Feasibility Study: Alfalfa Leaf Meal as a Value-Added Crop and Alfalfa Stems asBiomass Fuel

摘要

The grantee recognizes the importance of alfalfa production to agriculturaleconomics in the western United States. With this grant, it secured the assistance of experts at the University of Wyoming to explore alternative uses for and, thus, ways to add value to alfalfa. The study was prompted by periodic unstable demand and price fluctuations for hay. The agricultural infrastructure and expertise for producing alfalfa is well established in the Western U.S. Alfalfa is a well-adapted, environmentally friendly crop which avoids a large fertilizer subsidy by fixing atmospheric nitrogen into a form utilized for plant growth. Leaf-stem fractions were evaluated for forage quality, biofuel energy content, and co-product yield due to seperation procedure. The feasibility of conducting alfalfa leaf-stem separations in both stationary and mobile plants was considered on the basis of three factors: (1) price received for each fraction, (2) cost of the hay to be processed, and (3) cost of processing the hay. Both stationary and mobile separation plants showed positive net income potentials. Alfalfa stem pellets could be marked at appreciably lower cost than equivalent wood pellets for use in wood stoves. The report recommends that sufficient quantities of high-quality alfalfa leaf meal be produced and tested for evaluation in dairy, beef, aquaculture, poultry, and swine rations.