More favorable weather, falling production costs and historic dry matter rate… After two difficult years, the situation is becoming clearer for alfalfa producers. The favorable, but average, harvest in 2025 made it possible to sell off stocks and clean up the market. “The situation has changed radically, our strategy of regaining market share has borne fruit– welcomed Pierre Bégoc, the general director of Désialis, during a press conference organized on April 7 by La Coopération agricole – Luzerne de France. Prices have also started to rise again, with a quotation of 205 € per ton for pellets at 17%, compared to 187 €/t in 2024. “ÂWe see the light at the end of the tunnel, we are confident– adds Yann Martinet, director of LCA – Luzerne de France.
Limited impact of the war in the Middle East
A few days before the launch of the campaign and the first harvests, an increase in production costs of around 5 to 6 €/t is expected, or around 65 €/ha, due to the repercussions of the conflict in the Middle East on the price of GNR. “This only represents between 3 and 5% of the production costrecalls Yann Martinet. The biggest cost of production remains industrial processing. In other countries, some factories will not start. In France, we are not affected by this risk because our processes are carbon-free. »Following the efforts undertaken at the beginning of the 2000s, the production of dehydrated alfalfa is in fact 95% carbon-free, thanks to the use of renewable energies and the generalization of the technique of prewilting. The director of LCA – Luzerne de France indicates, moreover, that tensions on the fertilizer market, linked to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, could allow alfalfa to “stand out in the choice of crop rotations, due to its low input nature“, but also its ability to restore nitrogen to the soil. Nevertheless, the ongoing energy shock “completely reshuffles the cards“, particularly with regard to exports, concedes Pierre Bégoc, although only 3 to 5% of French alfalfa is exported by boat. “We are not closing the door to major exports, but we must be able to tighten our market in Europe if we are forced to do so.. »
Building the food of the future
In any case, the sector does not lack projects and ambition for the coming years. “The itchy and itchy fiber has lived well, we now want to develop a high protein fiberassures Yann Martinet. Dehydrated alfalfa can be the carbon-free food of the future, serving the performance of European livestock farming. » Representatives of the sector, who rely heavily on genetic progress, are delighted with the decision of the Ministry of Agriculture to launch a call for projects on legumes, which also includes species fodder. “This is very good news, we have been calling for this initiative for several years“, recalls Honoré Labanca, R&D manager at LCA – Luzerne de France, who points out that this approach could make it possible to make new high-performance varieties available, more quickly, to producers. In this context, a variety selection project built with seed companies will be submitted. The winners will be known in the fall, for the start of the projects at the end of the year. Work has also been carried out since 2020, in collaboration with Inrae, on the acquisition of references concerning carbon storage. world congress of the sector, last November, alfalfa would store 1.7 tonnes of carbon per hectare per year, or 6.7 t of CO2 eq per hectare per year.For the moment, this does not keep the sector alive, we are not in a philanthropic world, but it shows that alfalfa has all the characteristicss to be a pillar of regenerative agriculture », Honoré Labanca esteemed.
An increase in surface areas hoped for in 2027
While at the European level, alfalfa production has fallen, in an unprecedented manner, below the 3 million tonnes mark, the surface areas of France, the second largest producing country in the EU behind Spain, have stabilized at 66,500 hectares, a slight decline of 3% compared to 2024. “In this context of falling production, France is rather resilient. We have the impression that the erosion is over and that we will have the capacity to increase surface areas from 2027. But our sector needs to be supported, in particular by the EU“ underlines Yann Martinet.
