Raymond Pugh is an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville. His research interests lie in the areas of plant/crop responses to stress and signal transduction to determine effective strategies for maintaining our global food supply and combating invasive crop species. He is also interested in the implementation and assessment of high impact principles and practices (HIPPs) and Writing-to-Learn (WTL) strategies in STEM at the levels of secondary and post-secondary education.
Alfalfa Is a common source for livestock feed (as hay) owing to its high protein content. According to the USDA, there is a strong correlation between relative forage quality (RFQ), relative feed value (RFV), and animal performance. For dairy cattle, it means healthier cattle with increased milk production. This in turn means increased sales of milk for dairy farmers. The higher quality alfalfa can also lead to getting higher prices for hay that is sold. Therefore, in order for the alfalfa to provide the most nutritional value for the cattle, the harvested alfalfa must be of the highest quality and value. One of the biggest threats against farmers being able to grow and yield alfalfa with the highest quality and value is drought. Once past the seedling stage and roots are established, alfalfa is a rather drought-tolerant crop and incorporating measures to improve its drought tolerance has been shown to not necessarily increase yields. However, but even without improved yields, the more drought tolerant varieties and/or incorporating drought-tolerant measures has resulted in alfalfa of higher feed value and quality. To help alfalfa seeds thrive past the seedling stage in sub-optimal soil conditions, alfalfa seeds are coated with rhizobacteria, fungicides, and water retaining components. Once alfalfa has reached mid-to-late stage growth, it is still subject to the detrimental impacts of drought on yield, quality, and value. The goal of this project is to use a seed priming method on coated alfalfa seeds to improve mid-to-late stage drought tolerance.