HELENA, Mont., April 17 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Montana Field Office issued the following press release:
Alfalfa seed production in Montana for 2023 is estimated at 1.20 million pounds, a decrease of 53 percent, or 1.34 million pounds from last year's production estimate of 2.54 million pounds. Harvested area totaled 2,500 acres, a decrease of 1,300 acres from 2022. On average, producers harvested 480 pounds of alfalfa seed per acre, down from 669 pounds per acre in 2022.
Producers who used leaf cutter bees used an average of 3.6 gallons of bees per acre, an increase of 0.3 gallon from the rate of bees used in 2022. Leaf cutter bees were used on 100 percent of the reported acreage this year. Of the reported harvested acrea...