Following eight years of research and extensive testing, conventionally bred Hi-Gest is being described as a “game changer” that offers improved digestibility, high yields and additional harvest flexibility.
Remarking on animal nutrition, Alforex Seeds General Manager Ron Cornish said that low lignin alfalfa is easier for cattle to digest than alfalfa with a higher lignin content.
“The agronomists, animal nutritionists, breeders and technical advisers working on Hi-Gest tracked digestible fiber algorithms to monitor how the low lignin product is broken down and digested in dairy cows,” Cornish said.
“Simply stated, low lignin alfalfa delivers improved digestibility and allows cows to increase dry matter intake, yielding more milk per ton of alfalfa,” he said.
It has been estimated that dairy cows fed Hi-Gest alfalfa could yield up to an additional 2.5 pounds of milk per cow per day. In addition, low lignin alfalfa also presents a potential reduction in ration costs.
Hi-Gest’s genetics address the elements that contribute to a robust alfalfa crop, including high yield, high quality and good agronomics.
“Hi-Gest alfalfa takes away the trade-off that has traditionally existed between high forage yields and high forage quality. Hi-Gest offers growers the total package of improved yields, higher digestibility rates and good winter survival, along with superior disease and pest resistance,” said David Johnson, an Alforex Seeds team member and breeder.
Finally, it offers harvesting flexibility. Farmers can harvest on their regular schedule and get higher quality hay. Or, they can choose to delay the harvest by up to seven days and get a hay quality comparable to the harvests they received before using the low lignin alfalfa.
The company is offering a limited number of Hi-Gest dormancies in select regions during its introductory season. The company will roll out additional dormancies across an expanded growing area in 2015. FG
—From Alforex Seeds and Dow AgroSciences news release
PHOTO
Alfalfa field in Oakley, Idaho. Photo by FG staff.
Read a related article, "Lower lignin alfalfa: What this means to growers."
