Make Alfalfa into pellet feed

What is alfalfa?

Alfalfa, also called lucerne or medicago, is a perennial herb, an important forage and green manure crop.

Alfalfa is native to Asia minor, Iran, and Transcaucasia. Persian cultivation was recorded in 700 BC. It was introduced into Greece from Midian (now the ancient kingdom of northwestern Iran) around 500 BC, and from Italy from 2 to 1 century BC into Spain and from the 16th century to America. Cultivation began in Australia and New Zealand in the 18th century. Alfalfa has been widely cultivated all over the world. In the 1970s, the total area of alfalfa cultivation in the world is over 33 million hectares, of which the United States accounted for about 32.7%. And now alfalfa can be seen nearly everywhere in lawns, parks, or fields. It can be said that there are abundant raw materials and easy to use.

Why choose alfalfa as the material of pellet feed?

Alfalfa is rich in nutrition and easy to digest. It is known as "the king of forage". In the early flowering stage, the fresh grass contains about 76 percent water, the crude protein is 4.5~5.9%, the crude fat is 0.8%, the crude fiber is 6.8~7.8%, the non-nitrogen extract is 9.3~9.6%, the ash is 2.2~2.3%, and it contains a variety of amino acids. Alfalfa can graze directly or be made into silage or hay.

Alfalfa is about 60 species, distributed in Europe, Africa and Asia. There are many cultivated species. China produces 12 kinds. Purple alfalfa in native to Asia, it is a good forage grass with wide adaptability, high yield, good quality, etc. It is resistant to mowing and can increase the soil fertility. The alfalfa pellet, dried alfalfa grass is treated by hay pellet maker machine, which is convenient for storage and transportation. Usually feeding cattle, sheep and other ruminants, the most important is the consumption of dairy cattle. Alfalfa pellets have high protein, which can reduce the amount of fine feed to a certain extent.

Alfalfa pellet: the king of forage

1. Alfalfa is a high protein and low fiber feed. Alfalfa generally contains 12% to 20% protein, while fiber content is between 20% to 28%. The average grass hay, by contrast, contains an average of 8.4% of crude protein and 31.4% fiber. Alfalfa protein with good quality, more than 70% of total protein is digestible.
2. Alfalfa is also an energy source. A ton of alfalfa hay contains as much TDN as bushels of corn (e.g. 2/3 tons of soybean meal protein). It is reported that the animals fed alfalfa hay tend to grow faster than other forages, produce more milk and remain in good condition.
3. Each pound of alfalfa can feed 100 pounds of animals, which can meet the daily needs of calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulphur, iron, cobalt, manganese and zinc. High-quality alfalfa hay can provide all the vitamin A needs for beef cattle.

How to make alfalfa into pellets?

1. The first step is drying. As we all know, material moisture content has a big influence on pellet quality. Before making alfalfa pellets, you should drying alfalfa until the moisture is about 15%. You can resort to a dryer, but if your line productivity is less than 500 kg/h, you can choose dry it naturally. 
2. Second Step is grinding. so after drying the material, grinding is necessary before pelletizing. You can choose a feed hammer mill to make the alfalfa into powder about Φ3-5 mm.
3. Third step: Put the alfalfa into the feeder of alfalfa pellet mill, they will be compressed to columned holes on the die and discharged from the alfalfa pellet maker machine. Thus the whole procedure is finished. But you need to take care of the high temperature of biomass pellets. They will burn you if any direct touch happens.
4. Fourth Step is cooling. After pellet processing, the temperature of particles can reach 85℃ and the moisture content is 17%-18%. For proper storage and handling of the pellets, their moisture content must be reduced to 10%-12% and their temperature to about 3-5℃ above atmospheric temperature.

Alfalfa pellet mill or small pellet plant

When you buy a alfalfa hay pellet maker machine, you can choose alfalfa pellet mill or small pellet plant.

If you are interested in our alfalfa hay pellet maker machine, please contact us.