For
more information contact Mike Rankin
Mike Rankin
Crops and Soils Agent - Fond du Lac County
University of Wisconsin - Extension
Note: Originally written for "The Haymaker" (Fall 1998)
- a newsletter of the Fond du Lac County Forage Council
Enclosed with this newsletter is a copy of the 1997 and 1998 results
of the UW Alfalfa Variety Trial seeded in 1996 and located in Fond du Lac County. The
site location is a finely textured soil with adequate slope for enough drainage to prevent
standing water. This information is not enclosed with the intent that a producer makes an
alfalfa variety buying decision based solely on this data. It represents only two years at
one location. The information does reinforce some basic principles of alfalfa performance
and variety selection criteria.
Don’t bet on a horse named Vernal
If horses race like alfalfa varieties place, don’t put your money on Vernal. Most of you know this but it never hurts to reinforce this principle just in case the neighbor starts bragging about the great deal he got on Vernal seed. Vernal, and varieties like it, simply don’t perform on most of our heavier east central Wisconsin soils. In two years at the Fond du Lac site, Vernal lags the leaders by about 4 tons of dry matter per acre. You do the economics. Similarly, many of Vernal’s friends at the bottom of the list possess only moderate or less resistance to Phytophthora and Aphanomyces root rots.
Don’t marry a girl after only one date
Most people would agree that this is pretty good advice when it comes to picking a mate. It’s also pretty good advice when selecting alfalfa varieties. Single location, single year data is not enough information to confidently pick a "winner." Performance changes with environment. Look at the relative yield rankings of alfalfa varieties in 1997 (the first production year). Some varieties performed at top ten status and then fell woefully to an "also ran" in 1998. The same thing can happen between locations. Conversely, some varieties were only average in 1997 but performed admirably in 1998. The trick to picking alfalfa varieties (or any other
crop hybrid or variety for that matter) is to find the consistently good performers. That is, those varieties that do well in a multitude of environments and conditions.
Don’t marry a girl ONLY because she has blonde hair
Once again, good advice for long-lasting marriage bliss. Also good advice when selecting alfalfa varieties. There are many varieties on the bottom half of the list that have very admirable single-trait qualities (for example, a highly resistant rating for Phytophthora root rot). Selecting a variety based on a single trait is always dangerous. This holds true for any trait ------- disease resistance, forage quality, potato leafhopper resistance, Roundup ready, etc. It’s important to look at the entire package and at relative yield performance in the field.
Putting it all together
In general, farmers make more informed decisions when selecting corn hybrids or soybean varieties than they do when selecting alfalfa varieties. The primary reason for this is simply that there is more information available and yield performance is easier to measure for these annual crops than is the case for a perennial like alfalfa. Let’s face it, in addition to university field trials there are countless unreplicated corn and soybean strip trials. Such is not the case for alfalfa. However, the economic penalty for not selecting an adapted elite alfalfa variety can be great. The annual gross value of even 0.25 tons per acre of alfalfa is roughly equivalent to the value of 10 bushels per acre of corn. With this in mind, take time to evaluate alfalfa performance using published university data and reputable seed company information. Most importantly, don’t base decisions on unsubstantiated claims or single location performance data.
For
more information contact Mike Rankin