USA: Adoption of genetically engineered alfalfa slow in South Dakota

Genetically engineered alfalfa might have its benefits for weed control and high yields, but producers who embrace GE varieties of corn and soybeans have been slow to switch to Roundup Ready alfalfa.

A report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last fall found that about 15 percent of the alfalfa grown in South Dakota is genetically engineered to be resistant to Roundup herbicide. The state is following nationwide trends. Overall, the adoption rate in the U.S. is about 13 percent.

There are a number of reasons producers are slow to adopt GE varieties of the popular forage crop.

GE alfalfa can be sprayed with glyphosate herbicides, but local producers say weeds are not much of a problem in most South Dakota alfalfa stands. Those who do plant it are more enticed by its other traits.

“Guys that have it really like it for the increased genetic quality,” said Tanner Suess, an agronomist with Mettler Fertilizer in Menno, S.D. The company sells the Genuity brand of Roundup Ready alfalfa varieties from Dekalb/Asgrow.

The USDA survey confirmed that yields are better, producing an average 17 percent more in tons per acre than conventional varieties. Suess said, though it takes extra fertilizer and therefore more money to increase tonnage. Most growers aren’t so concerned about getting the maximum yields out of their stands, he said.

Generically engineered alfalfa was released in 2005, but it soon was hit with legal challenges by environmental groups that stopped it from being planted until 2011. More recently, Monsanto released another GE variety with reduced lignin content, which improves digestibility.

USDA used data from its 2013 Agricultural Resource Management Survey to learn how many farmers were using GE alfalfa, sugarbeets and canola. Results were released last fall.

In the year of the study, almost one-third of the alfalfa that was seeded was GE varieties.

Because alfalfa is a perennial crop that isn’t seeded every year, adoption of new seed technologies is even slower than with most crops. Alfalfa is reseeded every six or seven years on average, but in South Dakota, it’s typically eight or nine years between plantings, Suess said.

Alfalfa is the fourth largest crop in the U.S., after corn, soybeans and wheat. South Dakota tied Montana for the most alfalfa acres at 1.8 million harvested in 2013. The growing region is concentrated largely in the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho and Wisconsin.

It was growers outside that region who were more likely to plant GE alfalfa.

New York farmers were among those to adopt GE alfalfa most readily. About 37 percent of the alfalfa acres harvested in that state in 2013 were GE varieties, according to the USDA survey. Washington and Colorado also had high adoption rates, but Iowa and Nebraska adoption rates were in the 5 percent vicinity.

Karla Hernandez, a forages specialist with South Dakota State University Extension, said a lot of producers she works with don’t like to use the GE variety.

“They’re picky,” she said.

They deal with weeds in other ways. She said planting in the fall can help reduce weed competition.

“You get more time for that seed to get established in the ground,” she said, adding that it also gives growth a head start so the first cutting comes sooner in the following growing season.