Food & Agriculture

Norberg leads search for genetic key to better alfalfa

An important part of the state’s $539 million hay industry, alfalfa is grown on more than 400,000 acres throughout Washington. Produced most intensively in the irrigated Columbia River Basin, alfalfa is exported around the world, notably to China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where demand has been rising steadily in recent years.

Alfalfa is harvested in the Northwest. WSU Extension scientists are studying genes to help develop more digestible varieties.