Alfalfa prices continue in red

Key Takeaways

• Alfalfa is a major U.S. field crop without a safety net – Alfalfa is the fourth-most-valuable field crop in the United States, generating about $8.1 billion in farm-gate value in 2024. Yet it remains largely outside core farm-safety-net programs.

• Prices collapsed while costs stayed inflated – After record prices in 2021-2022, alfalfa prices decreased more than 40 percent, while production costs remained inflated. That pushed average returns into negative territory since late 2023.

• Export demand has weakened sharply – Shipments to key markets, especially China, have decreased amid global dairy-market shifts and ongoing trade conflicts, reducing a critical outlet for Western hay producers.

• Losses are large with limited relief – Estimated 2025 economic losses total about $2.9 billion, or about $203 per acre, with no access to commodity support or the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program.

Alfalfa is a core input into U.S. dairy and beef production, and one of the country’s most economically significant crops. In 2024, it ranked as the fourth-most-valuable field crop, generating an estimated $8.1 billion in farm-gate sales – behind only corn, soybeans and wheat.

In recent years, alfalfa producers have faced a sustained deterioration in margins, driven by a combination of weather-related production volatility, persistently inflated input costs, shifting international livestock-feed demand and heightened export uncertainty. Unlike many other major crops, alfalfa has limited options to offset losses when prices decreased; available risk-management tools are narrowly focused and do not address broader margin pressures.