As director of R&D and Innovation at Forge Genetics International, Emily Meccage has a lot to share about the breeding work being done for alfalfa.
“My team is responsible for the traited products like Roundup Ready alfalfa, plus we also have a very robust conventional breeding program as well. So we eat, sleep, breathe alfalfa products all day long,” she says.
So what’s next for the forage crop? Here are the top insights she shared on The Scoop Podcast:
1. Like many other crops, there’s a triple mandate on alfalfa.
“How do we increase our production, increase our efficiency, while still maintaining sustainability on farm,” she says. “Our team has been able to help contribute that that. And our research is geared in that way.”
2. The company has invested in its own research sites.
“Our two main locations are West Salem, Wis., and Nampa, Idaho. At both locations we are focusing on dormant alfalfa breeding and we have pathology labs. We also have a forage quality testing lab at West Salem,” she says.
Other smaller scale testing sites include in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, Garden City, Kansas, and in California, New Mexico and Arizona.
3. Collaborations are key to pushing alfalfa forward.
“We also do a lot of collaborative research with external groups–within USDA or across universities as well,” Meccage says.
In all, the company is currently working on 15 university or USDA projects.
4. There are evolving concerns around pests.
“We have recently hired, in the last year, at our Nampa Idaho location an entomologist and a nematologist. So we’re looking at how we can do more screenings against those types of pests,” she says.
5. Opportunities with alfalfa vary by geography.
“When we focus on the Midwest, that’s a heavy dairy area, and it’s also what we consider to be a dormant area for alfalfa,” she says. “So we want those alfalfa varieties that are going to have high quality that the dairy cattle need, but they’re also then going to be able to survive the harsher winter climate.”
She adds those varieties can also be ushed across the Midwest, northeast and Pacific Northwest.
“Then when we get a little farther south to the central part of the U.S., where our Garden City, Kansas research location is, we’re looking at semi or inter-dormant alfalfa varieties that are going to produce longer throughout the growing season but it doesn’t need to survive as harsh of a winter.”
She adds those varieties often have to perform in saline soils and drier climates.
“And in the southwest, that’s where we do our non-dormant breeding program,” she says. “In some cases they don’t have a winner; they don’t have alfalfa that goes dormant and grows 12 months out of the year. So again, it’s almost a completely different environment. You can think of it as a completely different plant, and of course, different diseases that might be present.”
6. There is a long list of agronomic benefits to alfalfa in the rotation.
“When we look at sustainability and the agronomic benefits, it maybe starts with being a perennial,” she says. “Unlike with our annuals, if we have a weather event, you’re done, right? If you get that late summer storm, with alfalfa, you’re generally gonna be able to grow back.”
She adds, alfalfa can grow in many different environments, it adds nitrogen back to the soil, improves overall soil quality, and helps with erosion control.
“Then, you flip to the animal side, and it’s a high quality protein source,” she says. “When we’re talking about protein per acre, alfalfa is generally going to be the top performer in that regard. It’s a high quality, digestible fiber source.”
She adds, “it’s just this really well rounded plant that has so many different things to offer, from animals to agronomy that I think really, truly fits in many scenarios of our cropping rotations.”
