Alfalfa is cut and dried on the farm of Yolo County grower and Supervisor Duane Chamberlain. Alfalfa prices reached a record high this year with prices for supreme alfalfa hay sold at the farm topping $190 per ton in the Sacramento Valley. Alfalfa is the primary food of dairy cows. (Suzanne Schmid/Daily Democrat)

Despite recent rains, Yolo County farmer and Supervisor Duane Chamberlain is growing a grassy goldmine.

Chamberlain said he has 2,000 acres of alfalfa on his farm near Woodland this past season and was selling it for $180 per ton.

"Distributors come to my farm every day and buy truckloads of it," he said.

Alfalfa prices reached a record high this year, said Seth Hoyt, a senior agricultural economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's agricultural statistic service. Prices for supreme alfalfa hay sold at the farm this year topped at $190 per ton in the Sacramento Valley.

Lower yields and stronger demand from a growing dairy industry are the reasons behind this year's strong alfalfa market, Hoyt said. Last year, Yolo County produced 340,175 tons of alfalfa on 52,904 acres, according to the annual crop report.

This year, a seedling disease called Sclerotinia affected alfalfa seedlings in the county for the first time, said Rachel Long, a farm adviser from UC Davis' Cooperative Extension. Alfalfa seeds are not resistant to the seedling disease.

Abnormal rainy weather also slowed down alfalfa production, Hoyt said. "Heavy rain last fall which continued into spring prevented some growers from planting as much alfalfa as they wanted for the season," he said.

The rain also soaked 20 percent of the spring alfalfa yields and made the drying hay moldy, Long said.

But successful alfalfa growers thrived during the summer, Long said. The triple digit Valley temperatures this year did not bother the crop.

"Alfalfa has deep tap roots that go six feet into the ground to reach water," she said. "The plant also doesn't flower so it is less sensitive to heat."

Alfalfa also endures because of subsequent monthly cuttings, Long said.

Chamberlain said his first cuttings took place in April. He got seven cuttings from some of his fields.

"If you lose the first cutting, there are always more cuttings," Long said, "but the first cutting is the most valuable because it contains high levels of protein that the dairy industry demands. Cows will produce more milk after eating alfalfa with higher protein and lower fiber."

The number of state dairy cows is steadily growing at a rate of 2,500 cows per month, down from the 5,000 per month growth a few years ago, Hoyt said.

Sacramento Valley alfalfa found strong demand from Central California dairies this year, particularly Tulare County, the largest dairy county in the nation.

"Alfalfa hay production in the Central Valley was not sufficient to meet the strong demand from dairies in that region," Hoyt said.

Chamberlain said he also sells his alfalfa to horse racetracks, such as Bay Meadows Race Track in San Mateo and the Golden Gate Fields racetrack in Berkeley. Animal feed stores in the Bay Area also buy his alfalfa.

"It is simple economics," Hoyt said. "The market goes up when supplies are tight,"

But input costs also rose with prices, Chamberlain said. The rising cost of oil also raised the price of diesel fuel. Chamberlain said the machines that he uses to cut, bale and stack the alfalfa are diesel-powered.

Expensive fuel prices also mean higher fertilizer costs, Long said. But alfalfa's ability to produce its own nitrogen may make it a cost-effective plant.

"You only need to add phosphorus and potassium to grow it," she said.

But those chemicals are only found in the increasingly expensive commercial fertilizers, Chamberlain said. He said this year's prices fortunately outweighed the input costs.

"But I'm bound to get squeezed if input prices stay up," Chamberlain said.

With record high market prices, Hoyt said he wouldn't be surprised if alfalfa acreage increases next year.

"Prices will definitely go down if planting does increase," Chamberlain said.

Chamberlain said he still plans to grow the same amount of alfalfa next year.

"I'm definitely profiting from the plant," he said.

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