HybriForce-4400™ Drives Profitability in 2020 HAY Plot Summary
BY SARA HAGEN, FORAGE LEADER
In a year where everything seemed to change, Dairyland Seed continued to provide considerable value to customers through the annual HAY plot program. After 20 years of harvesting on-farm alfalfa strip trials, we’re more confident than ever we have the strongest forage line-up to ensure profitability and long-term success. HybriForce-4400, the fourth generation of hybrid alfalfa using msSUNSTRA® hybrid alfalfa technology, is the latest reason to be proud to plant Dairyland Seed alfalfa products.
HybriForce-4400 has been extensively tested in our on-farm plot system since 2017 and has achieved an incredible 6.9% yield advantage over competitors in 502 head-to-head comparisons. This impressive field performance is achieved without sacrificing on important quality metrics by also showing a 1.14% advantage in 30-hour NDF fiber digestibility and a 0.45% advantage in crude protein across the same number of comparisons. This one-two punch delivers increased profitability in a challenging agricultural economy by providing an overall 6.47% milk per acre advantage.
Data gathered in the on-farm HAY plot program has shown that HybriForce-4400 is a broadly adapted alfalfa that performs across a wide range of environments and has exciting seedling establishment capabilities. As a racehorse style of hybrid alfalfa, it excels in the seeding year and provides exceptional return on investment crucial for today’s alfalfa growers. This tall, leafy, dense plant incorporates an excellent disease package into its outstanding performance potential.
Since 2000, the Hybrid Alfalfa Yield (HAY) program has allowed Dairyland Seed to test alfalfa under real-world conditions and scenarios by collaborating with alfalfa growers to capture performance data that reflects realistic differences in growing conditions, cutting schedules, soil demographics, weather, and wheel traffic. Visit the Dairyland Seed website to view all of the 2020 on-farm data and the full line-up of available alfalfa products.
2020 Hybrid Alfalfa Performance Summary
On-Farm HAY Program (Hybrid Alfalfa Yield)
All Cuts at All Locations vs. Non-Dairyland Seed Varieties
502 total comparisons for HybriForce-4400™ since 2017
| COMPETITOR | YIELD ADV.* | WINS** | LOSSES | Out Of | Win %3*** | Extra $ Value/Bag**** |
| ALL | 6.9% | 331 | 171 | 502 | 65.9% | $ 672.92 |
| HVX + RR | 7.9% | 196 | 89 | 285 | 68.8% | $ 767.92 |
| RR - ONLY | 6.6% | 44 | 22 | 66 | 66.7% | $ 642.11 |
| CONV | 5.2% | 91 | 60 | 151 | 60.3% | $ 507.08 |
| ADVANTAGE | VS. | COMPETITIVE | BRANDS: | |||
| BYRON | 19.9% | 1 | 0 | 1 | 100.0% | $ 1,934.37 |
| CHANNEL | 1.9% | 1 | 1 | 2 | 50.0% | $ 188.52 |
| CROPLAN | 7.7% | 119 | 43 | 162 | 73.5% | $ 750.04 |
| DEKALB | 6.3% | 27 | 16 | 43 | 62.8% | $ 610.34 |
| FEDERAL HYBRIDS | -1.2% | 2 | 4 | 6 | 33.3% | $ (117.07) |
| KINGFISHER | -1.2% | 2 | 2 | 4 | 50.0% | $ (118.67) |
| LEGACY | 5.7% | 40 | 23 | 63 | 63.5% | $ 555.69 |
| MUSTANG SEEDS | -17.6% | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0% | $ (1,707.79) |
| NEXGROW | 7.2% | 40 | 15 | 55 | 72.7% | $ 703.01 |
| SYNGENTA | -5.3% | 1 | 3 | 4 | 25.0% | $ (511.21) |
| WL | 6.7% | 63 | 36 | 99 | 63.6% | $ 648.61 |
| ALL | 6.9% | 331 | 171 | 502 | 65.9% | $ 672.92 |
* “Yield Advantage” is the average percent forage yield advantage of HybriForce hybrid alfalfa products versus the competitive check variety when comparing all head to head cuts
** “Wins” indicates the number of cuts that HybriForce hybrid alfalfa products yielded more than the competitive variety and “Losses” indicates the number of cuts that HybriForce hybrid alfalfa products yielded less than the competitive variety.
*** “Win%” is the percentage of the head to head cuts that HybriForce hybrid alfalfa products yielded more than the competitive variety.
**** “Extra $ Value/Bag” is calculated using the following formula: (Adv) x (5 DM Tons Per Acre) x (4 Years in Production) x ($175 Hay Price) x (50 lbs of seed per bag/18lbs of seed per Acre)