# Alfalfa meal price USDA alfalfa meal board price per ton, national delivered median, with its cost per unit of protein and energy _Data through Aug 17, 2026 · source last checked Aug 27, 2026 · page revised Aug 27, 2026_ > Now $410/ton (delivered) as of Aug 17, 2026, USDA, up 0% on the week. Protein costs $1.231 per lb of crude protein (347% of soybean meal); energy $0.373 per lb of TDN (355% of corn). 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. ## The numbers | 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% | ## 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. ## 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 period: Weekly cross-region median - Last observation: Aug 17, 2026 - Update frequency: Weekly --- Cite: Alfalfa meal price is $410/ton as of Aug 17, 2026 (USDA feedstuffs board). The Ration. https://the-ration.com/ingredient/alfalfa-meal Canonical URL: https://the-ration.com/ingredient/alfalfa-meal