An open winter across much of the country has helped cattlemen avert a potential feed crisis.
Barb Kinnan is executive director of the Nebraska Alfalfa Marketing Association. “Yes, I represent the alfalfa association, but at the same time, it’s kind of good that we had more of an open winter this year—because if we’d have had a lot of heavy snow cover, then it could have been really detrimental to livestock in the whole area,” she says.
But Kinnan says there will be virtually no carryover of alfalfa heading into the 2012 growing season—and she says there’s no indication of a big surge in alfalfa plantings.
“There’s always a certain amount of alfalfa acres that rotate in and out each year,” Kinnan says, “but I’ve been visiting with several of the different seed representatives and it doesn’t look like we’re going to be seeing a spike in alfalfa acres anytime this year.
“If we do, you know, there’s usually a year lag in that once it’s planted.”
All of which, Kinnan says, should be supportive to alfalfa prices through 2012.
Alfalfa has lost considerable ground to corn and soybeans in recent years.
The alfalfa supply situation will likely be a main topic of discussion at the Mid-America Alfalfa Expo coming up February 7th and 8th in Kearney, Nebraska.
Visit alfalfaexpo.com for more information.
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