“…Although the technology shows promise, it is not quite ready for adoption (Osterholz et al, 2018), and traditionally, producers might pair alfalfa with fast emerging companion crops to increase seeding-year forage production (Buxton & Wedin, 1970;Hoy, Moore, George, & Brummer, 2002;Simmons, Sheaffer, Rasmusson, Stuthman, & Nickel, 1995;Wiersma, Hoffman, & Mlynarek, 1999) and suppress weed growth (Hall, Curran, Werner, & Marshall, 1995;Rehm, Sheaffer, Martin, & Becker, 1998). The use of companion crops provides an alternative to chemical applications for weed suppression (Hunt, MacAdam, & Griggs, 2016;Simmons et al, 1992) and, through an increase in ground cover, they help protect soils from wind and water erosion (Simmons et al, 1992(Simmons et al, , 1995Wiersma et al, 1999).…”