Legumes

[Kevtherev]

Evening all
I thought it may be a good idea of a dedicated legume thread for the livestock men.
Clovers being the most popular inclusion in a grazing mix.
Place to share ideas and info on alternative legumes used in grazing systems.
Establishment methods/grazing management etc

 

[tinsheet]

Plenty in the Holistic thread regarding legumes grazing management
No harm in having another thread here though.

 

[Scholsey]

Aslike clover as a break from red clover in the 3-4 year grass leys we grow, undersow wholecrop winter wheat with burseem clover to increase protein of the forage and help give the following crop of grass a early boost of N.

 

[Kevtherev]

An interesting read if you can get a copy folks

 

[Kevtherev]

Plenty in the Holistic thread regarding legumes grazing management
No harm in having another thread here though.

Always seem to miss what’s going on in there though.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

3 kg acre mixed Red and White Going on last week on my own place , maybe a bit early seeming how cold it's gone ,

 

[Bruce Almighty]

I would like to grow a reasonable acreage of Lucerne.
Maybe 20-30 acres ?

We have our own silage machinery so can conserve what we like, when we like.
It could be added to our TMR easily.

As I don't know anyone else growing it locally, my experience is minimal.
We have 100 dairy cows, 50 followers as well as 700 ewes and approx 600 acres arable across several farms either rented or contract farmed.

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

May not suit most English conditions. But Lucerne is the king of legumes in my opinion. Tolerates dry and extreme heat(will happily just sit there and do nothing...but it won't die). Then a good rain or an irrigation and the growth is phenomenal. Just simply doesn't tolerate water logging So if you have free draining higher ground, that's what I would look at.

 

[hollister]

I would like to grow a reasonable acreage of Lucerne.
Maybe 20-30 acres ?

We have our own silage machinery so can conserve what we like, when we like.
It could be added to our TMR easily.

As I don't know anyone else growing it locally, my experience is minimal.
We have 100 dairy cows, 50 followers as well as 700 ewes and approx 600 acres arable across several farms either rented or contract farmed.

Been growing a bit (5acres) for 3/4 years Worcestershire/Warwickshire border. Put a new patch in last year Artemis which is flying, better that previous unknown variety. Get 3 or 4 cuts a year, aiming to get for small bale hay for horses, but some ends up big round silage depending on weather. Following crop of wheat just starting to look hungry.

 

[sjt01]

Been growing a bit (5acres) for 3/4 years Worcestershire/Warwickshire border. Put a new patch in last year Artemis which is flying, better that previous unknown variety. Get 3 or 4 cuts a year, aiming to get for small bale hay for horses, but some ends up big round silage depending on weather. Following crop of wheat just starting to look hungry.

Lucerne loves our high pH chalky soil. Keeps growing even when the grass needs irrigating and is parched. Minimal input. We grow about 45 acres, for the dairy herd (clamp silage) and digester. It is the lowest carbon footprint crop for the digester by a long way, but can only feed about 20% of total feed as H2S gets too high at high feed rates.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Err, chickpeas, mungbeans & faba beans are a regular part of my arable cropping rotation. My long term plan is to include vetch & clovers as cover crops during the “fallow” sequence between cash crops.
When I harvest my grain sorghum in a few weeks, it will be planted straight back with vetch, clover, oats & maybe a few other species, then terminated at flowering then fallowed through to wheat / durum next June

 

[Farmer Roy]

My wheat & durum, harvested in Dec / Jan, was planted straight back into mung beans

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Err, chickpeas, mungbeans & faba beans are a regular part of my arable cropping rotation. My long term plan is to include vetch & clovers as cover crops during the “fallow” sequence between cash crops.
When I harvest my grain sorghum in a few weeks, it will be planted straight back with vetch, clover, oats & maybe a few other species, then terminated at flowering then fallowed through to wheat / durum next June

vetch and clover can be a cash crop also..

 

[Kevtherev]

What are the protein levels like in those beans @Farmer Roy

 

[Farmer Roy]

What are the protein levels like in those beans @Farmer Roy

no idea, they don’t do protein tests on them . . .

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Clovers not new , it's just been forgotten on a lot of farms, I can remember helping dad with mixes in the 60st and 70 ts, Clover was almost standard in those days , he always put half a pound of New Zealand Wild White in , what's seen the demise of Clover on a lot of farms are Docks and the inability to use cheap sprays

 

[Bury the Trash]

Clovers not new , it's just been forgotten on a lot of farms, I can remember helping dad with mixes in the 60st and 70 ts, Clover was almost standard in those days , he always put half a pound of New Zealand Wild White in , what's seen the demise of Clover on a lot of farms are Docks and the inability to use cheap sprays

Yes thistles ditto , pity there's not a good and effective Clover safe herbicide.
Relatively cheap N hasn't helped agricultural use of legumes development here either its likely.

 

[Bury the Trash]

3 kg acre mixed Red and White Going on last week on my own place , maybe a bit early seeming how cold it's gone ,

View attachment 1026572

Needs a bigger tractor

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Before I left school the old man never sprayed any pastures. We had a massive dock, Patterson curse, and thistle problem. Started spraying, plus tried a few biological controls (dock grubs from South Africa , and I think there was one for Patterson curse too?). Anyway, clover levels didn’t decline , but the weeds did. Now rarely see a dock and patto is a relative rarity.

Do agree about the over reliance on bagged N , and clover certainly doesn't appreciate excessive amounts of urea.

 

[Kevtherev]

Yes thistles ditto , pity there's not a good and effective Clover safe herbicide.
Relatively cheap N hasn't helped agricultural use of legumes development here either its likely.

Going to see a resurgence now with the cost of N plus I don’t think prices of it will come down in the near future.