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Alfalfa checkoff used to enhance crop research

The National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance (NAFA) is looking to use checkoff dollars to enhance crop research.

NAFA president Beth Nelson says the U.S. Alfalfa Farmer Research Initiative—the industry’s new checkoff program–is soliciting public proposals to examine yield improvement, management strategies, and other areas the Alliance deemed priorities.

“Alfalfa is actually the nation’s fourth-most valuable field crop, and people don’t realize that.  I think a lot of that is because, traditionally, it was fed on-farm.  We don’t take it to an elevator like we do some of our other crops.  So (alfalfa) has kind of been forgotten about.”

Any public researcher is able to submit a funding request, capped at $50,000 per year.

Nelson tells Brownfield this is a first-of-its-kind proposal, given the alfalfa checkoff launched January first of this year.

“We’re looking for applied research (to help provide) some answers for our alfalfa farmers quickly from some of these projects.  And we’re looking forward to getting this off the ground.”

She says they hope to award the first round of projects in early July.

Nelson calls the program unique because all of the funds raised by farmers through the checkoff go towards public research.