Winter Annual Legumes Seeded into Bermudagrass: Production, Nutritive Value, and Animal Preference

Abstract

Core Ideas• Overseeding winter annual legumes can extend grazing season and reduce feed costs.• Overseeding winter annual legumes into bermudagrass improved subsequent hay quality.• Overseeding winter annual legumes can increase nutrient harvest from the soil. AbstractOverseeding cool-season annual legumes into bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] offers an economical solution to pasture shortage experienced by beef cattle (Bos spp.) farmers during winter on the southeastern Coastal Plain of the USA. Using Austrian winter peas [Pisum sativum var. arvense (L.) Poir.], 'Dixie' crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), 'Yucchi' and 'Apache' arrowleaf clover (T. vesiculosum Savi), and 'AU Merit' hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth.) in replicated complete blocks (four replicates in each of two growing seasons), our objectives were to (i) determine the nutritive value of forage provided by several legumes as they mature; (ii) evaluate legume impact on the nutritive value of subsequent bermudagrass hay harvests; (iii) obtain estimates of the quantity of N they potentially add to the system; and (iv) evaluate the preferences of grazing cattle for the various legumes. All legumes improved early-spring dry matter (DM) yield compared with control plots without overseeding (3310 vs. 1120 lb/acre for legumes and control; P < 0.01). Legumes increased the crude protein (CP) content of bermudagrass hay harvested during the subsequent growing season (14.1, 14.8, 13.7, 14.8, and 12.0% for crimson, vetch, peas, arrowleaf, and control, respectively; P < 0.01); however, peas and arrowleaf reduced hay DM yield (P = 0.04). Across species, legumes added approximately 89 lb/acre N to the system by fixation, and overseeding offered a potential addition of 64 grazing days/acre (1200-lb cows). Legumes improved the potential removal of both N and P from the system, and cattle readily consumed the legumes.Overseeding may have the potential to reduce N fertilization and lengthen grazing season; however, with added seed costs, it may not improve profitability.

Overseeding Cool‐Season Annual Legumes and Grasses into Dormant ‘Tifton 85’ Bermudagrass for Forage and Biomass

“…Hairy vetch developed later in the season, flowering in April and May (154 mm total precipitation in 2009-2010), whereas crimson clover was more precocious and flowered in February and March, except in 2010-2011 when precipitation totaled only 11 mm from November through March. Less precipitation may explain the lower DM yields in our study compared with the 4315 kg DM h ha −1 reported for a site with greater rainfall (Freeman et al, 2016).…”

“…This was true whether coolseason grass or legume was overseeded onto the dormant Tifton 85. This negative aftereffect of overseeding coolseason legumes onto dormant bermudagrass has also been reported for season-long bermudagrass yields in which hairy vetch reduced yields by 22% (Freeman et al, 2016).…”

“…Nitrogen fertilizer applied to cool‐season grasses harvested as forage resulted in the greatest spring first‐cut Tifton 85 DM yield. This may indicate residual soil N or less spring competition for soil moisture and solar irradiation in the absence of legumes, as is reported in legume‐monoculture studies by Freeman et al (2016) and Muir and Bow (2011), in which spring first‐harvest bermudagrass yields were lower when overseeded with cool‐season legumes the preceding winter compared with no‐legume controls. Research by Han et al (2012) indicated that March to September total DM yields (cool‐season legume and bermudagrass) were comparable with bermudagrass by itself fertilized with 112 kg N yr −1 .…”

Evaluation of five bermudagrass cultivars fertigated with swine lagoon effluent

“…The ADF values were used to calculate total digestible nutrient (TDN) concentration following the equation for bermudagrass used by the NCDA&CS Feed and Forage Laboratory [TDN = 73.7 – (0.595 × ADF) + (0.463 × CP)]. Estimates of TDN are the preferred method to balance forage‐based rations for beef cattle in North Carolina (Freeman et al., 2016; Poore, 2014; Kunkle et al., 2000).…”

Climate Benefits of Increasing Plant Diversity in Perennial Bioenergy Crops

“…Among them, 18 experiments (62%) reported greater yields for legume mixtures and 2 reported greater or similar yields, while 8 reported similar yields and only 2 reported lower yields (Figure 2B). Legume addition can substantially increase both the yield of the target grasses and total yield by a factor of 2-3 43,60 or have a positive effect equivalent to mineral N fertilization at 33-150 kg per ha. [61][62][63][64] However, whether legumes can lead to overyielding depends on their complementarity to the target grasses, 65 success of establishment and persistence, 66 and environmental factors such as climate.…”