Douglas
Well-known member
Great editoral by the farm bureau
http://www.georgiaforages.com/
at the bottom click on Challenges and Opportunities for Forage Producers.
Interesting points:
Should RR alfalfa not make it back to the market, trait
development and breeding work on our nation’s third most economically important crop (alfalfa)
will slow to a near stop. A ripple effect will be felt throughout the entire forage breeding
community and many innovations will be stifled. Crop scientists are currently using
biotechnology to develop alfalfa varieties with lower lignin content, enhanced bypass protein
fractions, better drought tolerance, less leaf shatter, delayed flowering, improved disease
resistance, and increased Al tolerance. The development and release of these traits shares the fate
of RR alfalfa. In addition, these breeding tools are being used in other forage crops to enable
broadleaf herbicide resistance within legumes, increase digestibility in bermudagrass, and
improve drought tolerance and summer productivity in tall fescue. The development and release
of these traits also shares the fate of RR alfalfa.
An equally important challenge to the efficiency of hay and forage production is the
troubling trends in forage research, teaching, and outreach effort. Recent work published in the
Journal of Animal Science has shown that since 1984 the allocation of research effort to foragebased
livestock systems in our nation’s land-grant universities was reduced by over 60%. During
this same time, the allocation of university faculty effort to teaching forage management
decreased by nearly 40%. This decline is even more acute in extension, where there has been a
30% decrease in the allocation of extension specialist effort on forage management issues since
1998 and another 30% decline is expected by 2018.
http://www.georgiaforages.com/
at the bottom click on Challenges and Opportunities for Forage Producers.
Interesting points:
Should RR alfalfa not make it back to the market, trait
development and breeding work on our nation’s third most economically important crop (alfalfa)
will slow to a near stop. A ripple effect will be felt throughout the entire forage breeding
community and many innovations will be stifled. Crop scientists are currently using
biotechnology to develop alfalfa varieties with lower lignin content, enhanced bypass protein
fractions, better drought tolerance, less leaf shatter, delayed flowering, improved disease
resistance, and increased Al tolerance. The development and release of these traits shares the fate
of RR alfalfa. In addition, these breeding tools are being used in other forage crops to enable
broadleaf herbicide resistance within legumes, increase digestibility in bermudagrass, and
improve drought tolerance and summer productivity in tall fescue. The development and release
of these traits also shares the fate of RR alfalfa.
An equally important challenge to the efficiency of hay and forage production is the
troubling trends in forage research, teaching, and outreach effort. Recent work published in the
Journal of Animal Science has shown that since 1984 the allocation of research effort to foragebased
livestock systems in our nation’s land-grant universities was reduced by over 60%. During
this same time, the allocation of university faculty effort to teaching forage management
decreased by nearly 40%. This decline is even more acute in extension, where there has been a
30% decrease in the allocation of extension specialist effort on forage management issues since
1998 and another 30% decline is expected by 2018.
