This project was undertaken starting in 2009 in an effort to seek better varieties that will sustain yields and perhaps even thrive when grown under saline conditions. Salinity is a major challenge for alfalfa growers in irrigated regions and even in many non-irrigated regions.

It's not clear that alfalfa growers fully knew that one of the most widely-used insecticides in their crop was about to be completely eliminated from use nationwide.

At University of California – Davis, we have been studying the digestion characteristics of a down-regulated lignin alfalfa variety.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that shipping hay bales long distances is not practical. Transport and handling costs for bulky forage products make their production close to livestock more rational than exporting it halfway around the world.

Researchers at UC Davis have developed a wireless wetting-front monitoring and a cellular communication system for use in flood-irrigated alfalfa and other surface-irrigated crops. Using individually numbered wireless sensors placed in the field, water arrival to a specific location is detected.

The cutting schedule a grower imposes strongly impacts the overall profitability of an alfalfa operation due to its direct effect on yield and forage quality.