ALFALFA in Amargosa Valley

Alfalfa is a perennial plant which can be harvested several times each growing season. Alfalfa is also called lucerne. The scientific name is Medicago sativa. It is generally fed to animals, although humans have been known to enjoy alfalfa sprouts on their salads!

The alfalfa in Amargosa Valley grows tall and thick wherever it is irrigated. Just outside the field, the natural desert plants grow low and spaced far apart, as shown below.

The alfalfa grown in Amargosa Valley is fed to cows, horses, and sheep in several forms:

green-chop (cut and served fresh from the field)
cubes (cut and compacted into candy bar sized rectangles, then fed immediately or stored for later use -- this form is easy to ship because it is so tightly compacted)
bales (cut, dried slightly, then compacted lightly into bales -- which may be round or rectangular, in many sizes -- and stored for later use)

This tractor pulls a hay baler, which is ejecting a large rectangular hay bale at the left edge of the picture.

With our long growing season and constant irrigation during the hottest months, Amargosa Valley farmers can get 5 to 7 cuttings per year from an alfalfa field. If the alfalfa is not cut, it grows to about 2 feet tall and develops small purple flowers.

This forklift holds a "one ton" bale of hay, which was auctioned off at the Veterans Day Celebration. The next photo shows a "one ton" bale with a car parked beside it. The car is a 1984 Pontiac Sunbird, a 4 door mid-size sedan (approx. 10 feet long). The bale is so large that only the front and rear bumpers can be seen.

During the winter months, the irrigation is turned off and the alfalfa goes dormant. Shepherds who graze their sheep in the mountains of California during the hot summer months bring the flock to Amargosa during the winter, where they graze on the stubble of the alfalfa fields. The particular way that the sheep chew the alfalfa and walk all over the field helps the alfalfa roots spread so that the crop is more uniform the next year. Plus, the sheep provide free fertilizer!

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This web page was made by Michelle DeLee, Amargosa Valley, Nevada, USA
michelle@amargosavalley.com
Last updated on November 15, 1999.