Forage Legumes: Clovers, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Cicer Milkvetch, Crownvetch and Alfalfa

SM-05963 2003

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Introduction	1
Identifying perennial legumes	5
Kura clover	9
Red clover	12
White clover	14
Birdsfoot trefoil	15
Alsike clover	17
Sweetclover	18
Seed comparison color plate	19
Flower and leaf color plates	20
Crownvetch	24
Cicer milkvetch	25
Alfalfa	26
Cultural practices for forage legumes	28
Hay and silage harvest management	33
Grazing management	34
Appendix A: tables 4 through 24	36
Appendix B: references	46

TABLES

Table 1.	Quantities of nitrogen fixed by various legumes
Table 2.	Characteristics of forage legumes
Table 3.	Relative importance of insect and disease pests of forage legumes
Table 4.	Kura clover yields over a six year period in Lancaster and Marshfield, Wisconsin
Table 5.	Total plant herbage root and rhizome dry matter yield from an October harvest of spring-seeded kura clover on two soils, one a high fertility silt loam (St. Paul, Minnesota) and the other a sandy loam (Becker, Minnesota)
Table 6.	Effect of cutting schedules on forage yield and final stands of perennial legumes at Rosemount, Minnesota
Table 7.	Herbage dry matter yield; forage crude protein concentration; and forage relative feed value of five legumes; managed with or without checkbook irrigation at Becker, Minnesota
Table 8.	Effect of cutting schedules on season average yield and forage quality of kura clover, for crude protein, in vitro digestible dry matter, and neutral detergent fiber concentration
Table 9.	Performance of Holstein steers on clover/grass pastures near Lancaster, Wisconsin
Table 10.	Average total season leafiness and crude protein, digestibility, and neutral detergent fiber concentration of birdsfoot trefoil and kura clover forage, and sheep performance grazing these forages at St. Paul, Minnesota
Table 11.	Long-term performance of 'Rhizo' kura clover monoculture and mixtures with grasses near Arlington, Wisconsin
Table 12.	Whole corn plant dry matter and grain yield of corn grown with a kura clover living mulch near Arlington, Wisconsin, in 1999 and 2000
Table 13.	Forage yield and final stands of red clover varieties at Grand Rapids, Minnesota
Table 14.	Red clover, ladino clover and alsike clover forage yields and stands at Grand Rapids, Minnesota
Table 15.	Effect of cutting schedules on forage yield and final stands of perennial legumes at Grand Rapids, Minnesota
Table 16.	Effect of cutting schedules on forage yield and final stands of perennial forage legumes at Lamberton, Minnesota
Table 17.	Seeding year yield of red clover and alfalfa sod-seeded at several rates into a smooth bromegrass and quackgrass sod at Rosemount, Minnesota
Table 18.	Mean (and range) stolon density, flowering intensity and vigor of 30 Wisconsin white clover ecotypes and six control varieties after three years of grazing in southern Wisconsin
Table 19.	Effect of cutting schedules on average seasonal forage crude protein, in vitro digestible dry matter, and neutral detergent fiber concentration of perennial legumes at Lamberton, Minnesota
Table 20.	Forage yield of varieties of birdsfoot trefoil, red clover and alfalfa seeded at Beaver Bay, Minnesota
Table 21.	Lamb performance during grazing of four legumes
Table 22.	Carrying capacity and heifer performance during grazing of three legume species during two seasons
Table 23.	Forage and nitrogen yield of three perennial legumes in the fall of the seeding year following an April planting
Table 24.	Total season forage yield and average forage quality of perennial legumes when grown with irrigation or drought on a sandy soil at Becker, Minnesota
Table 25.	Seeding rates and seed characteristics of forage legumes
Table 26.	Hay, silage and pasture mixture seeding rates suggested for Minnesota

COLOR PLATES

Reference photos for seeds of forage legumes

Reference photos for forage legume flowers and foliage

ENUMERATED FIGURES

Figure A.	Well nodulated roots shown on two representative legumes
Figure B.	Legume leaves: five typical leaf arrangements
Figure C.	Legume flower parts: the standard, wings, stamen and keel
Figure D.	Typical compound inflorescences of legumes
Figure E.	White clover stolons and kura clover rhizomes
Figure F.	Kura clover, birdsfoot trefoil, and alfalfa response to potassium fertilization
Figure G.	Yields of mixtures of kura clover with perennial grasses at Rosemount and Grand Rapids, Minnesota
Figure H.	Red clover plant illustrating upright growth habit
Figure I.	Distinct stages mark the development of a legume seedling such as a clover or alfalfa
Figure J.	Formula used to evaluate and compare legume seed costs
Figure K.	Legume seeding dates across region for spring and late-summer sowing
Figure L.	The relationship between maturity of a selected legume (birdsfoot trefoil) to forage yield and its digestibility
Figure M.	Rotational grazing increases pasture utilization and increases legume persistence
Figure N.	The relationship between available pasture and relative production per animal and per acre

FOREWARD

USING THIS PUBLICATION

This publication is intended to serve as both an educational resource for students and a reference tool for agricultural professionals such as crop consultants, extension educators and farm producers. To make this easier to use, some material is repeated in more than one section.

Tables 1 through 3 are in the introductory section because they are specific to that general discussion. For similar reasons, tables 25 and 26 are within the section on cultural practices.

Other tables, whether specific to a single forage species or incorporating data for many, are grouped in a common appendix which begins on page 36.

This second edition revision features a new extended section on kura clover, a forage legume relatively new to U.S. agricultural producers, which has growth, persistence and nutritional qualities which the authors believe make it extremely attractive for growers in the north central region of the United States. Also, sainfoin has been eliminated from this revision because it is rarely planted in the region.

LEGUME NAMES

Like many plants, legumes often have both common and scientific names. Common names that evolve over centuries are sometimes recognized only in limited geographic areas. For example, alfalfa is called lucerne in most of Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It has also been called purple medic or Chilean clover. And, Wendelin Grimm, the German immigrant who developed the parent stock of 'Grimm' alfalfa in Carver County, Minn., referred to it as the everlasting clover, the "ewiger Klee."

A scientific naming system developed by Swedish botanist Linnaeus, in the 1700s, allows for worldwide identification and communication about plants. In that system, common names are replaced with names based on Latin, which are usually written in italic. These scientific names are composed of two italicized Latin words: the first word names a plant's genus (a larger biological class of plants with common characteristics) and the second identifies its species (a subdivision of plants potentially capable of interbreeding).

Complete scientific names also include the names of individuals (often abbreviated) who first identified a given species. For example, the scientific name of alfalfa is Medicago sativa L. The abbreviation "L" indicates that Linnaeus, who developed this notation system, first described the species. In this publication, we provide the scientific names of specific legumes in addition to common names.

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