LOW LIGNIN ALFALFA : REDEFINING THE YIELD / QUALITY TRADEFOFF

We determined the change in forage quality of two reduced lignin transgenic alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) populations, compared to appropriate controls and grown in diverse environments. Harvests were taken beginning at late vegetative stage and continued at 5 day intervals for 5 total harvests. Forage samples were analyzed for crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin, and neutral detergent fiber digestibility (NDFD). In this study, late harvested COMT and CCOMT lines had the same NDFD as the nulls or commercial check harvested 8 to 12 days earlier. Producers using this trait may be able to delay harvest while maintaining forage quality, potentially eliminating one or more annual harvests and while increasing yield by 20 to 30%.