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Research Project: Modification of Seed Composition for Food, Feed and Industrial Uses of Soybeans

Location: Plant Genetics Research

Title: Cattle Preferentially Select Birdsfoot Trefoil from Mixtures of Tall Fescue and Birdsfoot Trefoil

Authors
item Wen, Lian - UNIV OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA
item Williams, James - UNIV OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA
item Kallenbach, Robert - UNIV OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA
item Roberts, Craig - UNIV OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA
item Beuselinck, Paul
item Mcgraw, Robert - UNIV OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA

Submitted to: Forage And Grazinglands
Publication Acceptance Date: August 30, 2004
Publication Date: September 24, 2004
Publisher's URL: http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/fg/research/2004/trefoil/
Citation: Wen, L., Williams, J.E., Kallenbach, R.L., Roberts, C.A., Beuselinck, P.R., Mcgraw, R.L. 2004. Cattle Preferentially Select Birdsfoot Trefoil From Mixtures Of Tall Fescue And Birdsfoot Trefoil. Forage And Grazinglands DOI:10.1094/FG-2004-0924-01-RS.

Interpretive Summary: Birdsfoot trefoil is the common name applied to Lotus corniculatus L., a forage legume grown in the United States, Canada, South America, and Europe. Birdsfoot trefoil is commonly seeded into grass-based pastures to be directly consumed by grazing animals. Animals often perform better than what would be expected from the proportion of birdsfoot trefoil in the pasture. In this study, we investigated whether cattle had a selective preference for birdsfoot trefoil when grown with tall fescue. We found that through grazing pressure and other factors, the amount of birdsfoot trefoil available to the cattle declined by about three fold during three years, but the amount of birdsfoot trefoil in the cattle diet only declined by 22%. It was determined that the cattle were seeking out the birdsfoot trefoil and including it in their diet even though there was a smaller amount of birdsfoot trefoil in the pasture. Preferential grazing may exacerbate the decline of birdsfoot trefoil in a pasture. This information is important to researchers and producers wanting to include birdsfoot trefoil in their grass-based pastures for livestock production.

Technical Abstract: When birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) is interseeded with tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) pastures, animal performance often exceeds that expected based on forage samples taken from the pasture. This may be due to cattle preferentially selecting birdsfoot trefoil from mixed pastures. Our objective was to investigate the selectivity for birdsfoot trefoil by cattle grazing tall fescue-birdsfoot trefoil pastures. 'Phyter' tall fescue was sown in a monoculture and in mixtures with ARS-2622 and 'Norcen' birdsfoot trefoil giving three treatments. Beef heifers fitted with esophageal cannulas grazed pastures in the spring and autumn of 1998 and again in spring 1999. In the tall fescue-birdsfoot trefoil mixtures, the amount of birdsfoot trefoil on-offer declined about three fold during the study, but the amount of birdsfoot trefoil in esophageal samples declined by an average of only 22%. Although the percentage of birdsfoot trefoil in mixed pastures often declines over time, its value may be underestimated as animals selectively graze this species when its proportion in pastures is low.

 
Project Team
Miernyk, Jan
Bilyeu, Kristin
Darrah, Larry
Krishnan, Hari
Beuselinck, Paul

Publications

Related National Programs
  Plant Biological and Molecular Processes (302)

Related Projects
   To Develop Greater Genetic Diversity for Improved Oil Composition in Soybean
   Development of Greater Genetic Diversity for Improved Soybean Seed Composition
   Fatty Acid Analysis of Oil Composition in Soybean

 
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