Cibus Inc. announced Tuesday that it has completed the Food and Drug Administration’s Plant Biotechnology Program for its altered lignin alfalfa, clearing a key hurdle on the way to commercialization in food or feed.

Lignin, a naturally occurring component of plant cell walls, is indigestible by animals. Cibus collaborated with S&W Seed Co. to isolate an alfalfa strain with an altered lignin profile that provides “potential increased nutrient availability for livestock.”

This results in a higher value alfalfa without using increased inputs, therefore improving farmer profits, Cibus said in its press release. University of Minnesota Extension research shows that new alfalfa varieties with improved nutritive and reduced lignin concentration can widen the crop’s optimal harvest window by expanding the period when alfalfa is best suited for livestock.

“S&W Seed Co. is poised to offer the first commercial gene-edited alfalfa varieties to alfalfa growers in the United States,” said Brent Johnson, S&W vice president of sales and marketing. “Commercial quantities will be available in two initial variety offerings, including a fall dormancy five variety and a fall dormancy seven variety. … Seed of these two varieties will soon be made available for purchase and planting in the United States.”