# Birds foot trefoil for grazing??



## Swv.farmer (Jan 2, 2016)

Dose anyone use birds foot trefoil for pasture? Dose it grow in hot weather?


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Lots of pasture mixes we seed around here have some trefoil in it. Some call it an invasive species. I honestly can't remember if it's a cool season or warm season, my brain keeps telling me warm season legume?

http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_loco6.pdf

Hope this helps!


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## Swv.farmer (Jan 2, 2016)

Thanks I've got20 arcers I'm clearing up and I want to plant something that grows in hot weather when y'all fescu and if stop growing.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

I have birdsfoot trefoil in my pastures...kinda. Seems the only place it will thrive is in the ditches and the OTHER side of the fences I never have had a good stand IN the field whether it be hay or pasture. The sheep LOVE it and keep whatever there MIGHT have been ate enough that I can't tell it's in the pasture. The hay field has SOME, but it does not thrive in my poooooor soil.

This is what the U of I says about it

Birdsfoot trefoil is a nonbloating, long-lived, winter-hardy
perennial legume traditionally grown in northern Illinois
pastures. It is more commonly grown for pasture than hay.
Major strengths

Does not cause bloat
Adapted to poorly drained,
acidic soils
Will reseed itself

Major weaknesses
Low seedling vigor; slow to
establish
Shallow-rooted; does not tolerate
drought
Presence of tannins may reduce

palatability

73, Mark


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## Fossil02818 (May 31, 2010)

I'm a strong proponent of birdsfoot for our pastures as its an important part of the saladbar mix we strive to maintain. It can be very difficult to establish in an existing pasture if you are overseeding into turf type grasses. It establishes slowly and you will be more successful if you have a prepared seedbed or no-till into bunchtype grasses like orchard grass. It does continue to grow slowly during hot summer periods but new stands should not be grazed hard until it has gone to flower. I've found that it competes well in wetter soils but will get crowded out by clover and many other plants. However, it is much longer lived than other legumes as we have stands of birdsfoot that were planted over a decade ago. Its not aggressive enough to be the dominant legume, but, it certainly is a great component for sheep or goat forages if you practice rotational grazing.


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

South central MN should grow birdsfoot trefoil well on all but the lowest fertility sites. Where adapted, I think it should be a part of almost every pasture mix.

glasswrongsize and Fossilo2818 gave you some pretty good info.

If you plan to continuous graze, don't bother as it will get grazed out quickly in most instances. In a managed grazing system, you can get it persist by allowing enough time to recover, and periodically allowing it to set seed for natural re-seeding.

It is very important to make sure the seed is properly inoculated. To many times inoculant is forgotten, and it is a specific birdsfoot trefoil inoculant, regular alfalfa/clover or pea/lentil/vetch inoculant will not work.

Seeding rate is very important because of it's poor seedling vigor and competitiveness. In my experience and opinion, because of it's seed size and price, it is generally planted at to low of a rate. Although it's seed count is almost double that of alfalfa, I feel it needs to be planted at least equal to, but probably 1.5 times the rate of alfalfa to get the same stand.

Currently I have Bull birdsfoot trefoil at $4.50/lb.


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## lcjaynes (Jul 25, 2014)

http://www.progressiveforage.com/forage-types/other-forage/birdsfoot-trefoil-a-niche-crop-for-wet-acidic-soils

The author has done a lot of research in this area and would be a good contact for you.


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