Establishing Alfalfa for Organic Feed and Seed in Western Washington.

High annual precipitation and seasonally-perched water tables in western Washington (WWA) have historically made growing conditions difficult for alfalfa; therefore, the region’s farmers have often disregarded this crop for production. Today, new germplasm and production approaches are changing this view. Modern alfalfa varieties are producing high yields of supreme quality feed under organic management in recent field trials at the WSU Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center (NWREC). As the cost of organic feed is rapidly increasing, alfalfa production on WWA farms is opportune. Seed production is another emerging economic opportunity, as only one of the seven varieties under evaluation is commercially available as certified organic seed. Alfalfa variety testing and outreach efforts to WWA farmers began in 2012. In 2013, four alfalfa cuttings were harvested from NWREC with the first and fourth taken as baleage and haylage, respectively, and the second and third taken as dry bales. Across varieties, yields ranged from 6.91 to 8.19 dry tons acre^-1 year^-1, with most significant differences occurring between varieties at first cutting. Several varieties produced Supreme and Premium quality forage with Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) ranging from 56.1 to 70.1 at second and first cuttings respectively and Relative Feed Values (RFV) ranging from 131.3 to 198.2 at second and third cuttings, respectively. Percent crude protein ranged from 18.4 to 28.4 at fourth and first cuttings, respectively. Weed biomass ranged from 0.04 to 0.27 dry tons acre^-1 year^-1 at first cutting, with insignificant weed pressure thereafter. Western Washington farmers have shown renewed interest in developing organic alfalfa feed and seed markets. In order to optimize farmer decision-making, it is critical to further assess production and post-harvest processing, as well as the economic validity of organic alfalfa farming in WWA.