Beef and dairy producers have found their animals perform well grazing alfalfa, said Garry Lacefield, University of Kentucky forage specialist, at the National Alfalfa Symposium last month.

He talked of various research studies showing the attributes of grazing alfalfa, its flexibility as a hay, haylage and grazing crop, and its drought resistance. In Kentucky, which was hard hit by drought the past several years, “alfalfa came out smelling like a rose,” Lacefield said.

“Some people grazed alfalfa for the first time when they found themselves in a massive drought, and it was a matter of selling cattle or grazing a plant that was capable of making some growth during that summer period. Alfalfa was one of those plants,” he added. “Now we’ve got producers who are putting alfalfa in for the sole purpose of grazing.”

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