08/06/2026
According to University of Kentucky experts, beef producers across the Eastern United States lose an estimated $2 billion each year to fescue toxicosis, a condition caused by cattle eating tall fescue infected with a toxin-producing fungus. Heat stress piles on another $370 million in losses. Now, a new research project involving UK Martin-Gatton CAFE is asking whether alfalfa, long prized as livestock feed, might also be part of the solution.
The three-year study, which runs through September 2028, brings together researchers from Martin-Gatton CAFE, the USDA Agricultural Research Service Forage-Animal Production Research Unit (FAPRU) and Auburn University. The project is directed by Brittany Davis, Ph.D., a research animal scientist with FAPRU, with UK contributing much of the animal, plant and Extension work.
“Alfalfa, both today and over the last 3,000 years, has been the most important, most valuable forage crop in the world,” said University of Kentucky Department of Plant & Soil Sciences Extension professor Ray Smith. “We’re realizing that alfalfa has compounds that make it more than just a feed. You can think of it as a nutraceutical or what we call a functional feed—one that supports animal health beyond simply meeting nutritional requirements.”
Learn more: https://bit.ly/458hAJe
