Sainfoin: A beneficial companion forage crop for your favourite perennials

There has been a renewed interest in sainfoin among western Canadian forage and beef-cattle producers over the last decade. A major trigger for this growing appeal has been the availability of new sainfoin cultivars (Mountainview and Glenview) that have increased compatibility with alfalfa. Grazing alfalfa sainfoin mixed pasture can eliminate alfalfa pasture bloat which costs ~$30 to $50 million per year to the Canadian cattle producers. Recent research indicates that these new sainfoin cultivars also exhibit compatibility with perennial grass species, further expanding their potential benefits. This seminar will review historical sainfoin breeding activities and highlight current progress on the compatibility of sainfoin with perennial forages and prospects of sainfoin as a sustainable livestock feed. Dr. Hari Poudel is a forage breeding research scientist at AAFC’s Lethbridge Research and Development. He has more than 10 years of forage breeding experience acquired through graduate and post-graduate research across different forage breeding programs in North America. His research interests are centered around the improvement and development of forage cultivars through phenotypic and genomics-assisted breeding. He currently devotes his expertise to enhancing forage cultivars tailored to the specific needs of the Western Canadian context by effectively addressing the challenges posed by changing climatic conditions. He is committed to applied research that directly benefits all the stakeholders of the forage industry in Alberta.