What Are the Different Types of Alfalfa Plant?

Alfalfa, also known as lucerne, is an important forage crop grown around the world. This nutritious plant has been cultivated since ancient times to feed livestock. Today, there are many different varieties of alfalfa specially bred for certain climates and growing conditions. So what are the different types of alfalfa plants?

A Little About Alfalfa

Alfalfa is a perennial plant in the pea family that grows to about 1 meter tall. It has a deep taproot system that allows it to recover quickly after cutting or grazing. The leaves of alfalfa are trifoliate, meaning each leaf has three leaflets. Clusters of purple flowers bloom on alfalfa plants, which develop into coiled seed pods.

Alfalfa is highly nutritious livestock feed due to its high protein content. It also has the ability to fix nitrogen in the soil through a symbiotic relationship with rhizobium bacteria in its root nodules This improves soil fertility while providing high-quality forage Alfalfa is commonly harvested 3-4 times per year as hay, haylage, or grazed directly.

Key Types of Alfalfa

There are two main categories of alfalfa varieties – dormant and nondormant. Dormant varieties go dormant and stop growing in cold weather, while nondormant varieties continue growing through winter. Here are some of the most common alfalfa types:

Dormant Alfalfas

• Vernal – An older, widely adapted variety good for surviving cold winters. Low disease resistance.

• Ranger/Phytor – Improved winter hardiness and disease resistance Good yields

• WL 354HQ – High forage quality and tonnage potential. Resists diseases.

• Bulldog 805 – Highly winterhardy and productive. Good for Northern plains.

• Fortress – Extreme winter hardiness for frigid climates like Canada.

Nondormant Alfalfas

• SW9720 – High yielding variety for Southwest US. Heat and drought tolerant.

• SW10 – Improved nondormant for West Coast. High forage quality.

• Aqua-28R – High yield potential and forage quality for arid Western US.

• HybriForce-3400 – Very high yield and forage quality. For Southern plains.

• Alfagraze 600RR – Roundup Ready variety for Southern US.

Other Types

• CUF 101 – Branching root traits improve phosphorus uptake on low fertility soils.

• HarvXtra – Reduced lignin for faster drying as hay.

• Roundup Ready – Genetically modified for glyphosate herbicide tolerance.

• Salt Tolerant – Improved salt tolerance for irrigation with salty water.

• Multileaf – More than 3 leaflets per leaf for higher quality.

Choosing the Right Alfalfa

It’s important to select an alfalfa variety matched to your specific conditions. Factors like winter hardiness, disease resistance, and drought tolerance should be considered. Your local extension service can provide variety trial data for your region. It’s also a good idea to plant more than one variety to spread risk. With so many types available, every grower can find just the right alfalfa plants for their needs.