HPJ Talk: Don Miller on breeding alfalfa for drought, salinity and stand persistence 

Drought, salinity, insect pressure and stand persistence have long shaped how alfalfa varieties are bred and selected, but those pressures are becoming even more important as producers across the Plains and West face tighter water supplies and more weather variability. 

On a recent episode of HPJ Talk, host Kylie Reese and co-host Kylene Scott spoke with Don Miller of Mountain View Seeds about his decades in alfalfa breeding, the evolution of forage genetics and the management decisions that can make or break a successful alfalfa stand. 

Miller brings roughly 50 years of alfalfa industry experience to the conversation. His path into plant breeding began at New Mexico State University, where he started as a biology major and later joined the university’s alfalfa breeding project as a technician. 

That opportunity turned into a long career in alfalfa research and development. 

“I was on a path to become an alfalfa breeder,” Miller said, describing how his field scouting background and biology training helped him move into insect and disease screening work before eventually earning advanced degrees in agronomy. 

From New Mexico State, Miller moved into private industry, where he led alfalfa breeding efforts for the western United States and later worked with programs tied to South America, Europe and the Middle East. He also spent years in product development, meeting with farmers across regions to learn what was working in the field and what still needed improvement. 

That grower feedback remains central to how he thinks about alfalfa genetics today. 

Regional needs still drive variety decisions 

According to Miller, the most important alfalfa traits depend heavily on location and production goals. 

In earlier years, breeders were heavily focused on disease resistance, insect resistance and persistence. Those priorities remain important, but newer environmental pressures have pushed breeders to place greater emphasis on traits such as salinity tolerance and drought resilience. 

Growers in one region may be focused on a specific insect or disease, while others may be more concerned about limited irrigation water, saline soils or stand survival under stress. 

“When you talk to a grower, depending on where he is in the United States, if they’ve had a problem with a certain insect in the past, they sure enough want to have one that has resistance to that insect or disease,” Miller said. 

He noted that drought is becoming a larger concern nationwide. Miller cited a January USDA report showing that 27% of U.S. alfalfa acres were under some level of drought stress, a reminder that water availability is increasingly shaping both breeding priorities and farm-level decisions. 

Mountain View Seeds’ focus on stress tolerance 

Miller said Mountain View Seeds entered alfalfa with a goal of adding genetics that address specific stress points in the forage market. 

That includes salinity tolerance, drought resilience, branch-root traits for certain soil conditions, grazing tolerance and varieties suited for alfalfa-grass mixes. 

He said the company also worked with New Mexico State University to acquire drought-tolerant alfalfa material developed by breeder Ian Ray. Those varieties were selected for drought tolerance and drought resilience, including the ability to recover after a field goes through a period of moisture stress. 

Miller said those genetics could be especially valuable in the Plains and West, where growers may not have enough water to fully irrigate throughout the entire season. 

“If you are limited in water, these varieties will perform and recover from periods of drought stress and come back to normal production,” he said. 

How long does it take to develop a new variety? 

For producers wondering how quickly breeding programs can respond to new challenges, Miller said alfalfa development is a long process. 

The industry standard, he said, is about 10 years from breeding to market. 

That timeline includes several generations of selection for desired traits, multiple years of field testing to evaluate persistence and performance, and additional time to produce enough seed for commercial sale. 

Because alfalfa is a perennial crop, one year of yield data is not enough. Breeders need to know whether a variety will still perform in later production years, when stand persistence and long-term return matter most to growers. 

Management still matters as much as genetics 

Even the best genetics will not overcome poor management, Miller said. 

In his experience, the most successful forage producers pay close attention to details such as variety selection, weed and insect control, fertility, cutting timing and stand establishment. 

He said one of the biggest mistakes growers make is trying to save money on seed instead of investing in a variety suited to their region and pest pressures. 

At the front end, cheaper seed may look like a cost savings. But if that stand fails early, lacks needed resistance traits or requires added pesticide applications, it often becomes more expensive over time. 

“It really pays to get a decent alfalfa variety,” Miller said. “A good variety pays for its cost.” 

He also pointed to seedbed preparation as a common issue in poor stand establishment. In many cases, stand failures are blamed on seed quality when the real problem is planting too deep or planting into a seedbed that is too soft to ensure proper seed placement. 

“If you get over an inch deep, normally the alfalfa won’t come up,” Miller said. 

Advice for drought-stressed forage producers 

For producers facing another dry season, Miller said the first question is simple: How much water is actually available? 

That answer should guide management decisions. 

Rather than spreading limited water thinly across the entire season, he said some operations may be better served by concentrating water on the first one or two cuttings, when yield potential and forage quality are often highest. 

In that strategy, fields can be allowed to go into drought-induced dormancy during the hottest part of summer, then recover when irrigation resumes. Miller said newer drought-resilient genetics may help support that approach. 

He cautioned that during drought, growers should avoid piling on additional stress. That means monitoring insect pressure, maintaining appropriate fertility and avoiding harvest decisions that remove too much plant energy when regrowth is already limited. 

Looking ahead, he said producers also need to think about the market they are targeting. Dairy-quality hay may require a different management approach than hay sold primarily on tonnage. 

For growers establishing new fields this spring, Miller’s recommendation was straightforward: choose an adapted variety with the right trait package for the farm’s conditions, production risks and end market. 

As water limitations and climate stress continue to challenge forage systems, Miller said the future of alfalfa production will depend on pairing improved genetics with disciplined management.