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Interseeding legumes into cool-season grass pasturesBy David G. Hallauer Meadowlark District Extension Agent
Fertilizer prices have caused a lot of cool-season forage producers to rethink their fertility program in hopes of reducing that fertilizer input cost. For many, legumes are seen as a way to enhance those grass pastures from a quality standpoint while cutting back on the fertility load needed to sustain them in good health. Let's begin with legume options. Various clovers, alfalfa, even peas have production potential for us here in northeast Kansas. We're fortunate in that regard. Establishment challenges can be one of your biggest obstacles to overcome. Start with a soil test. Legumes require higher levels of pH and soil fertility than most grasses. This can be compounded by the fact that many grass stands are low in phosphorous to begin with. Lime should be applied as needed at least six months prior to planting. You should also plan to reduce the existing grass stand via heavy grazing or in extreme cases, tillage or chemical control. Legumes tend to establish better in fescue than brome due to the abundance of open spaces in fescue pastures. What should you plant? Fortunately, our legume options are fairly broad. Alfalfa can persist for three to four years--if you can get it established. If so, it's a high production/high animal performance option. Extend its life with rotational grazing and a grazing alfalfa variety. Red clover is the most common and maybe easiest to establish in a pasture. Soil fertility is key to establishment, but once established, you can get two to three years out of the stand. If moderately grazed, enough seed may be produced for reseeding. Sweetclover is seldom used here because its is less desirable than other legumes in grass-legume combinations. It tends to become coarse and unpalatable if allowed to get too mature. High coumarin levels affect palatability and can cause health problems with livestock. Ladino clover is a perennial white clover that persists longer than most legumes under heavy grazing conditions. Bloat can be a problem. Birdsfoot trefoil can be an establishment challenge, but once established, natural reseeding can occur. Bloat is not the problem clovers and alfalfa might be. Lespedeza grows in Kansas as an annual and a perennial. Annual types reseed each year and are easily established and maintained in pastures, growing on acidic, eroded, and low fertility soils where production is low. Its persistence in brome may be a concern. Hairy vetch is a cool-season winter annual legume with vine-like growth, requiring a companion crop to attach to. Hairy vetch can contaminate wheat fields and when grazed in a pure stand, cattle can develop dermatitis. Once it blooms, you will likely have it for life. Austrian winter peas are annual legumes often planted with a winter cereal. They grow best on well-drained loam or sandy soil, and are intolerant of low pH soils. Cowpeas is an annual warm-season, vine-like plant with large leaves which will tolerate dry and low fertility soil conditions. Cowpeas do not cause bloat and can be used as hay, creep grazing, or limit grazing when low quality forages are used. The benefits of interseeded legumes in our cool season pastures has been touted by many - many times over. How do we go about it? Determine first and foremost if legumes fit your management. Fertility requirements will be different when a legume is in the mix - slightly higher P, K, and pH requirements plus lower N rates so the grass doesn't crowd out the legume. It can be a 'balancing act' of sorts. You'll have to change your grazing style a little, too, to make sure you don't 'graze out' the legumes. Seeding methods vary, but two things are necessary--good seed/soil contact and the correct inoculant for the legume to be seeded (without it, you won't get nodulation). Seed/soil contact can be obtained in various ways. Seeding with a no-till drill into well-grazed or hayed forage stands can be effective. Broadcast seeding will require higher seeding rates due to lower seed survival. Light tillage or chemical suppression can aid in getting the legumes established.
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