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Abstract
Alfalfa hay is an important crop for the U.S., comprising 15.46 million acres on average over the last three years (2020-2022). In 2019, the farm value of alfalfa slightly exceeded wheat to be the third most valuable crop in the U.S., behind corn and soybeans. Alfalfa is crucial for the dairy industry, feedlot sector, equine industries, and agricultural exports. Alfalfa exports have been criticized as their source can be from water-scarce states. However, state-level export data are not readily available. Thus, we provide estimates of state-level alfalfa exports using port data (1994-2001) and Forage Products data (2002-2022) from U.S. trade online to help describe the amount of alfalfa that is being exported at the state level. We also provide estimates of the amount of water utilized by alfalfa exports for the seven exporting states using a range of water use estimates from various sources and USDA/NASS data.