by Larry Hawkins, PAS
Ever since the genetic engineering scientists have been working to improve alfalfa, they seem to have forgotten about a legume forage which already has the traits they are trying to achieve with the exception of Roundup Ready®. Reduced lignin and condensed tannin are the two traits that were targeted to address the shortfalls of alfalfa. The lower lignin is already in the marketplace to solve alfalfa’s low NDFD problems. Condensed tannins to solve alfalfa’s high protein solubility problems appear to be still 5 or 10 years down the road.
It seems that after several years of field experience, the double-stack, low-lignin alfalfa with its need for multiple fungicide treatments, its lower yield, its high seed cost and its less-than-sure quality improvement, has many farmers ready to move on. Either switching to or adding improved red clovers to the picture may be a solution.
Why would we even worry about tannin?
Tannin is the factor in clover that causes its protein to be much less soluble and much higher in quality (read bypass) than the protein in alfalfa. Red clover has approximately double alfalfa’s bypass protein. A parallel can be drawn between the fragility of alfalfa NDF and the solubility of its protein. It is of no benefit if the NDF of alfalfa is out of the rumen before it has reached its potential digestibility. Our standard NDFD measurement for ration balancing is 30 hours and most of the alfalfa is already gone. We need to look at the 12- and 24-hour timepoints which, of course, have lower digestibility values. Regardless, we are not getting the actual digestibility we presumed (or paid for).
In the case of protein solubility, alfalfa also has a load of soluble protein that unless the diet needs a lot of soluble protein, some of the alfalfa protein is passed thru the rumen before it can be utilized. We can save the genetic engineering scientists and the alfalfa companies (and you) a lot of money if they just either add red clover or replace the alfalfa completely!
My Epiphany
Years ago, I received a red clover baleage sample to use in a dairy ration. I was surprised that the NDFD30 was 65%! Having never seen a pure clover forage sample, I certainly took notice! Conscripting my friends at Dairyland Labs, I convinced them to do a search of all samples that were either labeled alfalfa or clover and no other ingredient. The data set was certainly not pure, but it was large (especially the alfalfa) and it showed that the clover samples averaged 9 percentage units higher in NDFD30 than the alfalfa.
Another source of evidence was from another friend at a large alfalfa and clover genetics company (they all keep changing names!). The company did some research trials where clover and alfalfa were compared for quality when harvested on the same day for each cutting. Also, another sample of clover was taken 4 days later. When harvested on the same day the clover NDFD30 was 7.8% higher than the alfalfa and still remained higher after than the original alfalfa sample by 3.6% after the extra 4 days.
Benefits of Red Clover
The benefits of alfalfa are many and well known. However, let us look at what modern improved varieties of red clover bring to the table:
- More winter hardiness.
- Clover better tolerates “wet feet”.
- Clover is not as dependent on high soil pH.
- Clover gets going quicker than alfalfa, which is important when using quick rotations.
- Has higher RUP or bypass protein than alfalfa by almost double.
- Has a root system that holds soil better when ravaged by rain.
- Nitrogen from fixation may be available for other plants (grasses) sooner.
- Clover can be seeded into a weak alfalfa stand to extend usefulness without the autotoxicity that would happen when seeding alfalfa into alfalfa.
- Every potential alfalfa field is not perfectly flat. When clover is added to an alfalfa stand, you will see areas that would otherwise be bare, thriving with clover.
- It is difficult to out-yield a stand of KingFisher Synergex alfalfa, Improved Red Clover, and a European cool season grass. It usually isn’t close.
And the research says
Work at the USDA Forage Research Center in Wisconsin with red clover replacing alfalfa showed:
- Dairy cows had reduced feed intakes with red clover-based diets, but had similar milk yield and produced less manure. This is the result of increased digestibility and is termed Milk Efficiency.
- Less crude protein was converted to NPN, which improved dietary protein efficiency and reduced manure nitrogen.
Clover added to your alfalfa when seeding will add the above benefits to your stand. Look for a good 3- to 4-year improved clover. Adding European cool season grasses such as meadow fescue (in the north) or orchardgrass (other places) can help your stand even more.
And at Forage Innovations
At Forage Innovations, we use a lot of annual clovers to not only add protein to the grass forage, but also to provide a winter cover crop. Annual red clovers and vetches are included in virtually every cocktail mix. Clovers can be added (seeding rate 3 to 5 pounds) to sorghum-sudan, sudangrass, small grains and of course are a mainstay in any pasture system.
Caveats
In this postmodern age, I was just thinking that everyone is making haylage only and almost forgot about dry baled hay. Clover is not a good choice for dry baled hay as you may know if you ever tried it. You may more easily dry bale a mixture of alfalfa, clover and cool season grass. However, according to work done in New York by Tom Kilcer of Advanced Ag Systems, by wide swathing, clover can be made into haylage-in-a-day, on good drying days and thereby retaining more of the quality.
For recommendations on high-yielding clovers, annuals and 3-4 year varieties to suit the needs of your forage plan, contact Daniel at daniel@forageinnovations.guru or Larry at larry@forageinnovations.guru