Roundup Ready Alfalfa
Are you ready for Roundup Ready alfalfa? After years of testing, evaluating, and regulating, Roundup Ready alfalfa finally is readily available. Weigh all the facts to see if it is for you.
Roundup Ready alfalfa is finally here. While the seed supply last year was quite low, there is plenty available this spring for you to decide if you want to plant this kind of seed. It is expensive. The tech fee alone is two dollars and fifty cents per pound, or $125 per fifty pound bag. That will be in addition to the regular price of top-of-the-line alfalfa seed. Fortunately, Roundup Ready alfalfa is only in top-of-the-line varieties. That means no yield drag like many of you experienced when soybeans first came out as Roundup Ready.
Where will Roundup Ready alfalfa fit best? Well, obviously, if you consistently have weed problems when establishing new stands, this will easily solve the problem. More often, though, I expect Roundup Ready alfalfa to help solve special problems in established stands– problems like bluegrass in irrigated alfalfa. Or, problems with mustards and downy brome in spring growth or curly dock , late season waterhemp, foxtail, crabgrass, and sandburs.
Because of the cost, Roundup Ready alfalfa will be most suitable for alfalfa that is intended for use in higher value situations like dairy or horse hay. By eliminating weeds, it will be easier for you growers to produce this hay and capitalize on these cash hay markets.
I also think Roundup Ready will help extend stand life by eliminating weeds, especially winter annual weeds, that hurt alfalfa stands the most. Round up Ready alfalfa is not right for everyone. Examine your own needs and then decide if the investment is worth it to you.
