Project Grant 20187000528738

ALFALFA WAS THE THIRD MOST VALUABLE FIELD CROP IN THE USA IN 2017, BUT ACREAGE HAS BEEN DECREASING OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS, PRIMARILY LOSING GROUND TO THE GREATER FEED ENERGY PRODUCTION PER ACRE OF CORN SILAGE. THIS LAND USE CHANGE HAS SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS BECAUSE ALFALFA PROVIDES IMPORTANT SOIL-RELATED ECOSYSTEM SERVICES WHEN INCLUDED IN CROP ROTATIONS, SUCH AS BIOLOGICAL N FIXATION, SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION, REDUCED SOIL EROSION, AND IMPROVED SOIL STRUCTURE, NONE OF WHICH ARE PROVIDED BY CORN. HIGH-TECH, BIG-DATA, AND PRECISION AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE TO ASSIST GROWERS OF OTHER FIELD CROPS, BUT METHODOLOGIES SUITABLE FOR ALFALFA PRODUCTION HAVE GENERALLY LAGGED BEHIND. ALFALFA'S MULTIPLE HARVESTS PER YEAR REQUIRE A CONSTANT COMPROMISE BETWEEN YIELD AND QUALITY BECAUSE THE FEEDING VALUE OF A PERENNIAL FORAGE DECLINES AS YIELD INCREASES. TIMING OF EACH HARVEST IS THEREFORE CRITICAL. COST-EFFECTIVE REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGIES THAT CAN PREDICT YIELD AND QUALITY POTENTIAL OF FIELD OF ALFALFA IN REAL TIME COULD BE INVALUABLE TO INFORMING HARVEST DECISIONS AND THUS IMPROVING MANAGEMENT AND PROFITABILITY OF ALFALFA. WE PROPOSE TO BEGIN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING PRE-HARVEST REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGIES FOR ALFALFA BY BUILDING A FORAGE SPECTRAL LIBRARY THAT CAN ULTIMATELY BE USED FOR DRONE- AND SATELLITE-BASED REMOTE SENSING SYSTEMS, HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING, AND MODELING TO PERMIT THE RAPID AND EFFICIENT APPLICATION OF PRECISION AGRICULTURE SOLUTIONS ON A LANDSCAPE SCALE IN DIVERSE MANAGED ALFALFA AND FORAGE SYSTEMS. ON THE OTHER END OF THE VALUE CHAIN FROM GROWERS, WE HAVE STAKEHOLDERS WHO FEED ALFALFA, TO WHOM POST-HARVEST FORAGE QUALITY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR. NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (NIRS) EVOLVED AS A LABORATORY-SCALE TECHNOLOGY FOR ASSESSING POST-HARVEST FORAGE QUALITY, BUT INSTRUMENTATION WAS TOO LARGE AND COSTLY TO BE FEASIBLE FOR ON-FARM USE. TODAY, NIRS TECHNOLOGY IS MARKETED DIRECTLY TO FARMERS IN UNITS AS SMALL AS A CELL PHONE. FARMER ARE BOMBARDED WITH ADVERTISING FOR THESE NEW DEVICES, BUT THERE IS LITTLE OBJECTIVE DATA COMPARING ACCURACY OR PRECISION OF THESE PRODUCTS VERSUS LABORATORY-SCALE NIRS INSTRUMENTS. THE PRIMARY USES FOR POST-HARVEST ANALYSIS OF ALFALFA NUTRITIVE VALUE ARE HAY PRICING AND RATION BALANCING. BEING ABLE TO PREDICT FORAGE CONSTITUENTS ON-FARM CAN POTENTIALLY SAVE TIME AND MONEY OVER SHIPPING SAMPLES TO A TESTING LAB, BUT A SMALL ACCURACY ERROR CAN POTENTIALLY HAVE LARGE NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON LIVESTOCK PERFORMANCE. THEREFORE, THERE IS A PRESSING NEED FOR OBJECTIVE COMPARATIVE INFORMATION TO ASSIST IN USE OF THESE NEW DEVICES. WE WILL COLLECT THIS DATA, DEVELOP EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS TO TRAIN STUDENTS AND FARMERS IN TECHNOLOGY USE, AND DEVELOP NEW CALIBRATIONS DESIGNED FOR HAND-HELD UNITS. THE PROJECT WILL CONCLUDE WITH A CONFERENCE THAT BRINGS TOGETHER FORAGE -BASED PRECISION AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY.THIS PROJECT WILL BRING THE PRECISION AGRICULTURE REVOLUTION TO ALFALFA MANAGEMENT BY DEVELOPING AND ADAPTING CUTTING EDGE SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNOLOGIES FOR USE ON-FARM. THE DEVELOPMENT OF INEXPENSIVE, ACCURATE, REAL-TIME PRODUCER-ACCESSIBLE FORAGE MAPPING TOOLS AND FORAGE ANALYSIS IS A GAME-CHANGING IMPROVEMENT OVER THE CURRENT SITUATION. BY ENHANCING PROFITABILITY, THE PROJECT SHOULD INCREASE ALFALFA ACREAGE ALONG WITH ITS POSITIVE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, THUS ADDRESSING AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THE BROADER QUESTION OF HOW TO SUSTAINABLY FEED THE EVER-GROWING WORLD POPULATION IN THE FACE OF INCREASING GLOBAL DEMAND FOR MEAT AND DAIRY.