Dairy farmers could see a boost in milk production, thanks to a
new alfalfa variety to be released by Cornell's world-class
plant breeders. The new variety, N-R-Gee, is highly digestible,
is well adapted to the Northeast and is predicted to increase
milk production up to 3.3 pounds of milk per day compared with
an industry standard, said Julie Hansen, a senior research
associate in plant breeding and genetics. That bump translates
to $181 more per cow, for a cow lactating 305 days per year and
a farmer earning $18 per 100 pounds of milk. On a 113-cow dairy
herd, the average size in New York, that would add up to an
extra $20,000 per year. The secret to N-R-Gee is a lower
percentage of indigestible fiber -- which fills a cow's belly
but passes through as waste -- and a higher percentage of
carbohydrates and pectin, which cows can convert to milk. With
less fiber taking up space in all those stomachs, cows can eat
more of the high-quality alfalfa and produce more milk. "More
intake and more digestibility: those