Advancing Alfalfa
Advancing Alfalfa
Published on June 12, 2025
Alfalfa has been a valued crop in Kentucky for hay production. Its high nutritional value and benefits for soil health, including its ability to fix nitrogen from the air to improve soil fertility, make it an excellent choice for livestock production. However, its use in pasture-based systems has been limited, in part because it requires careful management and a steeper learning curve for establishment and maintenance.
Lacefield and other UK forage specialists saw great potential for Kentucky farmers to expand their alfalfa acreage and improve yields by adopting better management practices, including soil testing, increased lime and fertilizer application, thoughtful variety selection, and proper seeding techniques.
In the 1970s, UK researchers began investigating a power tillage (should this be seeding?) technique aimed at improving the forage quality and soil fertility in pastures by integrating legumes into fields of tall fescue. With the help of agronomist Tim Taylor, agricultural engineer Ed Smith developed a power drill seeder that could drop legume seeds into freshly prepared slots, resulting in better establishment of legumes like alfalfa in existing grass stands and improved pasture productivity. Field-testing the machine, which John Deere later purchased, was one of Lacefield’s first assignments when he joined the UKREC team.
In 1980, county extension agent Roy Catlett arranged a visit to an alfalfa farm in Shelby County, which led Lacefield into a discussion on the need to share more of UKREC’s growing alfalfa knowledge with area producers. At first, it was organized as a simple county meeting. In 1981, the first Kentucky Alfalfa Conference was held in both Shelby County and Princeton, and the annual event has continued at rotating locations across the state for over 40 years.
Lacefield said Clayton Geralds, a dairy farmer from Hart County, was in attendance at the 1983 Kentucky Alfalfa Conference. By 1990, he had sold his herd and redirected his attention to cultivating alfalfa and other high-quality forages for horse farmers. By 2012, his operation had expanded to include 600 acres of alfalfa and timothy hay, and his reputation as one of the state’s top commercial alfalfa hay producers had grown in tandem.
Lacefield gave a 50 Years of Alfalfa Production in Kentucky presentation at the 2024 conference.
