Trade-offs in forage and seed parameters of annual Medicago and Trifolium species in north-central Texas as affected by harvest intensity Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The tradeoff between early spring harvest of coolseason annual forage legumes and summer seed production may shed light on subsequent yearly stand regeneration. Sixteen annual clover and medic cultivars or locally collected accessions were seeded in the autumn of 1999 at Stephenville, TX, on a Windthorst (fine, mixed thermic Udic Paleustalf) fine sandy loam and allowed to selfreseed in the autumn of 2000 and 2001. During the first 2 yr, three harvest treatments were imposed: harvest at 5 cm from crown whenever branches reached 10 cm from crown, harvest at 10 cm when branches attained 15 cm, and a single April harvest. Forage yields showed a year species interaction (P = 0.001) and ranged up to 6 Mg ha1 yr1. Plants harvested in April only were consistently more productive than the 5cm harvest and yielded nearly 4.9 Mg ha1 in Year 1. Forage acid detergent fiber and crude protein concentrations reflected entry harvest year interactions (P < 0.05). Seed yields varied considerably among entries, and all the annual clovers and most medics were able to selfreseed regardless of harvest treatment, showing promise for selfreseeding, sustainable pasture systems in the southern Great Plains.

published proceedings

  • AGRONOMY JOURNAL

author list (cited authors)

  • Muir, J. P., Ocumpaugh, W. R., & Butler, T. J.

citation count

  • 17

complete list of authors

  • Muir, JP||Ocumpaugh, WR||Butler, TJ

publication date

  • January 2005

publisher