46 GERMINATION.CA NOVEMBER 2018 IT’S BEEN A LONG wait for Hi-Gest Alfalfa Technology, but by spring 2019 western Canadian producers will have it available to them for planting. The variety that includes the Hi-Gest alfalfa technol- ogy was developed by U.S.-based Dow AgroSciences brand Alforex Seeds and will be marketed in Canada by BrettYoung Seeds under the variety name Surge HG. The variety will be available exclusively through BrettYoung retailers for 2019 planting. The variety might be a game-changer for the industry for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that it’s conventionally bred using traditional selection techniques, which ensures broad market access for organic and con- ventional hay producers alike. But it’s the increased rate of fibre digestion and increased extent of fibre digestion that’s got alfalfa hay producers enthusiastic. Advance interest in the product means the company anticipates getting on consider- able acres in Western Canada in the 2019 crop year and has supply ready to meet the demand, according to Erik Dyck, forage and turf product manager for BrettYoung. Lignin is an organic polymer naturally found in the cell walls of many plants that gives them a rigid, woody structure. Typically, alfalfa is grown for use as a high- value feed for cattle. But lignin makes traditional alfalfa varieties difficult for cows to digest. Added to this, the more an alfalfa plant matures, the more its lignin develops and decreases fibre digestibility, meaning alfalfa has to be harvested around the 28-day mark to ensure quality parameters are met. Surge HG alfalfa has the flexibility to adjust to aggres- sive harvest systems to maximize yield and quality or to more relaxed schedules focused on tonnage, giving producers a tool to deal with weather and other factors affecting harvest timing. Either way, growers put the odds of improved returns per acre and animal performance in their favour. According to Dyck, Surge HG sees development of more leafy material, which is of higher feed quality, and narrower stems. “You end up seeing plants with higher leaf-to-stem ratio and higher canopy density,” he says. “With more leaves and less stem, as the crop matures, the fibre digest- ibility — when compared to other conventional varieties — will be improved.” The new variety also maintains multiple pest resist- ance and yield performance, with lodging tolerance com- parable to other commercial varieties. There are significant — and measurable — payoffs for dairy producers using high quality alfalfa as feedstock. Dyck says Surge HG contains an increase in crude protein content anywhere from three to five per cent, which translates to 12 to 20 pounds of additional protein per tonne of alfalfa. “If you factor all these things together, the net impact in terms of milk production can be 2.5 pounds per day per cow. Obviously for dairies it can have a very signifi- cant impact,” he says. “In a nutshell, the benefit for the dairy industry is greater digestibility,” says Trevor DeVries, associate profes- sor in the University of Guelph’s Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare and Canada Research Chair in Dairy Cattle Behaviour and Welfare. “There are a variety of benefits that come with that, including greater efficiency of total dry matter use by ISANEWALFALFATECHNOLOGYA GAME-CHANGERFORTHEINDUSTRY? Julienne Isaacs The alfalfa variety that includes Hi-Gest alfalfa technology was developed by U.S.-based Dow AgroSciences brand Alforex Seeds and will be marketed in Canada by BrettYoung Seeds under the variety name Surge HG.