Dismal prices, sluggish sales, high production costs, and challenging weather conditions have left alfalfa farmers with little to no profit in 2009, prompting a focus on “Improving Your Odds of Profitability” at this year’s Western Alfalfa and Forage Conference, to be held Dec. 2-4, in Reno, Nev.

“To salvage profitability though these tough times, alfalfa growers, pest control advisers, crop consultants, and the industry as a whole are scrambling for every trick in the book,” said UC Cooperative Extension field crops farm advisor Steve Orloff, the conference program chair. “It’s more important now than ever for producers and others in the alfalfa industry to gather the latest research and market information at this annual gathering.”

The conference is sponsored by the Cooperative Extension services of six Western states: California, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, and Washington