- Agronomically, alfalfa plays a major role
in crop rotations, especially in deep soils in the western
two-thirds of the state. It is an alternative to
continuous wheat as well as row crops and provides valuable
residual nitrogen to the crop following it in the rotation.
Alfalfa production began before the turn of the century and was
among the first crops planted in Oklahoma. As pioneers
settled in the region they brought seed with them, primarily
from Kansas and Colorado. These strains of Chilean alfalfa
had been introduced into the United States from South America
and Mexico around 1850.
By the 1920s about 250,000 acres of alfalfa were grown in
Oklahoma. The acreage continued to increase and by the
late 1940s totaled more than 400,000 acres. Acreage has
fluctuated around 500,000 during the 1960s and reached a high
of almost 600,000 acres in 1971. The fluctuations are
primarily in response to varying amounts of rainfall and to the
influx of new insects followed by improved knowledge of their
control.
Most of Oklahoma's alfalfa is grown on deep, river bottom soils;
however, scattered acreages throughout the state are planted on
shallower upland soils. About 25-30 percent of the acreage
is actually irrigated; however, some fields along rivers are
sub-irrigated during parts of the growing season.
The statewide average yield is approximately 3.5 tons of hay
per acre per year but yields vary greatly from year to year in relation
to rainfall. On the more productive sites some producers
obtain yields of six to nine tons/A with five to six harvests
per year. On the shallow and clayey soils only two
cuttings per year are reliable but summer rains may make three
or four cuttings possible.
The graph in Figure 1 shows alfalfa hay is worth
more than $120
million each year to the state of Oklahoma. These data are from the Oklahoma Agricultural
Statistics Service.
Figure 1. Annual Value of Alfalfa
Hay, 1977 to 2000.
It is pretty easy to see that alfalfa's value to the state
has been increasing steadily from $74 million in 1977 to a high of $149 million around
1996. The graphs in Figures 2 thru 5 may also be surprising to many of us. Yields have
increased from 3.2 to 3.6 tons/acre (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Alfalfa Hay Yield
(tons/acre) from 1977 to 2000.
The five-year average price has gone from less than $60/ton
in the late 1970's to almost $100/ton during the last several years (Figure 3).
When the average price is more than $91
(which includes some fairly bad hay) those producers doing a good job of making high
quality hay and using good marketing skills are getting much more.
Figure 3. Average Price of
Alfalfa Hay ($/ton) 1977 to 2000.
Acreage has been fairly steady around 400,000 (Figure 4)
except for a dip in the mid 1980's and a jump around 1990. Total production for the state
has also been fairly steady -- around 1.3 million tons (figure 5).
Figure 4. Alfalfa Acreage in
Oklahoma from 1977 to 2000.
Total income to the state for alfalfa hay is more than 1/4
the income from wheat for grain, and the alfalfa is produced on well less than 1/10 the
acreage. More specifically, it takes 18 times as much land with wheat to produce only 4
times as many dollars for the state.
Economists multiply the value of a product by
a factor of 7 to 10 to get a more meaningful measure of something's impact on the economy
of the state or region. We know that the money earned by alfalfa production helps many
people in addition to the individual producers and their families. Equipment, fuel,
repairs, chemicals, labor, etc., are purchased with the money earned from alfalfa in
addition to how the family uses its net income. So the alfalfa industry in Oklahoma is
creating about $1 billion of spending power in the state, going through many hands.
Maybe we should brag about it a
little more. It's not just hay! And it is certainly not chicken feed!!!!
-
Figure 5. Total Production
(millions of tons/yr.), 1977-2000.
