Alfalfa is an important crop due to its use in animal feed

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded the University of Wisconsin System $750,439.57 on September 15, 2025, under the Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Program (CFDA 10.330) to conduct research quantifying damage from modern harvest equipment to alfalfa plants and developing extension strategies to promote controlled traffic farming practices.

The research, performed at Madison, Wisconsin, will measure the effect of machine traffic and tire pressure on alfalfa yield and soil properties through plot-based trials and remote sensing data collection using commercially available unmanned aircraft and sensor technology. The recipient will also simulate the potential production impact of controlled traffic farming and conduct extension outreach through field days across Wisconsin and Oklahoma, online demonstrations, extension publications, and peer-reviewed journal articles designed to increase producer adoption of reduced-traffic alfalfa production methods.

The project extends through September 29, 2028. Oklahoma State University serves as sub-recipient, with Co-PIs Dr. John M. Long and Dr. D. Brian Arnall directing research trials, advising graduate students, and delivering extension programs to achieve the stated research and outreach goals.

In recent years, the yield of production alfalfa has not kept pace with the advances in genetics and breeding and yields observed in a research plot setting. One major difference in production versus research is the type and size of equipment used at harvest. With this research, we will TRY to understand how much damage modern harvest equipment causes to growing alfalfa plants. With this information we can then push for a paradigm shift in the method alfalfa is harvested where machines travel on in-field roads and minimize all traffic on the remaining portions of the field. This could lead to higher alfalfa yields at each harvest, minimization of damage to soil structure across the fields making them more productive, and increase the longevity of the stand which is an economic benefit to farmers who grow alfalfa.