The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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July 4, 2008

Farm: Legumes improve forage quality

By Mike Surbrugg

msurbrugg@joplinglobe.com

MOUND VALLEY, Kan. — A sure way to raise a good crop of weeds or cedars in Southeast Kansas is to use no fertilizer or legumes in fescue fields.

Two speakers at a beef and forage field day held May 1 at Kansas State University’s Southeast Agricultural Research Center’s Mound Valley unit discussed fertilizer and legumes.

Doug Shoup, KSU area extension crops and soils specialist, said KSU recommendations for phosphorus and potassium fertilizer on pastures are a good investment even with soaring fertilizer costs.

Only a soil test can determine how much lime, phosphorus and potassium is needed, he said. Soil test details can be obtained at county extension offices.

Nitrogen is needed for plant growth each growing season.

“If you need grass, you need fertilizer. Using little nitrogen means less forage,” he said.

For 30 years, studies in Southeast Kansas have shown the benefits of planting legumes in established fescue fields.

Legumes make nitrogen available to the grass and at the same time improve forage quality, said Joe Moyer, forage agronomist at KSU’s Southeast Agricultural Research Center.

Studies also show red clover, bird’s-foot trefoil and alfalfa are the best legumes to plant in fescue in Southeast Kansas, he said.

Moyer also cited studies that show legumes have more benefits than using commercial nitrogen.

In a perfect world, bird’s-foot trefoil is an excellent legume, but it is difficult to get it established in fescue. Chemicals to slow fescue growth are needed to give trefoil a chance to become established, he said. Trefoil causes no animal bloating, survives drought and has shallow roots.

It is such a secret that some farmers got their first close look at bird’s-foot trefoil that was growing in a pot that Moyer brought to the meeting.

Mike Surbrugg is The Joplin Globe’s farm editor.

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