NAFA Board Meeting Scheduled for June 26-28 in Walla Walla, WA

The National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance (NAFA) has scheduled its summer board meeting for June 26-28 in Walla Walla, WA. While there board members will tour the facilities of NAFA member Nelson Irrigation. Make plans now to attend! NAFA board meetings are open to all NAFA members. If you're interested in attending, please email the NAFA office so we have an accurate count for meals & tour transportation at nafa@comcast.net.

AFRP Funding Increased to $2.25 Million for FY 2017

NAFA persistence continues to pay dividends in its efforts to secure enhanced research funding for the Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Research Program (AFRP). Both the House and Senate recently passed a $1 trillion omnibus spending bill which avoids a government shutdown and funds the government through September. Fortunately, the bill also included an increase of $250,000 over the previous year’s AFRP award bringing the total FY 2017 appropriation to $2.25 million to fund alfalfa-related research. The spending bill will now head to President’s desk for signature. Click here for the complete article.

Alfalfa Winterkill in 2017
Mark McCaslin, VP of Research & Dev., Forage Genetics International

Although many people in the Midwest considered our last winter to be “mild”, there were sporadic areas in South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa where established alfalfa stands suffered moderate to severe winter injury. Two factors which may have contributed to this were: 1) a very late and mild fall – encouraging some producers to take a late harvest, and 2) record rainfall during the growing season - leading to wetter than normal soils going into winter. These two factors may have put plants in a condition of low to moderate stress going into winter. Click here for the complete article.

NAFA President Presents at AZ Alfalfa & Forage Crops Workshop

NAFA President Beth Nelson joined farmers, industry professionals, and and academia at the 3rd annual Arizona Alfalfa & Forage Crops Workshop to give a brief update of NAFA activities. The event, held on Wednesday, March 29 at the Maricopa Agricultural Center in Maricopa, AZ, featured some of the leading researchers in the alfalfa industry today. Presentations covered a wide range of topics including Key Agronomic Effects on Forage Quality, Subsurface Drip Irrigation in Alfalfa, and Salinity Management in Alfalfa just to name a few.

Health Canada Says Glyphosate Not a Risk to Human Health

After a comprehensive multi-year re-evaluation of glyphosate, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is granting continued registration of products containing glyphosate for sale and use in Canada. The PMRA’s re-evaluation decision summary concludes glyphosate is not genotoxic and is unlikely to pose a human cancer risk. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup and one of the most popular herbicides in the world.

The agency said it considered data from product registrants, published scientific reports, and data from other regulatory bodies. The PMRA concluded that glyphosate doesn’t pose a health risk to farmers and other occupations that handle the product. Additionally, agency scientists said acute and chronic dietary risks for residues of glyphosate in food and water “are not of concern.”

This re-evaluation process by regulatory agencies is standard and takes place on a regular basis for all registered pesticides. Re-evaluation is an important process to ensure that all registered pesticides continue to meet the stringent, modern standards for human health and environmental protection.

NAFA Annual Report

The 2015-16 National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance Annual Report is a summary of the accomplishments and activities undertaken by NAFA over the course of the past year. Click here for the entire report.