bauchan