Digestibility was determined using standard in vitro procedures. Samples were incubated in test tubes for 48 hours with 40 ml of buffer solution and 10 ml of rumen fluid that was collected from a steer being fed a diet of grass and alfalfa hay. Samples were then acidified with 6 ml of hydrochloric acid followed by the addition of 2 ml of pepsin and incubated for an additional 24 hours. The 2000 forage yield results of Colorado State University's alfalfa variety performance test at Fruita are shown in Table 1. Data obtained in 2000 are for the second year of the three-year testing period.
Stands are excellent.
Summer 2000 in western Colorado was typical in many respects. Thundershowers made haymaking a challenge for some of the four cuttings. There were no statistically significant differences for yields among the twenty alfalfa varieties in the first cutting. There were also no statistically significant differences for yields among the varieties in the second cutting. Nine alfalfa varieties had high third cutting yields.