Foraging
Around
By Dr. John E. Baylor
Forage Specialist (Retired)
Penn State University
Legume Pesticides
A short time ago 5,000 scien
tists from throughout the U.S. and
Canada met at Minneapolis MN
for the 84th annual meeting of the
American Society of Agronomy.
As you might expect the subjects
discussed during the 4 day confer
ence covered a wide range of top
ics. Many were very technical.
But there were also plenty of pap
ers with information of immediate
interest and use to you. In today’s
column I’d like to zero in on just
one series of papers dealing with a
subject of concern to all of us-.-
how to improve stand longevity of
forage legumes.
But first let’s consider what you
as a producer expect from your
forage legumes. Over the years
I’ve asked many farmers, like
yourself, and they generally agree
on three points; high-yield, high
quality forage, and persistent
stands. £nd f° r man y persistence
or stand longevity ranked at the
lop.
So let’s try to sum up what sev
eral of our top scientists had to say
FAI T. OPEN HOUSE NOV. 27 &28
Leftover Cub Cadet Models At Factory Invoice. SAVE sss
$ ★ DELTA ★ FULLER O BRIEN PAINTS ★
regarding this issue. And, as you
might expect most, but certainly
not all, of their remarks centered
around alfalfa.
To begin with, poor persistence
for many legumes is an interna
tional problem according to Dr. A.
G. Matches of Texas Tech Univer
sity. Matches recently headed up a
Trilateral Legume Persistence
Workshop involving workers in
Australia, New Zealand and the
U.S.A. All agreed, he said, that we
simply may be trying to extend
legumes beyond their limits of
adaptation. In the Eastern U.S. for
example, how often are we guilty
of establishing alfalfa on soils that
are too wet, too acid, or 100 low in
fertility? And then we criticize the
legume when it disappears.
Improved new technology for
breeding and germplasm selection
will expand opportunities for
more successful legume produc
tion, Matches concluded.
Forage breeders Drs. Joe Bou
ton, University of Georgia, and
Mark McCaslin, Forage Genetics,
agreed. Bouton, who developed
LEROY’S REPAIR & RENTAL
LEROY’S HARDWARE
Queen Road
Intercourse, 768-3681
DOOR PRIZES LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
Lots & Lots of In-Store Specials
Upstairs & Downstairs
All Simplicity Lawn & Garden Equip.
★ MAKITA ★ SENCO ★ B&D TOOLS ★
★ POULAN PRO ★ EMGLO ★ HONDA ★
★ ECHO ★ ALL PRO HEATERS ★
★ SNAPPER ★ BOSTITCH ★
alfa-graze alfalfa, listed several
factors including unfavorable
temperature and moisture;
inadequate soil pH and fertility;
disease, insect and nematode
pests: competition from aggres
sive companion grasses; and the
harshness of the overall grazing
environment as contributing to the
inability of alfalfa to maintain a
productive stand. Both breeding
and management research, he
said, are underway to modify or
overcome these factors.
Plant breeders have long
focused alfalfa breeding efforts on
improving two key components of
persistence; disease resistance and
winter hardiness, according to
McCaslin, breeder of a number of
multiple pest resistance alfalfa
varieties. “In the last decade,” he
said, “considerable progress has
been made in improving multiple
disease resistance. However, there
has been little improvement in
winter-hardiness.”
Relative to winter-hardiness
Minnesota workers noted that
cold-tolerance is a primary com
ponent of alfalfa winter hardiness.
In this regard they noted that the
plant size, measured as crown
width, appears to be a factor
influencing alfalfa cold-tolerance.
But, according to L.H. Rhodes,
Ohio State University, disease is
one of the major factors affecting
persistence of perennial forage
legumes. Over the past five
decades, he said, improvements in
disease resistance characteristics
of alfalfa have resulted in varieties
which have the capability to per
sist in geographical regions where
diseases such as bacterial wilt,
phytophthora root rot and other
diseases previously caused severe
stand depletion. Referring to red
clover, Rhodes agreed that dis
eases, along the clover root curcu
lio, are most often stated as the
MUST BE SOLD!
Talk With Factory Representatives
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 21, 1992-A35
reason for the short life of the
legume.
Insects, both above and below
ground, also affect the life of a
stand through plant/seed mortali
ty, delayed development, and
retarded growth, according to
University of Maryland Entomo
logist W.O. Lamp. However, he
said, crop management practices
may be manipulated to signific
antly reduce insect-induced dam
age to the crop.
Dr. C. C. Sheaffer, University
of Minnesota Agronomist, had
much more to say about the role of
management strategies to improve
legume persistence. Frequency,
height and timing of defoliation
all have a significant effect on
legume persistence. Sheaffer says,
by influencing leaf area and car
bohydrate reserves sites for veg
etation and floral initiation and
competition with associated non
legumes in mixtures. Deficiencies
of essential plant nutrients or
excess of toxic elements also have
a dramatic effect on legume
persistence.
Another important factor relat
ing to persistence for many
legumes is hard seed. There are
many factors which influence the
percentage of hard seeds and the
degree of hardness. And while
excessive amounts of hard seeds,
especially with alfalfa, are some
times a concern workers agree that
hard seeds can be, and are, very
beneficial for filling in where old
plants disappear.
Summing up this special ses-
768-8788
sion Missouri’s CJ. Nelson, a
leading forage physiologist, stated
“Stand longevity of forage
legumes, nationwide and world
wide, is critical for sustained pro
ductivity in natural and agricultur
al ecosystems. Much progress has
been made in understanding the
factors of persistence and in deve
loping breeding and management
strategies to optimize each legulhe
species based on its specific char
acteristics. And researchers will
continue to stress the importance
of legume persistence with respect
to forage potential, animal pro
duction, environmental issues,
and economics.
Finally let’s put this in perspec
tive for your situation in terms of
today’s knowledge relative to
legume persistence or longevity.
First use sound cropping systems
for your farm and choose legume
species that are most likely to per
sist under your soil and environ
mental conditions. Second, cor
rect pH and fertility problems
before establishing new legume
stands. Third, select adapted
multiple pest resistant varieties
best suited for your needs. And
then use a management strategy to
keep your legume stands produc
tive and persistent.
Production, persistent perennial
legume and legume-grass stands
arc vital to the economical pro
duction of animal products. We
don’t have all of the answers, but
by taking advantage of the know
ledge we do have you can make
legumes more profitable in your
forage livestock system.
n* **°gs
*WkS°»e* SS
, A z%° ons