Varietal Trials Results

Alfalfa

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(Redwood Co.), St. Martin andRichmond (Stearns Co.), Under-wood (Otter Tail Co.), and GrandRapids (Itasca Co.). In addition,some alfalfa varieties are tested forforage quality at Rosemount.

Yield results for alfalfa varieties test-ed in current Minnesota yield trials(2007 to 2010 seeding years) are list-ed in Tables 1 through 5. Seedlingyear yields are not a good indicatorfor the yields in subsequent years.

Varieties in the current forage quali-ty trial are listed in Table 6. Alfalfavariety seed marketers and matchingweb sites are provided in Table 7.Disease resistance information foralfalfa varieties is available on theweb at www.alfalfa.org.

Winterhardiness and Winter Survival IndexSevere winters make winterhardinessa primary consideration in varietyselection for most areas of Minnesota.Winterhardiness of varieties is diffi-cult to determine because winterinjury can occur as a result of weatherevents that cause varied responses inalfalfa plants of differing ages.

The best indicator of winter sur-vival potential is the yield perform-ance in the third production yearafter seeding. Fall dormancy ratingis sometimes an indicator of wintersurvival potential and is available atwww.alfalfa.org.

When selecting alfalfa varieties foryour farm, greatest winterhardinessis needed in west central and north-western Minnesota (see winterinjury potential map). East-centraland southeastern Minnesota alsofrequently experience severe win-ters. Southwestern Minnesota sel-dom experiences severe winterinjury because of dry soils, high soilpotassium levels and neutral soilpH. Northeastern Minnesota seldomexperiences severe winter injurybecause of dependable snow cover.

Forage Yield Yield results for alfalfa varietiestested in current Minnesota trialsare presented in Tables 1 to 5.Yields are expressed as a percentageof check variety yields; for example,“113’” means the variety had 13%greater yield than the average of thecheck varieties. Within each table,varieties are ranked according totheir average performance acrossALL current trials in which theyhave been tested (2007 to 2009 seed-ings). Individual tables correspondto test results from different regionsof Minnesota.

Greatest confidence should beplaced in variety yield informationthat represents six or more site-years of testing, that is, two years ofyield data at each of three test sites).Each variety in the yield resulttables has been formatted to revealhow many site-years of MN yielddata have been collected. Varietiesappearing in bold type have beentested in six or more site-years.Varietal yield difference tends toincrease with stand age. Consequently,to choose a variety for short-termstands, consider yield performancethe first and second years afterseeding (e.g. yield performance in2008 and 2009 for a 2007 seeding).For long-term stands, choose vari-eties based on their performancethrough the third year after seeding(e.g. 2010 yield for 2007 seeding).

Locations of alfalfa trials.

Winterinjurypotential.

J a n u a r y 2 0 1 1

Yield is the single largest determi-nant of economic return per acre foralfalfa production. Selecting alfalfavarieties with high yield potential isfundamental to obtaining highyields. The yield advantage realizedwith good alfalfa varieties quicklyoffsets their greater seed cost.

Yield potential of alfalfa varieties is evaluated in research trials atUniversity of Minnesota Researchand Outreach Centers and on cooper-ating farmers’ fields. The trials areconducted using recommended fertil-ity and pest control practices to opti-mize alfalfa yield and persistence.

Yield performance of tested vari-eties is presented as a percentage of check variety yields (average forVernal, Oneida VR, and 5312). Testlocations are in alfalfa productionregions with different winter injuryrisk. They include Rosemount(Dakota Co.), Zumbro Falls(Wabasha Co.), Lamberton

Craig Sheaffer and Joshua Larson

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Forage Quality While maturity is the greatest deter-minant of forage quality or feedingvalue of alfalfa, varieties also differgenetically in forage quality poten-tial. Forage quality of alfalfa vari-eties in tests seeded in 2009 (fourharvests) in Minnesota are shown inTable 6. Production year evaluation(first year after seeding) was done byanalyzing each of four cuttings takenat late bud to 1/10-bloom stages ofmaturity. Data are expressed as milkper ton of forage, milk per acre andrelative forage quality (RFQ).

Milk per ton is calculated based onMILK2006 and combines crude pro-tein, neutral detergent fiber (NDF)and NDF digestibility to predictmilk production per ton of forageDM. In MILK2006, the intake ofenergy from forage for a 1,350-pound milking cow consuming a30% NDF diet is calculated, and thecow’s maintenance energy require-ment then subtracted from energyintake to provide an estimate of

energy available from forage forconversion to milk. Forage DMyield multiplied by milk per ton offorage DM provides an estimate ofmilk produced per acre and com-bines yield and quality into a singleterm. For a technical discussion ofNDFD and Milk2006, see:http://www.uwex.edu/ces/for-age/articles.htm#milk2000.

Relative forage quality (RFQ) is anindex with similar average andrange as RFV but it includes NDFdigestibility in estimates of DMIand TDN to calculate RFQ. For atechnical discussion of RFQ, see:www.uwex.edu/ces/crops/uwfor-age/RFQvsRFV.htm.

Potato Leafhopper TolerancePotato leafhoppers (PLH) are usual-ly the most damaging insect pest ofalfalfa in Minnesota. Some alfalfavarieties have tolerance via inhibit-ed PLH population growth andhigher economic thresholds. Alfalfavarieties with greater than 50%

resistance to PLH have an economicthreshold three times higher thanconventional varieties. Varietyresistance to potato leaf hopper isavailable at www.alfalfa.org.

Despite their potential for significantdamage, PLH are not a problem inevery harvest, year and region ofMinnesota. PLH pressure is more con-sistent south and east of Minnesota.

Disease ResistanceAlfalfa root and crown diseasesoccur in most Minnesota soils. The most important diseases areBacterial wilt, Phytophthora rootrot, Fusarium wilt, Anthracnose,Verticillium wilt, and Aphanomycesroot rot (races 1 and 2). Plant resist-ance for all six diseases is widelyavailable, except for Aphanomycesrace 2 for which only a few, but agrowing number of, varieties haveknown resistance. Variety resistanceratings for each disease are avail-able on the web at www.alfalfa.org.

Table 1. Alfalfa variety yield as percentage of check varieties at Rosemount (Dakota County).2007 Seeding 2008 Seeding 2009 Seeding

Variety1 Marketer 2010 2009 2008 3-Year Total 2010 2009 2-Year Total 1-Year TotalDKA43-13 Dekalb — — — — 114 108 112 —PHABULOUS III Trelay 123 116 111 117 — — — —HYBRIFORCE-2400 Dairyland — — — — 121 113 118 116LIGHTNING IV Jung — — — — 113 107 110 —FOREMOST II Prairie 113 111 112 112 — — — —FSG 406 LaCrosse/Allied 111 118 108 112 — — — —HYBRIFORCE-2420/Wet Dairyland — — — — 116 106 112 1116422Q Garst — — — — — — — 110REBOUND 5.0 CROPLAN — — — — — — — 111WL 363 HQ W-L — — — — — — — 111Ameristand 407TQ Am. Alf. 111 101 109 108 116 106 112 1166431 Garst — — — — 111 104 108 —PHIRST EXTRA Millborn — — — — 110 110 110 —4S417 Mycogen — — — — 115 118 116 1116417 Garst 109 112 106 109 110 106 108 —VELOCITY NuTech — — — — 109 114 111 102SPRINGGOLD Renk 114 111 108 111 — — — —CHESAPEAKE Dahlco — — — — — — — 11355V48 Pioneer 114 117 110 114 116 108 113 114LEGEND EXTRA Legend — — — — 108 102 105 —6415 Garst — — — — 115 103 110 —6426 Garst 99 110 106 105 — — — —CIMARRON(check) Great Plains 99 111 104 104 99 103 101 107FSG 420LH Farm Sciece — — — — — — — 1045312(check) Pioneer 102 103 105 104 106 102 104 111WL 322HQ(check) W-L 103 110 104 105 108 98 104 99VERNAL(check) Public 97 98 100 98 96 100 98 90ONEIDA VR(check) Public 100 99 94 98 98 99 98 99AMERISTAND 403T PLUS Am. Alf. — — — — — — — 99Checks, tons/acre as hay 7.0 4.7 6.1 17.8 7.7 6.0 13.7 5.9LSD 5% 9 15 9 9 8 8 6 101 Varieties are ranked according to their performance across all current trials. Bold varieties have been in Minnesota trials for more than 5 site-years.

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Zumbro Falls Lamberton2008 Seeding 2007 Seeding 2009 Seeding

Variety1 Marketer 2010 2009 2-Year Total 2010 2009 2008 3-Year Total 1-Year TotalDKA43-13 Dekalb 117 116 117 — — — — 118HYBRIFORCE-2400 Dairyland — — — — — — — 106LIGHTNING IV Jung 114 107 110 — — — — —AV4211 AgVenture 113 112 112 — — — — —GENOA NK Brand 117 106 112 — — — — —HYBRIFORCE-2420/Wet Dairyland — — — — — — — 1126422Q Garst — — — — — — — 111WL 363 HQ W-L 109 102 106 — — — — —4A415 Mycogen 115 107 111 — — — — —SONIC NuTech — — — — — — — 111Ameristand 407TQ Am. Alf. 119 111 115 — — — — 1086431 Garst 111 109 110 — — — — —4S417 Mycogen — — — — — — — 1136417 Garst 113 107 110 115 117 108 113 —ENHANCER II BioPlant — — — 114 107 105 109 —PGI 459 Producer 110 106 108 — — — — —VELOCITY NuTech 111 101 106 — — — — 117SPRINGGOLD Renk — — — 95 99 96 97 —GH727 Golden Harvest 111 105 108 — — — — —CHESAPEAKE Dahlco — — — — — — — 11455V48 Pioneer 112 101 106 93 99 99 97 118WL 343HQ W-L 111 112 112 — — — — —LEGEND EXTRA Legend 109 102 105 — — — — —4030 Brett Young 110 100 105 — — — — —6415 Garst 116 105 110 93 96 96 95 —5312(check) Pioneer 104 103 103 99 100 106 101 102VERNAL(check) Public 96 97 97 109 106 109 108 97ONEIDA VR(check) Public 100 100 100 93 94 85 91 102AMERISTAND 403T PLUS Am. Alf. — — — — — — — 1016426 Garst — — — 93 92 95 93 —Checks, tons/acre as hay 5.2 5.4 10.6 7.2 5.1 6.1 18.4 6.7LSD 5% 8 13 10 18 17 13 13 131 Varieties are ranked according to their performance across all current trials. Bold varieties have been in Minnesota trials for more than 5 site-years.

Table 2. Alfalfa variety yield as percentage of check varieties at Zumbro Falls (WabashaCounty) and Lamberton (Redwood County).

Bushel Weight, Pounds................60

Seeds/Pound...................... 220,000

Planting Rate, Pounds/AcreAlone...................................With Grass......................

135-10

Planting Rate, Seeds/Sq.Ft.Alone...................................With Grass....................

6525-50

Planting Date...Late April–Early May

or Late July-Early August

AlfalfaPlanting Rate and Date

Brown root rot is known to be pres-ent in Minnesota soils, but varietalresistance is currently unknown.While moderate resistance (MR) toa disease will provide protection toa variety under most conditions,either resistance (R) or high resist-ance (HR) is required for protectionunder severe disease conditions.

Winter injury can be the result of acombination of injury from coldtemperatures and from root andcrown diseases. Under some condi-tions, disease resistances can com-pensate for lesser levels of cold tol-erance. While all varieties can bene-fit from improved disease resistance,it is especially important that vari-eties with less than Very Good (2.0)WSI have at least (R) levels of dis-ease resistance to produce morethan two years after the seedingyear under intensive management (4cuts/ season) in the east-central andsoutheastern areas of Minnesota.

BlendsMany companies sell blends, a mix-ture of two or more varieties, at areduced price from named varieties.Blends may perform as well as thebest varieties or may do very poor-ly. Disease resistance, yield, wintersurvival, and other characteristicsmay change within a blend from lotto lot or year to year as blend com-position changes. Using certifiedseed of adapted, high-yielding vari-eties best assures trueness to name.

Additional InformationFor the web version of this report,go to the Minnesota AgriculturalExperiment Station website URL:www.maes.umn.edu/pubs.html

More detailed alfalfa variety per-formance results are available onthe UM-Agronomy FORAGES web-site: http://www.extension.umn.edu/forages

Test Plot ResearchTest plot establishment and manage-ment were supervised by JoshuaLarson, together with Russ Mathison,Steve Quiring and Doug Holen.

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Richmond St. Martin Underwood2007 Seeding 2009 Seeding 2008 Seeding

Variety1 Marketer 2010 2009 2008 3-Year Total 1-Year Total 2010 2009 2-Year TotalPROLIFIC II Lemke/ Millborn — — — — — 123 125 123MILESTONE II BioPlant — — — — — 122 119 121DKA43-13 Dekalb — — — — 116 115 113 114WL 343HQ W-L 119 116 111 115 — — — —PHABULOUS III Trelay 115 117 106 113 — — — —LIGHTNING IV Jung — — — — — 122 113 119KINGFISHER 243 Byron Seed — — — — 113 — — —RED FALCON BR Blue River Hybrids 111 116 110 112 — — — —PROFUSE BR Deer Creek 107 117 113 112 — — — —FSG 329 Farm Scinece — — — — 112 — — —6422Q Garst — — — — 112 — — —WL 363 HQ W-L — — — — — 120 110 117RENEW Dairyland — — — — 111 — — —SUMMERGOLD Renk 109 112 111 111 — — — —Ameristand 407TQ Am. Alf. 119 112 110 113 115 — — —6431 Garst — — — — — 114 111 113L333HD Legacy 108 108 113 110 — — — —4S417 Mycogen — — — — 108 — — —LEGENDAIRY 5.0 CROPLAN — — — — 110 — — —6417 Garst 117 122 114 118 — 112 99 108PGI 459 Producer — — — — — 109 110 109VELOCITY NuTech — — — — 108 119 108 115SPRINGGOLD Renk 116 116 116 116 — — — —CHESAPEAKE Dahlco — — — — 110 — — —55V48 Pioneer 110 115 109 111 106 120 110 117420 PLUS Mustang — — — — — 111 98 1076400HT Garst 104 105 109 106 — — — —WL 343HQ W-L — — — — — 102 94 995312(check) Pioneer 103 104 105 104 94 102 105 103VERNAL(check) Public 99 100 100 100 104 93 92 93ONEIDA VR(check) Public 98 97 95 97 101 104 103 104AMERISTAND 403T PLUS Am. Alf. — — — — 99 — — —Checks, tons/acre as hay 6.5 7.6 7.9 22.0 6.8 6.4 3.3 9.7LSD 5% 12 8 10 8 10 16 20 171 Varieties are ranked according to their performance across all current trials. Bold varieties have been in Minnesota trials for more than 5 site-years.

2007 Seeding 2009 SeedingVariety1 Marketer 2010 2009 2008 3-Year Total 1-Year TotalAmeristand 407TQ Am. Alf. 97 105 96 99 —4S417 Mycogen — — — — 102 6417 Garst 98 97 98 98 — VELOCITY NuTech — — — — 98 CHESAPEAKE Dahlco — — — — 95 55V48 Pioneer 98 99 96 98 93 5312(check) Pioneer 102 107 101 103 104 VERNAL(check) Public 99 96 100 99 101 ONEIDA VR(check) Public 99 97 99 98 95 AMERISTAND 403T PLUS Am. Alf. — — — — 90 Checks, tons/acre as hay 6.2 5.5 5.5 17.1 5.8 LSD 5% ns 6 ns 3 8 1 Varieties are ranked according to their performance across all current trials. Bold varieties have been in Minnesota trials for more than 5 site-years.

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Table 3. Alfalfa variety yield as percentage of check varieties at St. Martin and Richmond(Stearns County) and Underwood ( Otter Tail County).

Table 4. Alfalfa variety yield as percentage of check varieties atGrand Rapids (Itasca County).

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Table 5. Seeding year alfalfa variety yields as a percentage ofcheck varieties at Rosemount ( Dakota County), Zumbro Falls(Wabasha County) and Underwood (Otter Tail County).Variety1 Marketer Rosemount Zumbro Falls Underwood 4A415 Mycogen — 109 —HYBRIFORCE-2400 Dairyland 106 109 101 DG 3210 Crop Prod. — — 104 6417 Garst — 103 — PGI557 Producer — 102 — 6422Q Garst — 102 — 375HY/BR Dairyland 102 — —4S417 Mycogen 100 — 104 ONEIDA VR(check) Public 105 100 99 VERNAL(check) Public 100 96 105 REBOUND 6.0 CROPLAN 93 107 —FSG329 La Crosse — — 99 55V48 Pioneer 97 101 97 5312(check) Pioneer 95 104 96 54Q32 Pioneer 95 103 97 DKA43-13 Dekalb 97 99 94 DG 4210 Crop Prod. 95 101 94 6305Q Garst — — 96 PHIRST EXTRA Millborn 95 — —WL 343HQ W-L 95 — 94 Checks, tons/acre as hay 3.9 3.5 1.6 LSD 5% 10 9 14 1 Varieties are ranked according to their performance across all current seeding year trials. Seedling year yields are not a good indicator for the yields in subsequent years.

Table 6. Alfalfa variety dry matter yield, milk production (expressed as percent of Vernal), RFQindex, CP and NDF (% dry matter), and NDFD (% NDF); 2010 season totals and weighted aver-ages from a trial seeded in 2009 at Rosemount.Variety, listed in descending order of DM Yield 1 Milk, (% of Vernal) 2 RFQ 3, CP 3, NDF 3, NDFD 4,milk production Ton/ Acre Lb/ Acre Lb/ Ton Index % dm % dm % NDFCW 0440265 5.7 126 102 142 18.3 42.0 46.0CIMARRON 5.5 119 100 135 18.0 43.3 45.0WL 322HQ 5.1 114 104 148 19.0 41.8 47.854Q325 5.1 113 102 144 18.3 42.3 46.0VELOCITY 5.2 113 100 142 18.3 42.5 45.3VERNAL 4.6 100 100 139 17.8 43.3 46.5Vernal, actual values 4.6 12,100 2,640 139 17.8 43.3 46.5Mean 5.2 13,900 2,670 142 18.3 42.5 46.1LSD ( 5%) 0.67 15 4 8 0.7 ns nsCV (%) 8.5 8.6 2.4 5.4 3.3 2.6 4.31 A seasonal 4-harvest total taken 2010. 2 Milk production (pounds milk per acre and ton) are predicted using the MILK2006 spreadsheet, version milk2006alfalfagrass, developed at the

University of Wisconsin. 3 RFQ = relative forage quality index; CP = % crude protein; and NDF = % neutral detergent fiber. Variables expressed as average concentration

for the season. 4 NDFD = neutral detergent fiber digestibility, expressed as % NDF concentration.

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Table 7. 2010 forage seed sources.Marketer Company Web URLAgVenture AgVenture Feed and Seed Inc. www.agventurefeeds.comAlbert Lea Albert Lea Seed House www.alseed.comAllied Allied Seed www.alliedseed.comAm. Alf. America’s Alfalfa www.americasalfalfa.comBarenburg Barenburg Midwest www.barusa.comBioPlant Bio-Plant Research P.O. Box 320, Camp Point, IL 62320, 800-593-7708Blue River Blue River Hybrids www.blueriverorgseed.comBrettYoung BrettYoung www.brettyoung.ca/USAByron Seed Byron Seed www.bestforage.com/Crop Prod. Crop Production Services www.cpsagu.comCROPLAN CROPLAN Genetics www.croplangenetics.comDahlco Dahlco Seed www.dahlco.comDairyland Dairyland Seed Co. www.dairylandseed.comDeer Creek Deer Creek Seed www.deercreekseed.com/index.htmlDekalb AsgrowDekalb www.asgrowanddekalb.com/webFarm Science Farm Science Genetics www.farmsciencegenetics.com/FFR FFR Cooperative www.ffrcoop.orgGarst Garst Seed Co. www.garstseed.comGolden Harv. JC Robinson Seeds/Golden Harvest www.goldenharvestseeds.comJung Jung Seed Genetics www.jungseedgenetics.comLa Crosse LaCrosse Forage and Turf www.lftseed.comLegacy Legacy Seeds www.legacyseeds.comLegend Legend Seeds www.legendseeds.comLemke Lemke Seed www.lemkeseed.comLG Seeds LG Seeds www.lgseeds.comMallard Mallard Seed www.mallardseed.comMillborn Millborn Seed www.millbornseeds.comMustang Mustang Seeds www.mustangseeds.comMycogen Mycogen Seeds www.mycogen.comNC+ NC+ Hybrids www.nc-plus.comNK Brand NK Brand www.nk-us.comNuTech NuTech Seed www.nutechseed.comPioneer Pioneer Hi-Bred International www.pioneer.comPrairie Prairie Brand www.prairiebrandseed.com/index.htmlProducer Producer’s Choice www.producerschoiceseed.comRenk Renk Seed Co. www.renkseed.comTrelay Inc. Trelay www.trelay.comW-L W-L Research www.wlresearch.comZiller Ziller Seed Co. www.zillerseed.comU of MN University of Minnesota Forages http://www.extension.umn.edu/forages/

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