Persistence Pays
Monday, May 27, 2019
Forage legumes provide high yields, protein, and good animal performance while improving soil fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air. Alfalfa is the highest yielding and most widely-used legume but can cause bloat. Legumes like cicer milkvetch, sainfoin and birdsfoot trefoil do not cause bloat. As little as 25% sainfoin in a pasture can virtually eliminate the risk of bloat even if the other 75% is alfalfa. The problem is that older sainfoin varieties don’t regrow as fast as alfalfa after grazing. Surya Acharya at AAFC Lethbridge has been breeding sainfoin that regrows more rapidly after grazing and persists longer in mixtures with alfalfa.
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Agriculture