Ingredients
Above normalAlfalfa meal price
USDA alfalfa meal board price per ton, national delivered median, with its cost per unit of protein and energy
Data through Aug 24, 2026 · source last checked Sep 3, 2026 · page revised Sep 3, 2026
Cite
- delivered
About this data
- Source
- USDA AMS feedstuffs board
- Series
- Alfalfa meal board price
- Basis
- FOB plant preferred, national cross-region median
- Geography
- National
- Unit
- $/ton
- Calculation
- Weekly cross-region median
- Last observation
- Aug 24, 2026
- Update frequency
- Weekly
Now $410/ton (delivered) as of Aug 24, 2026, USDA, up 0% on the week. Protein costs $1.231 per lb of crude protein (327% of soybean meal); energy $0.373 per lb of TDN (331% of corn).
Alfalfa meal held at $410/ton on the week but has risen 5.1% month over month and 13.1% year over year. The 4-year median sits at $364/ton; current pricing is 12.7% above that baseline. On a nutrient basis, it costs 327% of soybean meal for protein and 331% of corn for energy.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | $410/ton | $410/ton | 0.0% |
| Month over month | $410/ton | $390/ton | +5.1% |
| Year over year | $410/ton | $363/ton | +13.1% |
| vs 4-yr median | $410/ton | $364/ton | +12.7% |
Previous weeks
Week of Aug 17, 2026
Alfalfa meal held at $410/ton delivered as of Aug 17, pricing 347 percent of soybean meal on crude protein and 355 percent of corn on TDN. Month over month the feedstuff rose 5.1 percent; year over year it is up 13.1 percent against the four-year median of $364/ton.
Week of Aug 10, 2026
Alfalfa meal held at $410/ton (delivered) through Aug 10, USDA. It costs $1.231 per pound of crude protein (361% of soybean meal) and $0.373 per pound of TDN (375% of corn). Month over month the price is up 5.1%; year over year it is up 13.1%.
An earlier week
Alfalfa meal advanced to $410 a ton delivered this week, up 5 percent, and trades 13 percent above its four-year median. On protein the meal prices $1.231 per pound of crude protein, 360 percent of soybean meal. Energy costs $0.373 per pound of TDN, 375 percent of corn.
An earlier week
Alfalfa meal was unchanged at $390/ton delivered this week. Year-over-year the price is up 8.3 percent and 7.6 percent above its four-year median. On protein the feed costs 323 percent of soybean meal, and on energy it costs 355 percent of corn.
About Alfalfa meal price
Alfalfa meal is a fiber source, fed for effective fiber and gut fill more than for nutrients. On a dry-matter basis it runs about 18.5% crude protein and 61% TDN, at about 90% dry matter as fed. Those figures come from Colorado State University Extension, Feed Composition for Cattle and Sheep (Fact Sheet 1.615). Dehydrated, 17% grade. NEl not NRC-tabulated (INRA-only) — energy ranked on TDN. The leaderboard uses them to convert this week's board price into a cost per pound of protein and per pound of energy, so it can be ranked against corn and soybean meal. Prices are quoted per ton, and the cheapest board price is not the cheapest fed price once freight and moisture are counted (see the FOB-vs-delivered guide). Alfalfa meal is ground, dehydrated alfalfa hay, grown mostly under irrigation in the West and the Great Plains, where a field gets more cuttings than rain-fed ground allows. Its price tracks the alfalfa hay market, moving on irrigation water supply, competing export demand for compressed hay bales, and the natural gas cost of drying at a dehydration plant. Poultry and rabbit feed formulators buy it as much for its xanthophyll, the pigment that colors egg yolks and broiler skin, as for its protein, so color and leaf content set the grade more than a crude protein number does.