Warm season legumes.

[novatech]

I am looking for something that I can plant that will give the cattle some protein when the grass starts to decline after mid summer.
Any ideas? I thought about Lablab, alfalfa, and cow peas but don,t know anyone with experience with them.

 

[Lucky_P]

Annual lespedeza fills that niche here. Really comes on in July/Aug, and will reseed well, if you pull the cows off in Sept/Oct(when we'd be starting to stockpile fescue, anyway).
"Marion" performed exceptionally well in the severe drought of '98, and reseeded well, despite having to graze it(and anything else remotely green) into the dirt that year. Have had a hard time getting seed in recent years and have largely depended on the old Kobe and Kobe/Korean mix.
May not be as high-yielding as alfalfa, but grows on poorer ground, will tolerate a more acid soil pH, and doesn't require field prep - you can broadcast/'frost-seed' in Feb/Mar, let the cows trample it in, and still count on a good stand.

 

[agmantoo]

novatech
I have tried a variety of plants to do just the same function. The time period you stated is a difficult one for me as this is usually the driest time of the year here. Complicating this, my fescue has gone dormant and I did not want to prepare a seedbed and damage the fescue. I do stockpile for this time period and I also want to have something to boost the protein of the dormant fescue being fed. My early establishment of the RRCG was not the greatest but Red River Crab grass has done OK from the second year forward. I broadcast the RRCG into the stockpiled fescue at a 120% rate, let the cattle walk it in and the initial stand was still marginal. RRCG is an indeterminate plant and given a chance to naturally reseed it seems to eventually establish. Here is a copy and paste of the RRCG benefits.
"Red River' has tested to be 73% digestible. Crude protein levels begin as high as 25-30% early in the season to 15-20% mid summer and 10% late in the season"

 

[agmantoo]

novatech
I intended to attach this but obviously failed.
http://www.lorenzsokseedsllc.com/red-river-crab-grass/

 

[Angus Cowman]

lespedeza,Pearl millet,cow peas will work also
yon can no till the millet and cowpeas

alfalfa isn't worth the time and money for pasture

 

[1982vett]

Novatech, I planted cowpeas, millet, and soybeans behind the oats in 2009. Of course we had problems getting any rain that year too. But the millet outlasted the cowpeas and the soybeans never broke the surface. Nothing did much until it started raining in late August. The cowpeas were gone and what was left of the millet came back to where I was able to stop feeding hay and graze it for a while. Course doing that also made me late getting the oats planted that year.

 

[SRBeef]

I don't know about in your climate however in SW Wisconsin I have been pleasantly surprised at how a very good (=expensive) Red Clover I interseeded has persisted into the warm summer after the other cool season grasses just stop growing.

Jim

 

[dun]

I don't know about in your climate however in SW Wisconsin I have been pleasantly surprised at how a very good (=expensive) Red Clover I interseeded has persisted into the warm summer after the other cool season grasses just stop growing.

Jim

That's alwasy worked well for us too. The white clover peters out to soon and the lespedeza they get to the point thay won;t eat it.
Millet is too invasive for my tatse. I planted to small areas to it a hundred yards from the front and 50 yards from the back hayfields. Now the hayfields are full of the stuff.

 

[novatech]

Novatech, I planted cowpeas, millet, and soybeans behind the oats in 2009. Of course we had problems getting any rain that year too. But the millet outlasted the cowpeas and the soybeans never broke the surface. Nothing did much until it started raining in late August. The cowpeas were gone and what was left of the millet came back to where I was able to stop feeding hay and graze it for a while. Course doing that also made me late getting the oats planted that year.

I thought the cow peas were very drought hardy. I was hoping they would work. The pearl millet my be what I need. This will be stockpiled for late summer grazing and no tilled ( old Pasture Dream) into rows about 12" apart just to supplement the Bluestem.
agmantoo' I have plenty of grass but with the same problem as the RRCB. The protein level drops in late summer.
Around here the clover (naturalized bur medic) does not start until maybe October. With enough rain it will do a little good in the fall but really comes on in the spring.
I don't know anyone that has tried Lablab ( hyacinth bean vine) but from what I have read it sounds promising. I may do a small test plot. http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/For ... pureus.htm
Angus cowman; I,ll check out the lespedeza. I have not herd of anyone useing it here but that never stopped me before.
Thanks for all the input.

 

[1982vett]

Novatech, I planted cowpeas, millet, and soybeans behind the oats in 2009. Of course we had problems getting any rain that year too. But the millet outlasted the cowpeas and the soybeans never broke the surface. Nothing did much until it started raining in late August. The cowpeas were gone and what was left of the millet came back to where I was able to stop feeding hay and graze it for a while. Course doing that also made me late getting the oats planted that year.

I thought the cow peas were very drought hardy. I was hoping they would work. The pearl millet my be what I need. This will be stockpiled for late summer grazing and no tilled ( old Pasture Dream) into rows about 12" apart just to supplement the Bluestem.

Don't misunderstand what I said...and remember the summer of 2009 (which you may have gotten a little more rainfall than I). Even cowpeas need more rain than 1.5 inches of rain over the 2 1/2 months between July till the middle of September. But I'd say that would be a good test for the millet that did survive. And again, even that was a very thin stand by September.

 

[masteradeen2000]

Has anyone mixed(succesfully or otherwise) annual lespedeza with the Red river crabgrass?
Was wondering which one is more competitive.
Tried several different combos of legume/grasses this summer including cowpeas/bmr ss, laredo haybeans/pearl millet or bmr ss and cowpeas/laredo/ bmr ss and some of those roundup ready forage beans on their own. All the mixes the legumes looked good in the stand, especially the cowpeas but contributed very little to the baleage when it was said and done. The forage beans(roundup ready) had potential considering low rain and 20 deer a night eating them on the tiny plot I planted of that, but need more to spread out the deer. I am guessing my seeding ratios needed tweaked to let the legume be a bigger %, the cows didn't relish the laredo haybeans as pasture. Cowpeas weren't easy to find locally and all of them the seed cost is kinda high.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Don't fertilize in the spring if you seed Lespedeza- it won't be able to compete with the fescue while its getting a toe hold, not to mention it doesn't like to be fertilized much.

 

[agmantoo]

I planted Marion lespedeza and for a season or two afterward it came back but it could not compete with the fescue. Later I sowed Red River crabgrass in the same area. I let the RRCG go to seed the first year instead of grazing it. I now seem to have a lasting hot weather grazing forage. The protein is good until very late in the crabgrass growing cycle. The RRCG comes on here after the fescue declines. Pairs up rather nicely as the RRCG growth will start to drop as the fescue begins its Fall growth. I asked a seed person if I did not like the RRCG how would I go about getting rid of it? His reply "move"

 

[regenwether]

Berseem clover works. However it is a clover. Not deep rooted. This one is an annaul that is high in protein and highly digestable. Cow will not bloat as easy as the other clovers.

 

[jsramer]

Millet is too invasive for my tatse. I planted to small areas to it a hundred yards from the front and 50 yards from the back hayfields. Now the hayfields are full of the stuff.

[/quote]
Explain why you veiw that a bad thing. I would think that having the millet mixed in would not hurt hay quality and would add variety to the hay.

 

[dun]

Millet is too invasive for my tatse. I planted to small areas to it a hundred yards from the front and 50 yards from the back hayfields. Now the hayfields are full of the stuff.

Explain why you veiw that a bad thing. I would think that having the millet mixed in would not hurt hay quality and would add variety to the hay.[/quote]
Doesn;t hurt the hay. But after cutting hay we leave the fields to be stockpiled for fall/winter grazing. Once the millet starts to head the cows won;t touch the stuff. They end up trampling more of the fescue then what they eat.

 

[novatech]

Millet is too invasive for my tatse. I planted to small areas to it a hundred yards from the front and 50 yards from the back hayfields. Now the hayfields are full of the stuff.

Explain why you veiw that a bad thing. I would think that having the millet mixed in would not hurt hay quality and would add variety to the hay.

Doesn;t hurt the hay. But after cutting hay we leave the fields to be stockpiled for fall/winter grazing. Once the millet starts to head the cows won;t touch the stuff. They end up trampling more of the fescue then what they eat.[/quote]
Couldn't you keep it fresh by mowing? Or maybe you don't have enough cows on it.

 

[dun]

Couldn't you keep it fresh by mowing? Or maybe you don't have enough cows on it.

Not enough growth to make it worth while..I could brush hog it but that's just more time (when I could be fishing) and fuel to waste.
We could run another 75 head but being retired (again) I don;t want to be that busy. I couldn;t imagine not having a couple of dozen cows around but now it's for peace of mind and ppleasure rather then trying to maximize the income.

 

[SRBeef]

I am looking for something that I can plant that will give the cattle some protein when the grass starts to decline after mid summer.
Any ideas? I thought about Lablab, alfalfa, and cow peas but don,t know anyone with experience with them.

I don't know how it would be in Texas but in WI a persistent legume Red Clover seems to provide good grazing in July and August. I have seen some videos on You Tube suggesting Clover for grazing in Texas.

Jim

 

[novatech]

I am looking for something that I can plant that will give the cattle some protein when the grass starts to decline after mid summer.
Any ideas? I thought about Lablab, alfalfa, and cow peas but don,t know anyone with experience with them.

I don't know how it would be in Texas but in WI a persistent legume Red Clover seems to provide good grazing in July and August. I have seen some videos on You Tube suggesting Clover for grazing in Texas.

Jim

If we plant clover it is about mid September. It is usually gone by mid May or before depending on the verity.
I think the lespedeza may work. I may get some planted on a test plot this spring.