Excerpt from The Pricing and Utilization of Legume and Grass Seeds

At the same time the price of alsike clover seed declined relative to the price of all crops. This factor has also contributed to the decline in acreage, especially in regions such as the corn belt, where yields are relatively low.

Foreign trade in alsike clover seed has not been so important in recent years as it was in the 1920's. From 1919 to 1951 imports averaged about 15 percent of production, fluctuating between zero and 65 percent.

Timothy and red clover. Because the harvested acreages of timothy and red clover hay are reported as one crop, the seeds of these crops are discussed together. The trend in production of timothy seed has been decidedly downward since 1919, while the trend in production of red clover seed has been upward (fig. The acreage of clover and timothy harvested for hay has shown a downward trend. Since pro duction of timothy seed has declined at a faster rate than acreage of harvested hay, it is reasonable to conclude that the percentage of red clover in the hay mixture is increasing. In fact, there has been a shift toward stands of pure red clover hay.

For timothy seed there has been no Significant trend in yield. Red clover seed yields, however, declined from 1940 to 1946. The increase in acreage harvested for seed during the war years tended to result in lower yields as areas were drawn into production which did not have the greatest advantage for growing this crop. Since 1946 yields have increased and are now back to normal.

Prices of red clover seed followed the fluctuations of the prices of all crops but tended to average higher in 1926-1928 and in 1934-1936. Timothy seed prices have also followed the index for all crops rather closely, with these exceptions: In 1934 and 1949, when production was unusually low, price relatives increased to 424 and 554 respectively. And Since World War II, prices have declined relative to prices of all crops. This decline reflects the decreasing demand for this seed, which is due to the declining horse population and the introduction of superior grasses that are replacing timothy in the hay mixture. The character of these factors indicates that production of timothy seed will con tinue downward for some years to come.

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