Recent Trends and Seasonality in Alfalfa Meal Production, Use and Prices

Excerpts from the report: Alfalfa meal production in the U. S. generally has trended upward since its introduction as a new feed item in the early 1900's. In the beginning, meal was processed only from suncured alfalfa but, in 1910, the first dehydration system was developed with construction of a plant in Louisiana. Dehydrated alfalfa meal, however, did not advance to a commercial basis until the 1930's. In 1931, the first plant west of the Mississippi River, producing dehydrated meal on a commercial level, was located in Kansas. Through 1944-46, production totaled less than a million tons annually. But, in 1945-46, annual production increased sharply and has exceeded a million tons each year since. Alfalfa meal production has continued its upward trend in recent years and, in the current October-September feeding year, will probably exceed 1,600,000 tons for the first time. Basically, alfalfa meal can be described as a roughage feed ingredient which can be utilized in varying quantities by all classes of livestock and poultry. Its relatively high fiber content, however, limits the quantity that can be used in poultry rations. Alfalfa meal is marketed in a number of processed forms including meal, granules, pellets, and reground pellets.