Final steps in developing a high-energy alfalfa cultivar

Project overview

Forages are the main components of dairy rations and play a vital role in the economic and environmental sustainability of dairy production in Canada. Research has shown that increasing the energy concentration in forages can enhance animal performance and reduce dairy farm production costs. Building on the work conducted under Dairy Research Cluster 2 and 3, the research team aimed to develop a new high-energy alfalfa cultivar to help dairy farmers boost “forage milk” production.

This research marks the final steps of cultivar development, with objectives including conducting evaluation trials across Canada, producing breeder seed, collecting phenotypic data required for cultivar registration, and maintaining the germplasm until commercialization.

What Will the Research Team Do?

From 2015 to 2018, the Dairy Research Cluster 2 project focused on enhancing the energy content of alfalfa through breeding. Building on preliminary research, the project successfully completed three cycles of recurrent selection for increased energy content, resulting in the development of three alfalfa populations: NFC1, NFC2, and NFC3. In the subsequent Dairy Research Cluster 3 project, the team expanded on these findings by evaluating the NFC1, NFC2, and NFC3 populations in the field, conducting a fourth cycle of selection, and testing NFC1, NFC2, NFC3, and NFC4 populations in a greenhouse trial. Based on field and greenhouse data, along with supporting literature, the team concluded that the NFC4 population had a significantly higher energy concentration compared to the original genetic material, which would make it a promising cultivar for improving animal performance.

Specific objectives for the 2024-2027 period include:

• Collecting agronomic data on the NFC4 synthetic population at five locations across Canada.
• Producing pre-breeder and breeder seeds.
• Collecting phenotypic data for cultivar registration and maintaining the germplasm.