The economics of producing food, fiber, and energy products is a major issue in providing food security in the region and in all of North America. Forage crops are the foundation of livestock and dairy enterprises in the USA and Canada. Breeding of perennial forage crops has resulted in improved cultivars that make livestock, dairy, and energy production more economical by reducing inputs and increasing outputs. Compared to other types of crop species, perennial forage species enable more sustainable agricultural systems.

Leguminous forages reduce or eliminate N fertilization due to fixation of atmospheric N, thus reducing inputs and the risk of environmental contamination from fertilizer usage. Forage grass species have fibrous roots that reduce soil erosion and capture environmental contaminants. All of these perennial species reduce land disturbance that could lead to soil erosion. In addition, they sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Improved forage cultivars translate to benefits to agricultural producers of animal and energy products. The seed industry benefits from production and marketing of improved cultivars. All Americans benefit by reducing costs of food and energy and by protecting the environment by reducing use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.

Continuing the trend across the last few decades, the number of forage breeders in North America is decreasing. The number of forage researchers in the USA has decreased by 60% between 1984 and 2009. The number of extension workers declined by 30% (Rouquette et al., 2009). In some state experiment stations, as a forage scientist has retired or left their position for another, often they are not replaced. For example, in the last 15 years, forage breeding positions have been lost at Iowa State University, Oklahoma State University, and Kansas State University. The number of forage scientists at USDA-ARS also has declined. When the forage breeder at USDA-ARS in Mandan, ND, retired, his position was not replaced. At state agricultural experiment stations, alfalfa breeding research is being done in only three states and agronomic research in six states (Undersander, 2014). In FY 2012 USDA expenditures for alfalfa research were $3.7M among 9.9 scientist years, compared to more than $42M and more than 95 scientist years each for corn, cotton, and wheat (Samac, 2014).

The number of private breeding companies is few and have been reduced through consolidations. Currently, three main companies constitute the bulk of alfalfa breeding in the USA (Forage Genetics, Intl., S&W Seed Company, and Alforex). These companies work on few perennial forage species, mostly alfalfa with a smattering of grasses and clovers. Several major international forage seed companies focus on cool-season grasses and clovers, but most of that breeding is done outside the US. Many forage species of importance in North America are receiving no attention by private breeders.

As budgets and the number of scientists have been reduced, the need for cooperative research is more essential than ever. Most forage breeders work on more than one forage species, thus diluting efforts on individual species. Because these forage species are perennial, establishing fields is less frequent than with annual crops. Therefore, seed is sold less frequently per unit land area compared to that of annual crops. Unless forage cultivars are broadly adapted for use across a large range of environments, the seed industry is not interested in new cultivars because of the economic limitation. All of these factors point to the need for cooperative research to accomplish significant advances in developing improved forage cultivars adapted to a wide range of environments. Although forage scientists are few in number and individual efforts on some forage species are small, the cumulative efforts among forage scientists through cooperative research is significant. The current NE-1010 project fosters the interactions necessary to achieve goals with diminishing resources without unnecessary duplication.

This multistate cooperative research project addresses most of the NIFA priority focus areas, as explained below.

1. Global food security and hunger: Breeding crops with higher forage yield, improved forage quality for livestock production, longevity, and resistance or tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress conditions will provide more economical food production.

2. Climate change: Because of global warming, forage crops need to be developed that will be productive under abiotic stresses, including drought, flooding, cold and warm temperatures, and soil salinity.

3. Sustainable bioenergy: Several of the researchers in the current NE-1010 multistate research project have been working on various grass and legumes species (for example, switchgrass, big bluestem, and alfalfa) for bioenergy uses. The bioenergy industry is not likely to use these perennial forage species until they become more economical to produce. Cooperative research is needed for developing cultivars with improved biomass and quality, while protecting these crops from biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Research needs to be done on stand establishment (improved seed germination and seedling vigor), biomass production, disease and insect resistance, etc., across multiple environments, especially on marginal soils where these species are likely to be used without competing with food crops.

4. Food safety: Improving the yield, nutritional quality, and storability of forage crops will ensure an ample supply of good quality feed to animals and an essential step in securing the food chain to the consumer.

Without cooperative research through the multistate project, these priorities would not be accomplished for most of the perennial forage species. The impact on providing feed for the livestock industries, especially for beef and dairy production, would be huge. Research outputs would be minimal, and cultivars would be narrowly adapted. In 2013 more than 35 M acres of hay and haylage were harvested, valued at $22.8 trillion (USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service). These figures are conservative estimates of forage production since significant acreage is devoted to pastures and rangelands. Farmers have relied on forage breeders to improve productivity of these crops, especially when new diseases, insects, and other problems have arisen.

Impacts of the proposed research will vary. Germplasm with new traits will be available to private and other public breeders to use in their programs for developing improved cultivars. Improved forage cultivars directly released from NE-1010 scientists will make seed and forage production more economical for farmers and seed companies. Development of breeding methods, both traditional and molecular methods, will enhance efficiencies and effectiveness of improving forages for traits of low heritability or from unadapted genetic backgrounds. Data from forage yield trials across multiple locations and years will be available for breeders to use for selecting experimental populations that will be released as cultivars and available for licensing, for the seed industry in advertising seed of the cultivars, and for extension educators and farmers when selecting cultivars for their locations. Development of forage species as feedstocks for the biofuel industry ultimately will contribute toward more secure and sustainable energy production. The overall impact will be more economical food and energy production while reducing negative environmental impacts in the agricultural systems.

The scientists cooperating in this project have the ability to accomplish the proposed research. The current NE-1010 project consists of most of the forage breeders from North America, who have cooperated in research for several years. In addition to scientists at state agricultural experiment stations, NE-1010 has evolved over the years to include more scientists from USDA-ARS, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Noble Foundation. These forage breeders and scientists of other disciplines have extensive experience in research on forages. Many accomplishments already have been realized in the form of release of improved germplasm and cultivars, information on breeding methods for improving forage yield, and data on forage yield of multiple species for use by breeders, the seed industry, farmers, and extension educators. Extension presentations and information on the web have informed various stakeholders of the new information and cultivars developed by this project. Other scientists have been informed of the research results through professional publications and presentations at professional conferences. Regarding the continued or new project, the scientists have the major equipment along with field, greenhouse, and laboratory facilities to accomplish the proposed work.

Because of the long-term nature of research on perennial forage species, some of the research that was begun in the last few years will continue into the next project period. Most of the research, however, will be new as a result of the collaborative efforts and discussions during our technical committee meetings. The current project has evolved from focusing almost exclusively on traditional breeding to initiating research on new molecular genetic technologies. The cooperative multistate research project being proposed will increase the emphasis on integrating molecular technologies with traditional breeding efforts to improve forage species. Another emphasis will be on plant adaptation and resilience to changing environments due to extreme and variable weather conditions and other factors. In addition, emphasis will increase in cooperative research on plant species for biofuel use as well as use for the livestock industry.

Funding for these collaborative efforts would be only partially covered by the multistate-Hatch funding. Much of the funding would be from other sources such as the seed industry, royalties from seed sales of cultivars, private sources, and various public funding sources at the state and federal levels (primarily competitive grants). In the past, the existence of the NE-1010 project has been a key factor in helping to secure other grant funds for accomplishing the research goals, such as USDA-NIFA grants for alfalfa association analysis and genomic selection under the direction of PI Brummer.