Alfalfa has a lot of impressive features when it comes to water usage. And despite being a major water user, alfalfa is also a major food producer. At least, that is how Dan Putnam defended the number one field crop in the Golden State against claims of water overconsumption at the California Alfalfa & Forage Symposium last month in Sparks, Nev. At the symposium, Putnam explained alfalfa’s value as a productive and flexible water consumer. The extension professor emeritus with the University of California, Davis, contended that deficit irrigation — not fallowing or eliminating alfalfa stands — may be the best tool to address the water crisis in regions where robust forage production occurs in the West and water availability is highly variable.