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The New Holland Secret to Smooth, Quiet,
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 19, 2003, Foraging Around-E7
Early Season Nitrogen
For Grass-Clover Pastures
Dr. William Stout
Soil Scientist
USDA/Agricultural
Research Service
Grass/clover pastures that rely
on clover to supply enough ni
trogen for pasture growth are
often nitrogen deficient in the
spring. This is because the bio
logical processes (fixation and
mineralization) that provide ni
trogen to support pasture
growth are temperature depen
dent. So grazing in the spring
must be delayed until air and
soil temperatures increase to the
minimal levels needed to provide
enough nitrogen for plant
growth.
Nitrogen fertilization of
grass/clover pastures in the
spring can increase early season
pasture yields and decrease dif
ferences in seasonal production.
But applying too much nitrogen
fertilizer will decrease the clover
portion of the pasture and de
crease nitrogen fixation by the
clover. This causes the clover
portion of the pasture to become
too low to make a significant
contribution to the nutrition to
the grazing animal and too low
to provide sufficient nitrogen for
pasture growth later in the grow
ing season.
The reason for the decreased
clover portion is the increased
competition for light brought on
by the increased growth of the
grass. To find out the best spring
nitrogen fertilization rate for
grass/clover pastures for the
Northeast, the USDA/
Agricultural Research Service
ran a study measuring the effect
of nitrogen fertilization and
grazing height on spring yield of
a grass/clover pasture.
The study was conducted for
three years at the Penn State Re
search Farm on an
orchardgrass/white clover pas
ture. The treatments were four
rates of nitrogen (0, 20, 40, and
80 pounds per acre) and three
grazing heights (6, 9, and 12
inches). Nitrogen fertilizer was
applied in middle to late March
just as the grass began to grow.
Alfalfa Intensive Training
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HARRISBURG (Dauphin
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falfa Intensive Training Seminar
is scheduled to take place in
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With today’s technology ex
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Wr
* t*
❖ Special Report ❖
The individual grazing height
treatments were harvested
whenever the pasture growth
reached the desired grazing
height.
The goal of early season nitro
gen fertilization of grass/clover
pastures is to increase early sea
son yields, without decreasing
the clover portion of the pasture.
The results of the study show
that early season pasture yield
can be increased by about 20
percent and the amount of clo
ver in the pasture can be main
tained by applying 40 pounds of
nitrogen per acre and grazing
whenever the pasture height
reaches 6 inches. The 80 pounds
per acre nitrogen rate and 9- and
12-inch grazing heights in
creased pasture yields but de
creased the amount of clover in
the pasture. The 20 pounds per
acre nitrogen rate was not
enough to significantly increase
pasture yield.
In addition to increasing early
season pasture yield applying 40
pounds of nitrogen per acre to
selected grass/clover paddocks
within a grazing system would
help set up a grazing schedule
that would better distribute pas
ture production over the whole
grazing season. However, the
benefits to a particular farm of
early season nitrogen fertiliza
tion of grass/clover pastures
have to be evaluated with regard
to the forage needs of the farm.
The amount and quality of
farm-stored forages, the price
and quality of off-farm forages,
and the cost of fertilizer nitrogen
are a few of the factors that need
to be evaluated when consid
ering early season nitrogen fertil
ization of grass/clover pastures.
Bill Stout, author of this ar
ticle, passed away on March 1.
Bill was one of the original
founding fathers of Project
Grass and a Project Grass ad
viser. Bill gave time and ad
vice to the grazing movement
for more than 22 years, and re
ceived this year’s PFGC
Research/Extension Award.
cal training to seed dealers, field
staff, consultants, government
agencies and all others involved
in the alfalfa industry. The
course is taught by nationally
and internationally known alfal
fa specialists including Drs. Dan
Undersander, Neal Martin,
Garry Lacefield, and Marvin
Hall.
To receive information and
registration material about this
seminar, contact Lisa Crytser at
(814) 865-2543.
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