Annual and Perennial Forage Clovers for Arkansas - FSA3137

Clovers and other legumes are highly desirable species in pastures and hay meadows. First, legumes are able to obtain nitrogen from air through their symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria and, there­ fore, are not dependent on nitrogen fertilizer. The fixed nitrogen is primarily used to support clover growth, but parts of it become avail­ able to neighboring grass plants when clover tissue dies. A second valuable role of clovers is to increase forage quality of pastures, hays or silages. Legumes are higher in crude protein and digestibility than most grasses commonly used in Arkansas. Animals usually consume diets higher in quality than grass alone when pas­ tured on grass/legume mixtures or fed grass/legume hays. As a result, animal performance often improves when a clover is included in pastures, even though total forage yield may not increase. Adding clovers to endophyte­ infected tall fescue pastures also improves performance of cattle by diluting the toxicity of the endophyte. A third advantage is that clovers can help even out the forage supply over the grazing season by providing grazing time when other forages are not as active or dormant.