Growing Legumes in Mixtures with Warm-Season Grasses

George, J. R.; Blanchet, Kevin M.; Gettle, Randall M.

doi:10.2135/cssaspecpub30.c5

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Incorporating alfalfa into semiarid grass pasture systems can confer multifunctional benefits to forage productivity and quality (Baxter et al, 2017;George et al, 2000). Alfalfa had the greatest potential success from interseeding in arid rangeland…”

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Establishment and Stand Development of Alfalfa Interseeded into Native Grass Mixture: Cultivar and Row Spacing Effects

Dhakal

West

Villalobos³

2019

Crop Science

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Interseeding alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) into native grasslands can enrich forage nutritive value, but successful establishment in semiarid regions is limited by chronic water deficit. The objective was to evaluate establishment and stand development of two upright‐type alfalfa cultivars, ‘WL 440HQ’ (WL), ‘NuMex Bill Melton’ (NM), and prostrate‐type ‘Falcata’–‘Rhizoma’ blend (FR), interseeded into mixtures of four native grass species at 36‐ or 71‐cm row spacing near Lubbock, TX. Average emergence was 265, 216, and 175 seedlings m−2 for WL, NM, and FR, respectively; however, the WL stand declined faster than the FR and NM stands during seedling and crown development stages (P < 0.01). The upright‐type cultivars maintained a greater crown density and ground cover compared with FR at both row spacings (P < 0.05). Alfalfa seedling or crown density fitted against time (d) with exponential models revealed an initial sharp decline followed by a slow rate of decline after establishment. At the end of 3 yr, row‐spacing results converged to similar levels for plant density (6.5 crowns m−2) and alfalfa cover (23.5%). This indicates significant seed cost savings with the wider row spacing at that level of stand establishment. Interseeding adapted, upright‐type cultivars at wide row spacing can produce a desirable level of alfalfa establishment in a semiarid grassland of the southern Great Plains.

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confidence: 99%

Establishment and Stand Development of Alfalfa Interseeded into Native Grass Mixture: Cultivar and Row Spacing Effects

Dhakal

West

Villalobos³

2019

Crop Science

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“…Structural and chemical barriers to digestibility of warm‐season grasses can be diminished by decreasing fiber concentrations of either the grass itself or increasing the overall digestibility of a mixed sward. Introduction of legumes into a pasture has been considered the least costly way to meet the nutritional needs of the beef, dairy, and equine industries (George, Blanchet, & Gettle, 2000). Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.) interseeded into native grass pasture increased the total forage mass by 35% and N accumulation by 96% over grass alone in the Texas High Plains (Dhakal, West, Villalobos, Brown, & Green, 2020).…”

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confidence: 99%

Trade‐off between nutritive value improvement and crop water use for an alfalfa–grass system

et al. 2020

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Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) can enhance the supply of nutritious forage when interseeded into semiarid native grassland. Alfalfa is a high water-using species; therefore, a possible trade-off between soil water depletion and nutritive value merits study. We determined the effects of interseeding three alfalfa cultivars at two densities on crude protein (CP) and digestible organic matter (DOM) accumulations, the water footprint (WF, m 3 evapotranspiration kg −1 ) of CP and DOM accumulation at two row spacings, and the marginal cost (MC) of such trade-offs. Nutritive values and accumulation of CP and DOM for mixtures with alfalfa planted at 36-or 71-cm row spacing did not differ in 2018 (P > .05), as both spacings reduced the WF over grass only (P < .0001). Alfalfa presence reduced the WF (P < .001) with respect to CP and DOM accumulation from 20.17 and 3.07 m 3 kg −1 in the grass-only control to 10.14 and 2.22 m 3 kg −1 in alfalfa-grass mixtures, respectively. Interseeding alfalfa in wide rows had 23 and 26% less MC of revenue increment than interseeding in narrow rows, relative to grass only in Years 2 and 3, respectively (P < .01). Hay-type cultivars NuMex Bill Melton and WL 440HQ enhanced the forage mixture nutritive value more than the grazing-type Falcata-Rhizoma blend, mainly driven by greater alfalfa growth. Interseeding alfalfa into native grasses in wide rows can increase the efficiency of water use (lower WF) by enhancing forage nutritive value at low MC, thereby inducing a minimal trade-off in soil water consumption.Abbreviations: ADF, acid detergent fiber; ADFD, acid detergent fiber digestibility; CP, crude protein; DM, dry matter; DOM, digestible organic matter; ET, evapotranspiration; FR, Falcata-Rhizoma blend; IVTOMD, in vitro true organic matter digestibility; MC, marginal cost; NDF, neutral detergent fiber; NDFD, neutral detergent fiber digestibility; NuMex, NuMex Bill Melton; RFQ, relative forage quality; TDN, total digestible nutrients; WF, water footprint; WL, WL 440HQ; WUE, water use efficiency.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Species Composition Changes in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grassland When Managed for Biomass Feedstock Production

et al. 2016

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Growing Legumes in Mixtures with Warm-Season Grasses

Cited by 3 publications

References 46 publications

Establishment and Stand Development of Alfalfa Interseeded into Native Grass Mixture: Cultivar and Row Spacing Effects

Establishment and Stand Development of Alfalfa Interseeded into Native Grass Mixture: Cultivar and Row Spacing Effects

Trade‐off between nutritive value improvement and crop water use for an alfalfa–grass system

Species Composition Changes in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grassland When Managed for Biomass Feedstock Production

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