Category Archives: Alfalfa Hay

At Barr-Ag, we take up to three cuts of the early maturing varieties of alfalfa from our irrigated farms. This alfalfa hay is sought after for its higher protein content. The later maturing variety is grown on our dryland properties and we harvest up to two cuts. All of our alfalfa hay is non-GMO.

Alfalfa Grading 101: Choosing the Right Quality for Your Herd

Alfalfa is one of the most valuable forages in livestock nutrition, known for its high protein, digestibility, and energy content. Whether you’re managing a high-producing dairy herd, raising young livestock, or feeding performance horses, the grade of alfalfa you choose has a direct impact on animal performance, health, and operational efficiency.

At Barr-Ag, we grow and supply premium non-GMO alfalfa from Alberta, using sustainable farming practices. Our alfalfa is tested regularly through internationally recognized laboratories. This gives our customers confidence in the consistency, safety, and nutritional value of every bale.

What Are Alfalfa Grades?

Alfalfa is graded based on nutritional content and physical quality, with a focus on the factors that affect livestock intake and digestion. The most common grading system used in North America is based on the Relative Feed Value (RFV), which estimates the intake potential and digestibility of the forage.

RFV Formula Used by Labs

RFV = [120 / (NDF %DM)] × [88.9 – (0.779 x ADF %DM)]

Where:

ADF (Acid Detergent Fiber) affects digestibility

NDF (Neutral Detergent Fiber) affects intake

Alfalfa Grade Classifications

RFV is used to classify alfalfa into quality grades. These help buyers determine the right product for their livestock’s needs.

Grade	RFV Range	Typical Use
Supreme	> 180	High-producing dairy cows
Premium	151–180	Dairy, performance horses
Good	125–150	Dairy heifers, beef stock
Fair	100–124	Beef cows, maintenance feeding
Utility	< 100	Dry cows, low nutrient requirements

Factors That Influence Alfalfa Quality

Several factors can affect the final grade of alfalfa:

Maturity at Harvest
Earlier cuts have higher protein and lower fiber. As alfalfa matures, fiber increases and digestibility decreases.

Leaf-to-Stem Ratio
Leaves contain most of the nutrients. A higher leaf content indicates better quality.

Moisture Content
Ideal baling moisture is 12 to 15 percent. Hay that is too wet can mold and generate heat. If too dry, leaf shatter becomes a concern.

Color and Aroma
Bright green, clean-smelling alfalfa indicates freshness. Discoloration or musty odors signal quality loss.

Foreign Material
Weeds, dust, and debris reduce feeding value and safety.

Why Alfalfa Grade Matters

Choosing the right grade of alfalfa ensures:

Optimal animal health and productivity

Reduced need for supplemental feed

Lower veterinary and feed costs

Less waste and improved feed efficiency

Feeding high-quality forage supports better weight gain and milk production in cattle, while providing the energy and performance benefits needed for horses. Across all livestock, quality forage contributes to long-term health and productivity.

Barr-Ag’s Commitment to Forage Quality

At Barr-Ag, we don’t just grow alfalfa. We carefully grade, test, and package every lot to meet the needs of diverse livestock operations across North America and around the world. We follow a meticulous quality control process from field to shipment.

Whether you’re raising cattle, caring for horses, or supplying feed, you can count on us for clean, consistent, and nutritionally reliable forage.

Choose Premium Alfalfa with Confidence

If you’re ready to elevate your feed program, Barr-Ag is here to help. Our team can assist in finding the ideal alfalfa grade for your animal’s nutritional needs. For specific dietary requirements, we recommend consulting your veterinarian.

Contact us today to learn more.

Alfalfa Hay: The Superfood for Large Livestock

Alfalfa hay is a nutrient-rich forage crop that has gained popularity worldwide for its remarkable benefits to large stock animals. As more farmers recognize the advantages of alfalfa hay, the demand for this feed has seen exponential growth domestically and internationally. Although alfalfa can be more pricey than other types of forage, the benefits often outweigh the costs. This article lists some benefits of feeding your livestock this quality hay.

The Benefits of Alfalfa Hay to Large Stock

Nutrient-rich: Alfalfa hay is often considered the “gold standard” among forage crops due to its superior nutritional value. To illustrate its advantages, let’s compare alfalfa hay to other common forage crops such as grass hay, clover hay, and timothy hay.

Protein content: Alfalfa hay has a higher protein content than other forage crops. It typically contains 15-20% crude protein, while grass hays like timothy hay have around 7-12% crude protein, and clover hay contains 14-16%. The high protein content in alfalfa hay makes it an excellent choice for supporting growth, lactation, and muscle development in large stock animals.

High digestibility: Alfalfa hay is highly digestible due to its rich fiber content, making it easier for large stock animals to break down and absorb nutrients effectively.

Supports milk production: Dairy farmers have discovered that feeding alfalfa hay to their animals improves milk production, quality, and composition. In addition, the high protein content of alfalfa hay helps maintain the milk’s nutritional value and consistency.

Enhances fertility: Alfalfa hay has been known to improve fertility in large stock animals. The optimal blend of vitamins and minerals in alfalfa hay contributes to the overall reproductive health of livestock.

Boosts weight gain: Alfalfa hay has a higher energy content than other forage crops. Its energy density is due to its high levels of digestible fiber and readily available carbohydrates. The high protein and digestible energy content promote weight gain in large stock animals, making it an essential feed for animals raised for meat production.

In conclusion, alfalfa hay stands out as a superfood for large stock animals, offering a myriad of benefits that contribute to their overall health, productivity, and growth. It’s exceptional nutritional profile and energy density make it an ideal choice for supporting livestock at any stage of life. Incorporating alfalfa hay into the diet of large stock animals can yield significant benefits, ensuring the well-being and success of farming operations. As the demand for alfalfa hay continues to rise, farmers worldwide recognize its value as a superior feed option for their livestock.

Barr-Ag can provide you with high-quality alfalfa hay and offer valuable guidance to support your livestock’s well-being. Contact Barr-Ag now and take the first step towards maximizing the health, productivity, and growth of your livestock.

THE BENEFITS OF GROWING ALFALFA EXTEND BEYOND ANIMAL FEED
By: Emma Bower, AFIA summer communications intern
Read the full article here

Canadian Alfalfa Hay and Its Many Benefits

Canadian Alfalfa Hay

Over the past four decades, the Canadian Alfalfa processing industry has experienced tremendous growth. Today, it ranks as one of the top five largest exporters of Alfalfa in the world. Alberta-grown Alfalfa hay offers many benefits and advantages when compared to hay grown in other parts of the world. Canadian Alfalfa hay provides farmers with a consistently higher quality product, while also offering a more rapid harvesting time than many other types of hay.

Because of its high protein content, farmers across Canada and the United States use dehydrated Alfalfa hay as food for their livestock. The soil on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies is rich in calcium and magnesium, which helps to produce a more robust, nutrient rich hay.

The clean air, long warm days, and cool nights in Canada ensure a vigorous production during the shorter growing season. Dry land alfalfa hay may be harvested up to twice per season, while irrigated alfalfa hay can be harvested up to three times each season. Because of it has a deep perennial root system, Alfalfa hay is a high water use forage crop. Although it optimally requires 540 to 680 mm of water per growing season in Alberta, the crop is relatively drought tolerant.

The long Canadian winters allow farmers to grow Alfalfa hay using more natural methods. This significantly reduces the need for pesticides and herbicides, as the cold temperatures effectively discourage pests and most weeds. The shorter growing season allows the land a greater resting period to recuperate. This recovery time helps eliminate the need for artificial fertilizers to coax more production, as is commonly necessary in areas with warmer climates.

This non-GMO crop also offers more stringent quality control guidelines. Instead of being graded by observation and smell the way Timothy hay is, Alfalfa hay is tested and graded by independent labs. Canadian Alfalfa hay promises a more consistent product, year after year.

Barr-Ag is a family-owned operation with a farm-to-farm business model. This allows them the unique ability to maintain much tighter control over the product they export. Barr-Ag’s farms and producers are strategically positioned near the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains where they are fortunate to have clean air, long warm days with cool nights, soil rich in calcium and magnesium and a pristine environment in which to grow their non-GMO alfalfa hay.

Growing 60% of all exported hay ensures that they can set high standards in place at each stage of their product, from planting to packaging. The remaining 40% of their stock is purchased from local growers with the same dedication to quality. Barr-Ag’s quality standards allow them to guarantee mold-free hay with less than 12% moisture content.

Contact Barr Ag to get more information on any or our crops including Alfalfa, Timothy, Mixed Hay, Canadian Grains and Pulse corps.

Alberta Alfalfa Hay

Medicago sativa is the Latin name for “the Queen of Forages”, alfalfa, the most popular and important forage legume grown in Canada. (Agriculture Canada, 1987) It owes its monarchic nickname to its many virtues and merits. Alberta Alfalfa Hay is considered to be one of the most palatable and nutritious of hays. Rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, alfalfa hay is one of the chief components of dairy cattle feed, as well as serving as an important dietary ration for milking goats, beef cattle, sheep and horses. Aside from the nutritional advantages that it provides for ruminants and a variety of equine species, alfalfa is also an indirect source for honey as bees gather a substantial amount of nectar from alfalfa flowers. (Alfalfa) This high-yielding cultivar also has a great ability to improve soil quality and provide weed control for ensuing crops.

The plant itself is a bushy perennial legume which grows to a height of 60-100 cm. Its leaves consist of 3 leaflets which can range in shape from almost round to lanceolate. The stems are slender and may be either hollow or solid. Flowers grow in clusters of 10-20 and the florets are usually blue or purple, white or yellow, occasionally bronze and green and may be variegated with shades of blue and green. (Goplen, 1987) Seed pods are slightly downy and vary from kidney or sickle shaped to single, double or triple-coiled in appearance; however “the sickle pod has been almost eliminated by selection because it contains few seeds and shatters easily”. (Goplen et al., 1987, p.6)

The roots of the alfalfa plant are of four types: tap, branch, rhizomatious and creeping. The majority of roots probably penetrate most soils to a depth of about 2 m. (Fulkerson) Taproots typically penetrate “from 7 to 9 m, but roots have been observed 39 m deep in a mine beneath an alfalfa field”. (Sheaffer & Evers, 2007, p. 182) “Depending on the length of the growing season and maturity at harvest, alfalfa will have from 2 to 10 regrowth cycles”. (Sheaffer & Evers, 2007, p.182)

One of the distinctive characteristics of alfalfa is its ability to tap into the nitrogen supply in the air. It does this through an especially unique symbiotic relationship with a particular type of soil bacteria. These bacteria produce nodules on the root that convert nitrogen in the air into a form that is readily used by the plant- a process called “nitrogen fixation”. Soil acidity directly affects the growth and survival of these bacteria and can be a significant impediment to high alfalfa yields. Saline soil conditions also deter productivity because salinity adversely affects seed germination and also prevents roots from taking in water and essential nutrients.

At Barr-Ag, we take up to three cuts of the early maturing varieties of Alberta Alfalfa Hay from our irrigated farms. This alfalfa is sought after for its higher protein content. The later maturing variety is grown on our dryland properties and we harvest up to two cuts. All of our alfalfa hay is non-GMO.(See to the attached article: USDA to OK Genetically Modified Alfalfa )

Barr-Ag’s head office is located at 5837 Imperial Drive, Olds, Alberta, Canada, T4H 1G6. Please visit our website or call or write if you have any questions about our timothy hay, non-GMO alfalfa hay or any of our other products. We can be reached by telephone at: 403 507 8660 or by email at: [email protected] or [email protected]

References:
Fulkerson, R.S., Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Publication 59
Goplen, B.P, Baenziger, H., Bailey, L.D., Gross, A.T.H., Hanna, M.R., Michaud, R., Richards, K.W., Waddington, J., (1987) Agriculture Canada: Growing and Managing Alfalfa in Canada, Publication 1705/E
McKenzie, Ross H., (2005) Agri-Facts: Soil and Nutrient Management of Alfalfa
Sheaffer, Craig C., Evers, Gerald W., (2007) Forages: The Science of Grassland Agriculture
Alfalfa: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/botany/alfalfa-info.htm
Forage: http://www4.agr.gc.ca/AAFC-AAC/display-afficher.do?id=1174594338500&lang=eng

Canadian Alfalfa Hay Exports

Alfalfa hay is high in energy, protein and digestible fibre, making it the preferred forage for dairy cows and horses and is recognized around the world. Alalfa hay is widely grown in Western Canada, due to this regions ideal growing conditions for this nutrient rich legume.

There are many factors to consider when growing and processing high quality alfalfa hay including: soil management, nutrient composition, seeding rates, time of cutting, raking, baling and storage of the product. It’s important to cut the forage when it is young to ensure maximum quality and nutrients, compared to a plant that is older and already flowering.

Alfalfa hay goes through two processing industries in preparation for export. These processes are alfalfa dehydration and hay compaction. Most of the processing occurs in the Canadian Prairies and products include dehydrated alfalfa meal and pellets, sun-cured alfalfa pellets, alfalfa cubes and compressed bales of alfalfa hay.

The Canadian compressed hay industry was first established in the early 1980s. Most of the industry is located in Alberta. Hay and grain growers like Barr-Ag have access to ideal climatic conditions based on the foothills of the Canadian Rockies as well as better access to irrigation. This location also provides easy access to export terminals on the west coast, the last stop in Canada before alfalfa hay products are exported to Asia and other international markets.

Double Compressed Alfalfa Hay

After the alfalfa forage is cut and baled it is sent to Barr-Ag facilities for double-compression. Bales are untied and loaded into the compressing machine where they are compressed to less than two times their original size. Hydraulic pressure is used to compress the bails before they are retied with banding materials. Double-compressed hay bales can vary in size and weight.

Type of Double-Compressed Bale	Weight	Dimensions	# of bales in a 40 HiCube Trailer
Full Bale	60kg	21x24x18”	416 double-compressed bales
Half Cut Bale	30kg	21x12x18”	832 double-compressed bales
Mini Bale	40kg	21x18x16”	580 double-compressed bales
Big bale in sleeve – 2 cut	420kg	48x36x39”	58 double-compressed bales
Big bale in sleeve – 4 cut	420kg	48x36x39″	58 double-compressed bales
Big bale in sleeve – 8 cut	420kg	48x36x39″	58 double-compressed bales

Double compressed alfalfa hay bales can also be processed with a protective sleeve or full wrap for storage and transport. Watch this video of compressed alfalfa hay bales being wrapped in Barr-Ag’s facility.

Do you want to export Canadian alfalfa hay?

At Barr-Ag, we do our best to accommodate the needs of our customers. We take care of all of the required customs documents to help ensure that deliveries are problem-free from our end. Shipments to Asia go via the Port of Vancouver, shipments to Europe go via the Port of Montreal and freight to the USA goes via Chicago/Fort Lauderdale. Flexible shipping options include cost and freight (CNF), freight on board (FOB) and container yard (CY).

For more information

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