Grass fodder: goat, clover, alfalfa, sweet clover. Useful properties, cultivation

Annual or perennial forage grasses are valuable crops that are grown for animal feed. They are characterized by good yield, nutritional value and very important and versatile in strengthening the fodder base. They grow them for green fodder, silage, haylage, hay, grass meal and as pasture crops.

Grass fodder - a valuable food, because it contains proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, various vitamins and minerals that are so necessary for the normal development and growth of animals. Its economic importance depends on nutritional, yield, livestock, and prevalence in different regions.

Types of forage grasses

More than 80 species of this crop are cultivated in our country, and about 5000 grow on natural grounds.

All herbs forage are divided into 4 groups:

• Beans;
• Cereals;
• Sedge;
• Motley grass.

According to the duration of life, the forage grass can be annual and perennial.

Family of legumes

The legume fodder grass on the forage lands of our country is found in small quantities, but it has rather high fodder properties: the culture is rich in protein and is well eaten by animals. The most widely distributed clover (red, white, pink), lagoon horned, yellow alfalfa, meadow rank, etc.

Family of cereals

This group is distributed practically in all zones (except for the desert) and gives the most part of the grazing or hay harvest (often up to 80-90%). Most cereals have high fodder dignity, especially in their young condition. During hay harvesting during drying, these herbs are well preserved leaves, which are the most valuable parts. The most widespread are cereal crops such as feather grass, cuckoo grass, ostrich, etc.

Grass grass forage

To this group of herbs are plants from the families of Sitnikov and sedge. These crops are considered to be of little value in the feed plan and are poorly eaten by animals, but in the northern regions of the forest zone they often make up the bulk of the hay (sedge water, sedge slender and others). And in the desert and semi-desert, many sedges are a valuable fodder plant.

Infestation

This group includes all other botanical families of plants. The grasses are forage meadows, which can sometimes be up to 60-70% of the grass stand. Most of them are of great economic importance. Plants from this group are more nutritious than cereals, but most of them are much less eaten by animals due to bitter taste, prickiness, pubescence, etc. A small amount of herbs (cuffs, dandelions, cumin, etc.) in the grass stand (up to 20%) - a desirable admixture, because it contributes to the improvement of the mineral composition of the feed and its consumption by cattle.

A large number of grasses of this group in the grass stand of haymaking is highly undesirable, because:

• It displaces more valuable legumes and cereals;
• Among the herbage there are many weedy (convolvulus of the field, yellow sow, etc.) and poisonous (buttercup poisonous, chicken, poisonous milestone, aconite, etc.) of plants.

Fodder annual grasses

The peculiarity of annual feed grasses is that their development cycle ends within a year, and they die. Sow to obtain greens for top dressing, for silage, and also for obtaining concentrated feed. Annual herbs produce high yields of green mass, have a sufficiently high nutritional value, have a short growing season.

Due to the fact that the ripeness of plants comes about 50-60 days later, these crops are indispensable in intermediate crops, in a busy pair.

Annual herbs are divided into two types:

• Beans;
• Bluegrass (cereal).

Annual leguminous forage crops are sown in early spring. The most valuable plants are the spring and winter vetch, the rank, the stern lupine, the seradella.

Cereal annual grasses are more thermophilic, they are planted in well-warmed soil after sowing early spring grain crops. The most valuable are: Sudan grass, mogar, sorghum, ryegrass annual, chumiza, African millet and others.

Perennial forage grass

Perennial forage grasses are herbaceous planting plants with a life expectancy of more than one year. They are grown for livestock feed.

The culture includes more than 50 plant species. They are sown most often in the form of grass mixture, which has a positive effect on the quality of feed and soil fertility. Sow also pure crops and create cultural pastures outside crop rotations.

In the first year of life, perennial grasses develop quite slowly, overgrow with weeds and can yield low yields. Therefore, it is recommended to sow them after cereals or tilled crops, in fertilized with compost or manure soil.

Perennial forage grasses are also subdivided into:

• Morophilic (cereal). The most common: timothy, boneless, ryegrass, grazing, giraffe, ryegrass high, meadow grass, ryegrass multi-horned, rootless wheatgrass, hedgehogs, white grass, fescue and red fox, foxtail and others.
• Bean grasses: alfalfa, white clover, red clover, clover pink, sainfoin, lagoon horned.

To create a highly productive herbage, it is necessary to perform the main agrotechnical methods of cultivation.

Hogweed

Goat grass belongs to the perennial herbaceous plant of the family of leguminous crops. Stalk branched erect, usually reaches 1 m in height, and can grow up to 1.5 m on fertile soils. The root system has a rod type, it grows up to 80 cm deep. On the main root, several offspring are formed. First they develop horizontally up to 30 cm, then they rise and form new stems.

The leaves of the plant are patchy petiolate, up to 30 cm long.

Goat - grass fodder with gently purple or blue flowers, similar to bells, which are collected in an inflorescence brush. Each stem can be formed with 3-5 pieces. Fruiting begins in September-October. Beans are small in size (2-4 cm in length), dark orange, almost brown, in fruits of 3-7 seeds. Little goat is quite slow, and if it does not grow 20 cm tall by autumn, its preforms are often carried over the next year.

Seeds are able to maintain germination qualities up to 8 years.

Goatskin is a sufficiently frost-resistant plant, able to tolerate even very severe winters.

Two species of this plant are known: oriental goat (grass forage) and medicinal.

Ryagers one year old

A very valuable fodder plant, giving benign green food and hay. The green mass contains 3.2% protein, 2.3% protein, 8% fiber. He readily eats cattle, in addition, it is a good feeding for domestic birds. The hay of one-year ryegrass on nutritional properties is not inferior to that from mohara, Sudan grass and other cereal crops. Animals eat well and straw. Annual yield of hay is about 7-8 t / ha, green mass - up to 20-30 t / ha, seed - 0.5-0.6 t / ha.

Rigrass annual has a high octave, during the growing season it gives 2-3 cuts. After the second cut, the growing aftermath can be used as pasture forage until the deepest autumn, as it tolerates autumn small frosts well.

Donnik

This unpretentious one-year or two-year-old bean crop, capable of growing on the poorest, sandy, stony and clay soils, as well as in those areas where there is no fertile layer. The plant is not afraid of salted and solonetzic soils, but it does not tolerate acid marshy and swamping heavy lands, with a close location of groundwater. The root system is powerful and well developed, so this herb is able to yield a good harvest in arid zones where other forage crops burn out. With sufficient rainfall, the yield of green mass can reach up to 7-8 t / ha.

The plant is successfully used not only for food, but also for green fertilizer.

Seeds germinate at a temperature of 2 to 50 ° C, sprouts are able to withstand frosts -6 ...- 5 ° C, and some frost-resistant two-year varieties do not fever below 40 ° C.

Donnik is a valuable high-protein fodder plant, which, in terms of nutritional value, is not inferior to clover, alfalfa and sainfoin. It can often be found in meadows, wastelands, roadsides.

This drought-resistant, frost-resistant and resistant to diseases and pests plant is suitable for obtaining greenery, silage and hay preparation. Cultivated can be in grass mixtures, or independently.

Clover white

It grows well on sandy, loamy weakly acidic or neutral soils. In the first year the grass (clover) is able to bloom and give seeds. The second year of life comes full development. In one place can grow up to 9-10 years.

The grass (clover) is moisture and sun-loving, frost-resistant. It grows best in regions with a humid, cool climate, where there is no drought.

Seed white clover is an excellent food plant containing a lot of protein. Stamping with cattle during grazing does not depress the plant, but, on the contrary, promotes its better growth. Planting this legume culture improves the fertility of the soil. Incorporation of it into the composition of grass mixtures with timothy, ryegrass and other plants contributes to the increase of the forage quality of pasture grass - the content of protein, phosphorus, fat, calcium, potassium increases and reduces the level of cellulose. The yield of green mass in meadows is about 60-120 centner / ha, hay is about 18-35 centner / ha, seed 3.0-5.0 centner / ha.

Alfalfa

This is a perennial grass fodder family of legumes. It is used both as a green feed, and for obtaining high-quality hay. Alfalfa seeds are also used for medicinal purposes. The culture improves the structure of the soil, and also enriches the soil with nitrogen, destroys the weeds . It is characterized by high drought resistance and winter hardiness. In the grass can be kept up to 10 years and even more. After the cut, it grows slowly.

This prey grass prefers chernozems, forest-steppe loams, brown and chestnut serozems and other lime-rich soils. Lucerne grows poorly on swampy and heavy clay soils.

This plant contains many vitamins and protein. It is well digested by herbivores. Seeds of alfalfa sow both in pure form, and as a mixture.