Wiekie Hauprich, aged 12;of  Ohio for a question:

What is alfalfa used for?

Imagine 45 million tons of hay: It would make a hay stack big enough to bury the beautiful city of Columbus, Ohio. That’s how much hay is made from alfalfa in America every year. Yet the rich fodder plant has been growing in our land only just over 100 years, It has been cherished in the Old World for over 2,000 years.

Alfalfa was named by the people of Central Asia. In their language, the name means the best food. It may have been developed through generations of cultivation in China or Siberia. The Greeks used it to feed the proud horses that fought the Persians. The Roman armies planted its seeds across their tide empire. Our army machines run on oil and gasoline. The ancient armies were powered by horses. ‑ And the horse needed‑ alfalfa the best food..

The Spanish named this best of all forage foods, lucerne. Lucerne is a member of the legume family of plants, a relative of the peas and beans. Most members of this family are good for the soil, Other food plants use up goodness from the soil with each crop. Wheat uses certain chemicals from the surface of the soil. Turnips take goodness from deeper in the soil. Before the, days of fertilizers) it was necessary to rest farmland between crops. There was a time when a farmer planned to leave a third of his land fallow each year. That way, nature could replace the used up chemicals in the soil.

But the farmers of Europe discovered that lucerne, alfalfa, made this waste fallow land unnecessary. For the deep roots of alfalfa actually enrich the soil with vital nitrates. Lush crops of green fodder could be grown during the fallow years. Often the crop, or some of it, was plowed back into the ground to enrich it with nitrates.

The roots of alfalfa may grow anywhere from twelve to thirty feet into the soil. These roots are hosts to tiny bacteria. The bacteria gather nitrogen gas from the air and manufacture it into precious nitrates precious nitrates for the soil. This plant‑food chemical stays in the ground after the crop of alfalfa has been harvested.

The Spanish brought alfalfa to South and Central America for their horses. In 1736, seeds were taken to Georgia where it did not do too well. Then, in 1650, gold prospectors were arriving in California from all over the world. Though they didn’t know it, certain get‑rich‑quickers from Chile were carrying something far more valuable than gold. They brought with them precious alfalfa seeds.

In California the alfalfa found the soil it loves ‑‑ well drained, deep earth over a porous subsoil. It thrived in the warm dry, climate. Nowadays, acres of it flourish in California, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and many other rich farm states. Cattle and horses love to eat it green. They also love it as hay. And it is good for them. Alfalfa is rich in protein. It helps farm animals grow meat and yield plenty of milk. And a field of green fodder can be harvested two to seven times a season, depending on soil and climate. Truly the Asians were wise to name it alfalfa ‑. the best of foods.