Hopefully this will be of some help in understanding the management of alfalfa and be useful in variety selection.
I have over 40 years experience in breeding alfalfa. While my experience is in the Midwest, most of this should be relative to the entire northern U.S.
Selection for the best grain variety is usually looking at yield. With alfalfa we have yield plus quality plus longevity. Since forage data is more difficult to obtain and yield advances relatively small, seed companies have largely relied on marketing gimmicks. The object of this is to cut through the hype and get to meaningful ways to select good varieties for your farm.
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Alfalfa Yields Selecting varieties for yield
History of Alfalfa Yields From Vernal to present
Alfalfa-Grass Mixtures 7 Reason for grass
Improving quality Variety Selection-Cutting Height
Disease Resistance Check out these sale gimmicks
Economics of Seed Costs Saving on seed costs
Fall Dormancy and Winter-Survival This is about maintaining good stands
Grazing, Creeping, Traffic Tolerant Varieties What about these?
Leaffhoppers and Weevils How to manage
Nematodes Unthrifty stands on light soils?
RR Alfalfa (glyphosate resistance The skinny on this
Ryegrass as a Companion Crop Good idea?
Afternoon Cutting Whats with these sugars