Legume Proportions in Pasture and Hay Swards Following Overseeding of Cool-Season Perennial Grass with Red and White Clover.

Forage legumes contribute nitrogen and nutritional value to pasture and hay swards. Better understanding of conditions that favor establishment of clovers in existing cool-season grass swards in the Appalachian region of the USA could stimulate managers to improve grassland composition. Our objective was to compare botanical composition of pasture and hay plots following annual broadcasting of clover seed into cool-season perennial grass swards during an 8-year period. Red and white clover seed was broadcast each spring at 8 and 1 kg ha^-1, respectively, onto swards under hay management and at 4 and 1 kg ha^-1, respectively, onto pastures rotationally stocked with cow-calf pairs. Hay plots were also rotationally stocked in fall. In each of 2000-2003, clovers were broadcast once onto plots that had not previously been seeded. Broadcast seeding was repeated once on each plot 4 years later during 2004-2007. Botanical composition of pasture and hay samples was determined annually. Soils were sampled annually for determination of relationships between herbage legume proportions and soil pH and concentrations of P and K. Legume proportions in herbage samples will be compared within and across years of pasture and hay management treatments.