RAW MATERIALS ▶▶▶
growth. When the alfalfa is dried it can sell for € 170 per tonne for the pellets and € 190 per tonne for the bales which weigh around 380kgs to 440kgs each,” he added.
Alfalfa is around 65% moisture content when harvested.
Alfalfa a key component Luzeal exports around 60-70% of the bales it produces to the Benelux countries, Switzerland, Germany and into Saudi Ara- bia. Farmers that grow alfalfa in France receive a subsidy from the European Parliament of around € 10 per tonne. In total, French farmers grow in the region of 67,000 hectares of alfal- fa each year and receive approximately € 8 million in subsi- dies for it. “The future for growing alfalfa in France is very good,” said Masset. “Over half the proteins required by live- stock farmers in France are grown in France and alfalfa is a key component of that overall production. “As we saw this year with changing climates and a long drought period alfalfa was a vital crop to produce forage for not only French farm- ers, but those further afield also affected by dry or drought conditions. “There is obviously a big demand for alfalfa from dairy farmers due to the high nutrient value of the crop. How- ever, there is a growing demand for alfalfa to feed horses as well. Alfalfa pellets are less dusty and are suitable for older horses that have problems with their teeth because the pellets require less chewing than hay,” he said.
Alfalfa: The facts Eric Masset, president of Luzeal, with some freshly cut alfalfa.
Also known as lucerne, alfalfa belongs to the Leguminosae family and has been used as a fodder feed for cattle and horses for centuries. The word alfalfa is mostly used in North America and parts of Europe but lucerne is more widely used in the UK, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. At first glance the plant looks a lot like clover with its three pronged leaf structure. It also has clusters of small purple flowers which are followed by fruits spiralled in two to three turns containing up to 20 seeds. Records suggest alfalfa originates in south-central Asia, and was first cultivated in ancient Iran before the first Europeans in Greece got their hands on it. Alfalfa grows well in most climates and in any soil making it one of the most versatile forage crops around. Laced with nutrients thanks to a root system that digs deep- er than most others, alfalfa is also a nitrogen fixer meaning it does not require additional fertiliser to grow. It has a high- er percentage of digestible nutrients than any other form of hay or roughage and is a very high protein feed that is also high in energy, as well as calcium and vitamins. Alfalfa fixes around 70-90% of its nitrogen needs from the air through Rhizobium bacteria residing in alfalfa root nodules. It has been suggested that additional applications of nitrogen has indeed increased the yield and forage quality of alfalfa but actual research results have been mixed.
Alfalfa pellets have a protein content of up to 23%. 24
▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 27, No. 9, 2019
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