Reestablishing Alfalfa into Existing Stands Damaged by Flooding

Excess moisture conditions in 1993 caused damage to many stands of alfalfa throughout South Dakota. Floods killed alfalfa in many low-lying areas, and in some instances, entire stands were lost because of excess water. Alfalfa cannot tolerate wet soil conditions for an extended period of time. Several diseases that persist under wet conditions can further damage or even kill alfalfa plants. In addition, standing water can damage plants by reducing oxygen levels necessary for adequate respiration within the plant

Winter Injury in Alfalfa: Assessment and Management

Injury to alfalfa plants during the winter can cause serious stand losses and is a major problem in growing alfalfa in South Dakota. Stand hardiness is affected by climatic conditions, soil condi¬tions, and cultural practices

Forage Potential of Cicer Milkvetch

Cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L), a legume native from the Causcasus Mountains in Asia across southern Europe to Spain, was introduced into the United States in the 1920’s. It’s used for grazing, hay, and soil conservation in the northern and central Rocky Mountain Region of the United States and western Canada. Cicer milkvetch is gaining popularity in other regions of the United States because it is more tolerant than alfalfa to acidic or alkaline soils and does not cause bloat in grazing animals. Several South Dakota producers planted small acreages of cicer milkvetch in spring 1989. These acreages are being monitored, and producer experiences with this crop will be publicized

Cultivar Tests in South Dakota, 1987 Report : Alfalfa Yields

Yield results of 119 alfalfa cultivars and experimental lines from 27 companies and 11 public institutions are presented in this report, which summarizes experiments for the period 1985-1987. The results show the relative forage production characteristics for these lines at several locations in South Dakota

Cowpeas - A New Forage Crop for South Dakota

In the northern Great Plains, cool-season pastures decline in productivity during summer. This reduces available forage supplies. Solutions to forage shortages during the summer traditionally have included the use of perennial and annual warm-season species for pastures, hay, or silage. Cowpeas, a non-traditional crop suitable for summer forage, have been investigated recently at SDSU. Cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.) are an important legume in the southeastern United States, but since 1940 they have been replaced gradually by soybeans, clovers, and other legumes. Referred to as “black-eyed peas,” cowpeas are grown primarily for human consumption but also are suitable for hay, silage, and pasture

Breeding Alfalfa for Semiarid Regions in the Northern Great Plains: History and Additional Genetic Evaluations of Novel Germplasm

Yellow-flowered alfalfa (Medicago sativa subsp. falcata) (also known as sickle medic) has been the cornerstone for breeding alfalfa for dual grazing and hay production in the semiarid regions of the northern Great Plains in the US and Canada. Most, if not all, of the cultivars developed for the northern Great Plains during the 20th century, had parentage tracing back to introductions by Niels Ebbesen Hansen that were obtained from expeditions to Russia, primarily the province of Siberia, on behalf of the United States Department of Agriculture during the early 1900s. The M. falcata genome contains alleles for high levels of drought-tolerance, winter hardiness, and tolerance to grazing, but is generally deficient for commercial seed production traits, such as non-shatter, compared with common alfalfa (M. sativa). A naturalized population, tracing to USDA plant introductions to Perkins County South Dakota by N.E. Hansen in early 1900, and subsequently, facilitated by the determined seed increase and interseeding of a population by a local rancher, Norman ‘Bud’ Smith, has shown highly desirable in situ characteristics for improving rangelands in the northern Great Plains. This includes adequate seed production to build a seed bank in the soil for natural seedling recruitment and population maintenance/expansion and support the production of a commercial seed source. This review documents the seminal events in the development of cultivars to date and describes novel germplasm with potential for new cultivars in the future