The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council. |
Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 8:40 AM
Forage Production and Quality of Legumes Seeded into Stands of Eastern Gamagrass
John A. Guretzky, Twain J. Butler, Matt W. Mattox, and Chan Glidewell. The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc., 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401
Eastern gamagrass may fill a forage gap between the availability of winter and summer pastures in the southern Plains. Previous attempts to improve existing stands of eastern gamagrass with red and white clover at the Noble Foundation’s Red River Farm, Burneyville, OK , have failed, however, because of poor seedling survival. Our objectives were to evaluate forage production and quality of alternative legumes. Thirty-one strains of legumes were broadcast seeded within an existing stand of eastern gamagrass on 25 Sep. 2006. Accumulative dry matter yields and quality of the legumes were measured on 19 April and 27 June 2007. Annual medics produced the most early spring forage. Forage yields on 19 April averaged 2526 lbs/ac for button medic, 2841 lbs/ac for ‘Devine’ little burr medic, 1378 lbs/ac for ‘Euckert’ burr medic, 2337 lbs/ac for Tifton burr medic, and 693 lbs/ac for rigid medic. Net forage accumulation between 19 April and 27 June was best for ‘Madrid’ yellow sweetclover, ‘AU early cover’ hairy vetch, ‘Apache’ and ‘Yuchi’ arrowleaf clovers, and Austrian winter pea, ranging from 3221 to 7211 lbs/ac. By 27 June, red and white clover produced only 1138 to 1377 lbs/ac. A soil pH of 8.3 may have limited success of the clovers. Overall, legume forage quality was excellent early in the spring but declined as the legumes matured and senesced. Among top producing legumes, crude protein ranged from 21 to 26% on 19 April and 9 to 18% on 27 June. Further research on forage yields and quality of the eastern gamagrass-legume mixtures under grazing will improve understanding of the fit of these pastures within beef cattle production systems.