Performance of Cool‐Season Perennial Grasses in Pure Stands and in Mixtures with Legumes¹

Abstract

Clarification of relationships among species in mixed stands is essential to enlightened management of forage mixtures. During 1976–1979, we evaluated several grass‐legume mixtures in a field study in eastern Kansas. Grasses were: commercial smooth brome, Bromus inermis Leyss.; ‘Regar’ Turkish brome, B. biebersteinii Roem. &Schult.; ‘Kentucky 31’ tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea Scbreb.; and ‘Ioreed’ reed canarygrass, Phalaris arundinacea L. Legumes were: ‘Kanza’ alfalfa, Medicago sativa L.; ‘Kenstar’ red clover, Trifolium pratense L.; ‘Dawn’ birdsfoot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus L.; and ‘Emerald’ crownvetch, Coronilla varia L. Each grass was grown in a two‐species mixture with each legume, and in a pure stand with 0 and 90 kg N ha‐1 as NH4NO3. Mixtures were obtained by alternating all‐grass and all‐legume drill rows. Legumes were grown in pure stands in an adjacent planting. Both plantings were on a Woodson silt loam of the fine, mixed, thermic family in the Abruptic Argiaquolls subgroup of the Mollisols. Dry matter (DM) yields were obtained from all plots. Proportion of grass in mixtures was determined from hand‐harvested samples. Dry matter yield of the grass component of each mixture was computed as the product of the DM yield of the whole stand and the proportion of grass in the mixture. Crude protein (CP) contents of whole stands and grass components of mixtures were computed as 6.25 times N. Although comparisons varied across years, mixtures averaged as much grass DM (3.21 Mg ha‐1) as unfertilized all‐grass stands (3.07 Mg ha‐1) during the 4‐year period. Crude‐protein contents of grass components of mixtures consistently ranked above those of unfertilized all‐grass stands; differences usually were significant (P < 0.05) but varied in magnitude with year and type of stand. Legumes differed significantly (P < 0.05) every year in DM yield and every year except 1979 in CP content. Over the 4‐year period, however, no legume was clearly superior in either variable.

Evaluation of Alfalfa–Tall Fescue Mixtures across Multiple Environments

“…This result is in agreement with other studies (Carter and Scholl, 1962;Barnett and Posler, 1983;Jones et al, 1988). This result is in agreement with other studies (Carter and Scholl, 1962;Barnett and Posler, 1983;Jones et al, 1988).…”

“…One benefit includes better forage nutritive value for cattle compared with grass monoculture (Barnett and Posler, 1983;Sleugh et al, 2000). One benefit includes better forage nutritive value for cattle compared with grass monoculture (Barnett and Posler, 1983;Sleugh et al, 2000).…”

Forage Yield and the Quality of Perennial Legume-Grass Mixtures under Rainfed Conditions

“…Schmidt (1993) has reported that the quality of forages could be altered owing to differences in temperature and precipitation. Previous studies have shown that alfalfa contains significantly more crude protein than grasses and that grass + legume mixtures contain more crude protein than do the pure sowing grasses (Barnett and Posler, 1983;Höflich et al, 1990;Spandl and Hesterman, 1997;Albayrak and Ekiz, 2005). Other important quality parameters for forages are the concentrations of ADF and NDF (Caballero et al, 1995;Assefa and Ledin, 2001 NDF than the grasses grown in monoculture (Tab.…”

Yield and nutritive value of binary legume-grass mixtures under grazing or frequent cutting

“…Results of a pan-European experiment, which included a Canadian site, have demonstrated that mixing grasses and legumes increases dry matter (DM) yield (Finn et al 2013) with no negative effects on nutritive value (Sturludóttir et al 2013). Adding a legume into a grass sward has been shown to increase forage DM yield and crude protein concentration (Barnett and Posler 1983) and improve forage nutritive value (Papadopoulos et al 2001). Furthermore, mixing timothy (Phleum pratense L.) with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) has been shown to increase the non-structural carbohydrate concentration of forages (Bélanger et al 2014), potentially resulting in a more efficient use of nitrogen (N) by ruminants (Brito et al 2009).…”