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Article: 657 of sci.agriculture
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Newsgroups: sci.agriculture
Message-ID: <200@envirolaw.win.net>
References: <1994Apr7.111514.29835@news.weeg.uiowa.edu><2o1frg$k50@news.iastate.edu>
Reply-To: slc@envirolaw.win.net (Stephen L. Castner)
From: slc@envirolaw.win.net (Stephen L. Castner)
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 05:33:06 GMT
Subject: Re: Berseem Clover
Lines: 78

 
>In article <1994Apr7.111514.29835@news.weeg.uiowa.edu>,
>James Meade <jnmeade@news.weeg.uiowa.edu> wrote:
>>I'm looking for actual experience or in depth research on berseem clover
>>and it's suitability as a forage crop.  

The following appeared in the Practical Farmer newsletter:

>FOOTPRINTS OF A GRASS FARMER
>A Marriage Made in Heaven or More Heavy Metal From Hell?
>                                                   Tom Frantzen, Alta Vista
>
>Graziers following the Savory or Voisin pasture management
>monitor the growth of grass.  Typically the dry matter production
>decreases as the summer progresses.  To avoid overgrazing, the
>rest recovery period is lengthened.  To allow for this recovery,
>either more paddocks are added to the cell or the number of
>animals is reduced.
>
>On our farm, we are exploring a different strategy to compensate
>for the seasonal decline in pasture dry matter production. 
>Basically, we are green-chopping an alternative annual forage and
>feeding this supplemental to our grazing.  The annual forage that
>we are experimenting with is berseem Egyptian clover.  Iowa State
>University is actively involved in the project.  Drs. Mohammed
>Ghaffarzadeh and Mike Brasche initiated the research project,
>with 13 on-farm locations across the state, as well as on-station
>sites.
>
>Berseem is a highly productive annual.  Excellent seedling vigor
>and robust growth characteristics result in dry matter yields of
>3-4 tons per acre.  Feeding quality is comparable to alfalfa.  It
>does not have bloating characteristics.
>
>One of the driving reasons for the research into berseem is the
>near chronic failures in small grain production in recent years. 
>Oats harvested as a cash grain resulted in a net economic loss 7
>of the past 10 years.
>
>We are hesitant to abandon small grain seeding.  The soil
>conservation and ecological diversification benefits are too
>good.  Why not skip the grain harvest and chop the oats and
>berseem as a forage?
>
>Figure 7 (BERSEEM.TIF graphics file) details how well this annual
>forage compliments the pasture.  With help from ISU and Practical
>Farmers of Iowa, we put the above theory to a farm test.  A group
>of 480-pound stocker cattle were purchased in April.  They were
>pastured as a group until July 12th.  From early June on, they
>were fed a limited amount of green-chopped berseem to help
>acclimate their rumens.  On July 12th, the group was split and
>weighed.  One group was drylot fed greenchop, the other remained
>on intensely managed pastures.  Both sets were fed 1 percent of
>bodyweight in grain plus free choice minerals.  ISU assisted the
>project with analysis of forage quality and feedlot rations. 
>Researchers also conducted weekly, hand-harvest yield checks in
>the berseem strips.  PFI s Sustainable Projects provided
>financial support to assist with weighing both cattle and
>machine-harvested berseem.
>
>Both groups of cattle were scaled again on Sept. 7th.  Each group
>gained 2.1 pounds per head per day.  The cattle consumed roughly
>two-thirds of the available forage during the trial.  The
>greenchop berseem produced around 600 pounds of beef per acre. 
>The pastured stockers yielded 735 pounds of beef per acre.  Both
>yields are adjusted to a full season basis.
>
>The economics point to the value of well managed pastures. 
>However, the Berseem green chop easily beats cash crop oats.  I
>don t cherish the heavy metal aspect of green chopping.  However,
>the three tracts of land we farm are not contiguous.  Pasturing
>is done on the  home 80.   Down the road on the remaining 240
>acres, we apply ridge till conservation tillage and narrow strip
>intercropping techniques.
>
>Is greenchop a viable mid- to late-season forage supplement?  We
>plan to repeat the trial this year.   |
>

_______________________________________________________
/`-._     Stephen L. Castner slc@envirolaw.win.net   |
 {     }/ 1650 Ninth Avenue, P.O. Box 164            |
  \   ./  Grafton, Wisconsin 53024-0164              |
   |___|  Voice: (414) 377-9377  Fax: (414) 377-5002 |





