Alfalfa
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For other uses of "Alfalfa", see Alfalfa (disambiguation).
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| Alfalfa | |
|---|---|
| Medicago sativa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Genus: | Medicago |
| Species: | M. sativa |
| Binomial name | |
| Medicago sativa L.[1] | |
| Subspecies | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Alfalfa (pron.: /ælˈfælfə/), Medicago sativa, also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an importantforage crop in many countries around the world. The English name alfalfa is widely used, particularly in North America. But in the UK, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, the more commonly used name is lucerne. It superficially resembles clover, with clusters of small purple flowers followed by fruits spiralled in 2 to 3 turns containing 10-20 seeds. Alfalfa is native to a warmer temperate climate such as that of Iran (where it is thought to have originated). It has been cultivated as livestock fodder since at least the era of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Harvesting
When alfalfa is to be used as hay, it is usually cut and baled.[37] Loose haystacks are still used in some areas, but bales are easier for use in transportation, storage and feed.[38] Ideally, the first cutting should be taken at the bud stage, and the subsequent cuttings just as the field is beginning to flower, or one tenth bloom for the reason that carbohydrates are at their highest.[39] When using farm equipment rather than hand-harvesting, aswather cuts the alfalfa and arranges it in windrows.[40] In areas where the alfalfa does not immediately dry out on its own, a machine known as a mower-conditioner is used to cut the hay.[37] The mower-conditioner has a set of rollers or flails that crimp and break the stems as they pass through the mower, making the alfalfa dry faster.[41] After the alfalfa has dried, a tractor pulling a baler collects the hay into bales.
There are several types of bales commonly used for alfalfa. For small animals and individual horses, the alfalfa is baled into small two-string bales, commonly named by the strands of string used to wrap it. Other bale sizes are three-string, and so on up to half-ton (six-string) "square" bales – actually rectangular, and typically about 40 x 45 x 100 cm (14 in x 18 in x 38 in).[4] Small square bales weigh from 25 – 30 kg (50 – 70 pounds) depending on moisture, and can be easily hand separated into "flakes". Cattle ranches use large round bales, typically 1.4 to 1.8 m (4 to 6 feet) in diameter and weighing from 500 to 1,000 kg, (1000 to 2000 lbs). These bales can be placed in stable stacks or in large feeders for herds of horses, or unrolled on the ground for large herds of cattle.[4] The bales can be loaded and stacked with a tractor using a spike, known as a bale spear, that pierces the center of the bale,[42] or they can be handled with a grapple (claw) on the tractor's front-end loader. A more recent innovation is large "square" bales, roughly the same proportions as the small squares, but much larger. The bale size was set so stacks would fit perfectly on a large flatbed truck. These are more common in the western United States.
When used as feed for dairy cattle, alfalfa is often made into haylage by a process known as ensiling.[10] Rather than drying it to make dry hay, the alfalfa is chopped finely and fermented in silos, trenches, or bags, anywhere the oxygen supply can be limited to promote fermentation.[43] The anaerobic fermentation of alfalfa allows it to retain high nutrient levels similar to those of fresh forage, and is also more palatable to dairy cattle than dry hay.[44] In many cases, alfalfa silage is inoculated with different strains of microorganisms to improve the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of the silage.[45]
[edit]Worldwide production
Alfalfa is the most cultivated forage legume in the world.[citation needed] Worldwide production was around 436 million tons in 2006.[46][page needed] The US is the largest alfalfa producer in the world, but considerable production is found in Canada, Argentina (primarily grazed), Southern Europe, Australia, South Africa, and the Middle East.[citation needed].
Within the United States, the leading alfalfa growing states are California, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The upper Midwestern states account for about 50% of US production, the Northeastern states 10%, the Western states 40%, and the Southeastern states almost none. Alfalfa can be grown in the southern US states, but often leaf and root diseases and poor soils are limitations. Alfalfa has a wide range of adaptation, and can be grown from very cold northern plains to high mountain valleys, from rich temperate agricultural regions to Mediterranean climates and searing hot deserts.[citation needed]
[edit]Alfalfa and bees
Alfalfa seed production requires the presence of pollinators when the fields of alfalfa are in bloom.[4] Alfalfa pollination is somewhat problematic, however, because Western honey bees, the most commonly used pollinator, are not suitable for this purpose; the pollen-carrying keel of the alfalfa flower trips and strikes pollinating bees on the head, which helps transfer the pollen to the foraging bee.[4] Western honey bees, however, do not like being struck in the head repeatedly and learn to defeat this action by drawing nectar from the side of the flower. The bees thus collect the nectar, but carry no pollen and so do not pollinate the next flower they visit.[47] Because older, experienced bees do not pollinate alfalfa well, most pollination is accomplished by young bees that have not yet learned the trick of robbing the flower without tripping the head-knocking keel. When western honey bees are used to pollinate alfalfa, the beekeeper stocks the field at a very high rate to maximize the number of young bees.[47] Western honey bee colonies may suffer protein stress when working alfalfa only, due to shortage of one of the amino-acids comprising the pollen protein, iso-leucine. Today, the alfalfa leafcutter bee is increasingly used to circumvent these problems.[48] As a solitary but gregarious bee species, it does not build colonies or store honey, but is a very efficient pollinator of alfalfa flowers.[48] Nesting is in individual tunnels in wooden or plastic material, supplied by the alfalfa seed growers.[47] The leafcutter bees are used in the Pacific Northwest, while western honeybees dominate in California alfalfa seed production.[47]
A smaller amount of alfalfa produced for seed is pollinated by the alkali bee, mostly in the northwestern United States. It is cultured in special beds near the fields. These bees also have their own problems. They are not portable like honey bees, and when fields are planted in new areas, the bees take several seasons to build up.[47] Honey bees are still trucked to many of the fields at bloom time.
[edit]Varieties
Considerable research and development has been done with this important plant. Older cultivars such as 'Vernal' have been the standard for years, but many better public and private varieties better adapted to particular climates are available.[49] Private companies release many new varieties each year in the US.[50]
Most varieties go dormant in the fall, with reduced growth in response to low temperatures and shorter days.[50] 'Nondormant' varieties that grow through the winter are planted in long-seasoned environments such as Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California, whereas 'dormant' varieties are planted in the Upper Midwest, Canada, and the Northeast.[50] 'Nondormant' varieties can be higher yielding, but they are susceptible to winter-kill in cold climates and have poorer persistence.[50]
Most alfalfa cultivars contain genetic material from sickle medick (M. falcata), a wild variety of alfalfa that naturally hybridizes with M. sativa to producesand lucerne (M. sativa ssp. varia). This species may bear either the purple flowers of alfalfa or the yellow of sickle medick, and is so called for its ready growth in sandy soil.[51]
Most of the improvements in alfalfa over the last decades have consisted of better disease resistance on poorly drained soils in wet years, better ability to overwinter in cold climates, and the production of more leaves. Multileaf alfalfa varieties have more than three leaflets per leaf, giving them greater nutritional content by weight because there is more leafy matter for the same amount of stem[citation needed].
The L. Teweles Seed Company claimed it created the world's first hybrid alfalfa.[52]
Wisconsin and California and many other states publish alfalfa variety trial data. A complete listing of state variety testing data is provided by the North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference (NAAIC) State Listing as well as additional detailed alfalfa genetic and variety data published byNAAIC.
[edit]Genetically modified alfalfa
Roundup Ready alfalfa, a genetically modified variety was released by Forage Genetics Int'l in 2005. This was developed through the insertion of a gene owned by Monsanto Company that confers resistance to glyphosate, a broad-spectrum herbicide, also known as Roundup. Although most grassy and broadleaf plants, including ordinary alfalfa, are killed by Roundup, growers can spray fields of Roundup Ready alfalfa with the glyphosate herbicide and kill the weeds without harming the alfalfa crop.
[edit]Legal issues with Roundup Ready alfalfa in the US
In 2005, after completing a 28-page environmental assessment (EA)[53] the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) granted Roundup Readyalfalfa (RRA) nonregulated status[54] under Code of Federal Regulations Title 7 Part 340,[55] called, "Introduction of Organisms and Products Altered or Produced Through Genetic Engineering Which Are Plant Pests or Which There Is Reason to Believe Are Plant Pests," which regulates, among other things, the introduction (importation, interstate movement, or release into the environment) of organisms and products altered or produced through genetic engineering that are plant pests or that there is reason to believe are plant pests. Monsanto had to seek deregulation to conduct field trials of RRA, because the RRA contains a promoter sequence derived from the plant pathogen figwort mosaic virus.[53] The USDA granted the application for deregulation, stating that the RRA with its modifications: "(1) Exhibit no plant pathogenic properties; (2) are no more likely to become weedy than the nontransgenic parental line or other cultivated alfalfa; (3) are unlikely to increase the weediness potential of any other cultivated or wild species with which it can interbreed; (4) will not cause damage to raw or processed agricultural commodities; (5) will not harm threatened or endangered species or organisms that are beneficial to agriculture; and (6) should not reduce the ability to control pests and weeds in alfalfa or other crops."[53] Monsanto started selling RRA and within two years, more than 300,000 acres were devoted to the plant in the US.[56]
The granting of deregulation was opposed by many groups, including growers of non-GM alfalfa who were concerned about gene flow into their crops.[53] In 2006, the Center for Food Safety, a US non-governmental organization that is a critic of biotech crops, and others challenged this deregulation in the California Northern District Court[57] Organic growers were concerned that the GM alfalfa could cross-pollinate with their organic alfalfa, making their crops unsalable in countries that ban the growing of GM crops.[58] The District Court ruled that the USDA's EA did not address two issues concerning RRA's effect on the environment[59] and in 2007, required the USDA to complete a much more extensive environmental impact statement (EIS). Until the EIS was completed, they banned further planting of RRA but allowed land already planted to continue.[56][60] The USDA proposed a partial deregulation of RRA but this was also rejected by the District Court.[57] Planting of RRA was halted.
In June 2009, a divided three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Breyer's decision.[61] Monsanto and others appealed to the US Supreme Court[61]
On 21 June 2010, in Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, the Supreme Court overturned the District Court decision to ban planting RRA nationwide as there was no evidence of irreparable injury.[62] They ruled that the USDA could partially deregulate RRA before an EIS was completed. The Supreme Court did not consider the District Court's ruling disallowing RRA's deregulation and consequently RRA was still a regulated crop waiting for USDA's completion of an EIS.[57]
This decision was welcomed by the American Farm Bureau Federation, Biotechnology Industry Organization, American Seed Trade Association, American Soybean Association, National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Cotton Council and National Potato Council.[63] In July 2010, 75 members of Congress from both political parties sent a letter to Vilsack asking him to immediately allow limited planting of genetically engineered alfalfa.[64][65] However the USDA did not issue interim deregulatory measures, instead focusing on completing the EIS. Their 2,300 page EIS was published in December 2010.[66] It concluded that RRA would not affect the environment.
Three of the biggest natural food brands in the USA lobbied for a partial deregulation of RR alfalfa[67] but in January 2011, despite protests from organic groups, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA had approved the unrestricted planting of genetically modified alfalfa and planting resumed.[68][69][70] Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack commented "After conducting a thorough and transparent examination of alfalfa ... APHIS [Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service] has determined that Roundup Ready alfalfa is as safe as traditionally bred alfalfa."[71] About 20 million acres (8 million hectares) of alfalfa were grown in the US, the fourth-biggest crop by acreage, of which about 1% were organic. Some biotechnology officials forecast that half of the US alfalfa acreage could eventually be planted with GM alfalfa.[72]
The National Corn Growers Association,[73] the American Farm Bureau Federation,[74] and the Council for Biotech Information[75] warmly applauded this decision. Christine Bushway, CEO of theOrganic Trade Association said "A lot of people are shell shocked. While we feel Secretary Vilsack worked on this issue, which is progress, this decision puts our organic farmers at risk."[72] The Organic Trade Association issued a press release in 2011 saying that the USDA recognized the impact that cross contamination could have on organic alfalfa and urged them to place restrictions to minimise any such contamination.[76] However organic farming groups, organic food outlets, and activists responded by publishing an open letter saying that planting the "alfalfa without any restrictions flies in the face of the interests of conventional and organic farmers, preservation of the environment, and consumer choice."[77] Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee,[78] House Agriculture Committee Chairman, Frank Lucas,[78] and Senator Richard Lugar [79] issued statements strongly supporting the decision "...giving growers the green light to begin planting an abundant, affordable and safe crop" and giving farmers and consumers the choice "...in planting or purchasing food grown with GM technology, conventionally, or organically." In a Joint Statement U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and Representative Peter DeFazio said the USDA had the "opportunity to address the concerns of all farmers", but instead "surrender[ed] to business as usual for the biotech industry."[80]
The Center for Food Safety appealed this decision in March 2011[81][82] but the District Court for Northern California rejected this motion in 2012.[83]
[edit]History
A book on agriculture by the Roman writer Palladius, dated 4th century AD, includes a section about alfalfa. Palladius says: "One sow-down lasts ten years. The crop may be cut four or six times a year.... An [Roman] acre of it is abundantly sufficient for three horses all the year.... It may be given to cattle, but new provender is at first to be administered very sparingly, because it bloats up the cattle."[84] Palladius called alfalfa "medica", a name that referred to the Medes, a people who lived in ancient Iran. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed, probably correctly, that the alfalfa plant came from the Medes land (in today's Iran). (The ancient Greeks and Romans also used the name medica to mean a citron fruit, once again because it was believed to have come from the Medes land). The ancient Roman name medica is the root of the modern scientific name for the alfalfa genus, Medicago. Despite the report in Palladius and in some other Roman and ancient Greek writers, there is little evidence that alfalfa was in widespread use in the Mediterranean region in those days.
The medieval Arabic agricultural writer Ibn al-Awwam, who lived in Spain in the later 12th century, discussed how to sow and cultivate alfalfa. Ibn al-Awwam's name for alfalfa was "al-fiṣfiṣa".[85] A 13th century general-purpose Arabic dictionary, Lisan al-Arab, says that "al-fiṣfiṣa" is cultivated as an animal feed and consumed in both fresh and dried form.[86] In medieval Spain the Arabic name "al-fisfisa" mutated into the Spanish name "alfalfa".[87] Alfalfa in medieval Spain was cultivated as fodder for horses and had a reputation as the best fodder for them. In the 16th century, Spanish colonizers introduced alfalfa to the Americas as fodder for their horses.[88] The English name "alfalfa" dates from mid-19th century far-west USA, from the Spanish. Alfalfa seeds were imported to California from Chile in the 1850s. That was the beginning of a rapid and extensive introduction of the crop over the western US States.[89] In the North American colonies of the eastern US back in the 18th century it was called "lucerne" and lots of trials at growing it were made, but generally without getting satisfactory results. Relatively very little alfalfa is grown in the eastern US still today. Today in France and Germany, and also in Britain and Australia, alfalfa is usually called "lucerne" | "luzerne", a word that arose in French in the 16th century. Since North and South America now produce a large part of the world's output, the word "alfalfa" has been slowly entering into other languages besides English and Spanish.
[edit]Phytoestrogens in alfalfa
Alfalfa, like other leguminous crops, is a known source of phytoestrogens,[90] including spinosterol.[91] Grazing on alfalfa has been suspected as a cause of reduced fertility in sheep.[92]
[edit]Nutritional value
Alfalfa is high in protein, calcium, plus other minerals, vitamins in the B group, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K.[93][94][95][96] The sun-dried hay of alfalfa (also known as Lucerne) has been found to be a source of vitamin D, containing 48 ng/g (1920 IU/kg) vitamin D2 and 0.63 ng/g (25 IU/kg) vitamin D3.[97] There is reference to vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 being found in the alfalfashoot; this is awaiting verification.[98] Mushrooms are not allowed in Jain vegetarianism, making alfalfa the only known source Jains can use to make vitamin D2 supplements.
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 96 kJ (23 kcal) |
| Carbohydrates | 2.1 g |
| - Dietary fiber | 1.9 g |
| Fat | 0.7 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Thiamine (vit. B1) | 0.076 mg (7%) |
| Riboflavin (vit. B2) | 0.126 mg (11%) |
| Niacin (vit. B3) | 0.481 mg (3%) |
| Pantothenic acid (B5) | 0.563 mg (11%) |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.034 mg (3%) |
| Folate (vit. B9) | 36 μg (9%) |
| Vitamin C | 8.2 mg (10%) |
| Vitamin K | 30.5 μg (29%) |
| Calcium | 32 mg (3%) |
| Iron | 0.96 mg (7%) |
| Magnesium | 27 mg (8%) |
| Manganese | 0.188 mg (9%) |
| Phosphorus | 70 mg (10%) |
| Potassium | 79 mg (2%) |
| Sodium | 6 mg (0%) |
| Zinc | 0.92 mg (10%) |
| Link to USDA Database entry Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database | |
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