Productivity, Botanical Composition, and Nutritive Value of Commercial Pasture Mixtures

Abstract

Pastures in the northeastern United States are oft en planted to mixtures of grasses and legumes. We evaluated several commercial seed mixtures to determine if the number of species in mixture aff ected yield and botanical composition in central Pennsylvania. Th ree replicate plots of 25 mixtures, fi ve each of two, three, four, fi ve, and six species of grasses and legumes were planted in August 2007 near State College, PA. Plots were grazed by beef cows for 3 yr. Dry matter (DM) yield was determined at each of the six harvests in each year. Botanical composition was measured at the fi rst, third, and last harvest each year. Annual DM yield was positively related to the number of species planted (r 2 = 0.15, 0.18, and 0.26 for 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively). Mixtures within groups of similar species richness, however, varied in yield. Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), and timothy (Phleum pratense L.) did not establish or persist well in mixture with taller grasses [e.g., orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.)]. Th e short-lived species festulolium (X Festulolium Asch. & Graebn.) and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) contributed signifi cantly to production during the fi rst year and were replaced by longer-lived species such as orchardgrass and white clover (T. repens L.). Forage nutritive value was related to the botanical composition but not the number of species in mixture. Results suggest that a strategy of planting mixtures with a combination of fast-and slow-establishing species can be eff ective for multispecies pastures in central Pennsylvania.M. Sanderson, USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Lab.,

Forage Production of Grass–Legume Binary Mixtures on Intermountain Western USA Irrigated Pastures

“…Both Sleugh et al (2000) and Sanderson et al (2016) show a more uniform distribution of forage production over the growing season among binary grass-legume mixtures than grass monocultures. The BFTF mixtures with the grasses were unique in that, at the fourth harvest, none were significantly different than their respective grass monoculture receiving 134 kg N ha −1 .…”

“…There are a plethora of studies in from Europe, New Zealand, and the midwestern and southeastern United States demonstrating the value of grass-legume mixtures to improve pasture forage production and minimizing N fertilizer applications (Ta and Faris, 1987;Townsend et al, 1990;Beuselinck et al, 1992;Hoveland and Richardson, 1992;Loeppky et al, 1996;Guldan et al, 2000;Sleugh et al, 2000;Berdahl et al, 2001;Kopp et al, 2003;Nyfeler et al, 2011;Sanderson et al, 2013Sanderson et al, , 2016. While some research has been performed in the Intermountain West on the benefits and use of grass-legume mixtures (Rumbaugh et al, 1982;Peel et al, 2011Peel et al, , 2013, it does not provide specific information for irrigated pastures regarding which grass-legume species combinations are most compatible and productive, or the optimal mixture ratios to use at planting.…”

Major shifts in species’ relative abundance in grassland mixtures alongside positive effects of species diversity in yield: a continental‐scale experiment

“…leaf angle and relative placement along plant height). The experimental species were selected according to four functional groups that we intended to be mutually complementary: combining grasses and legumes is well known to produce synergistic effects (Boller & N€ osberger 1987;Carlsson & Huss-Danell 2003;Nyfeler et al 2011) and using species with different rates of establishment within the grass and legume species may induce complementarity along a temporal axis (Sanderson, Stout & Brink 2016). As anticipated, the average RGRs of the fast-establishing grass and legume species were generally negative from years 1-2 and 2-3 and the rates of the temporally persistent grasses were positive (Tables 2 and S3, intercepts).…”

“…; Guckert & Hay ). The use of multiple legume species that specifically vary in their rates of establishment and in their persistence may facilitate resource use and help maintain the contribution of legumes over the lifetime of the system (Sanderson, Stout & Brink ).…”

“…However, difficulties have been identified in maintaining legume proportions in swards over agronomically relevant time periods because of vulnerability to abiotic and biotic stress (Beuselinck et al 1994;Guckert & Hay 2001). The use of multiple legume species that specifically vary in their rates of establishment and in their persistence may facilitate resource use and help maintain the contribution of legumes over the lifetime of the system (Sanderson, Stout & Brink 2016).…”