Beef: Birdsfoot trefoil, the wonder plant for rocky terrain

Friday, February 29, 2008

On the rock lands of the Bruce Peninsula, trefoil is proving 'by far the legume of choice.' But it can be difficult to establish

by Mary Baxter

Glen Wells calls birdsfoot trefoil the "miracle plant of legumes for grazing."

Wells, who manages Bruce Community Pasture, which has grazed more than 50,000 head of cattle since it was established in 1966, says that the appeal of the plant is that it will grow in the county's rocky terrain and comes into its prime when it's needed most - in the dry summer months of July and August. Best of all, there's no bloat to it.

It may be a wonder perennial, but introducing trefoil to an established stand can be tricky. That's where cattle come in, says Wells.

According to Wells, the late Walter Ward was responsible for bringing trefoil to the Bruce Peninsula several years ago. "He called it the wonder plant because the Bruce peninsula has a lot of rocky land."

Ward spread it by hand through the rock lands and, despite the terrain, the plant grew and thrived. Since that time, it has become "by far the legume of choice" in the county, says Wells. It's also popular in northern and eastern portions of the province, he says.

The variety Ward used was Empire. It was also the variety used to seed the Bruce Community Pasture in the mid-1960s. The original seeding was 10 pounds of trefoil and two pounds of timothy per acre, says Wells. (The pasture has never been plowed or broken up since it was established 42 years ago).

Today, there are about 25 varieties of trefoil available in Canada and the United States and they are separated into two types, Empire and European, based on their growth habitat. Wells, who has used some of the newer Empire varieties, concludes that their staying power isn't the same as the older one. "Their genetics aren't quite as strong," he says.

According to Pennsylvania State University Co-operative, Extension and Outreach program information, the plant has a reduced ability to resist fusarium diseases compared to alfalfa. The Empire-based varieties are better adapted to grazing, although they grow more slowly than the European types, which are better suited to hay production.

Nevertheless, provincial pasture specialist Jack Kyle is also full of praise for the plant's pasture potential. All legumes tend to hold their quality a little better than grasses and are also a little higher in protein. The trefoil's strength, he notes, is that it holds its quality reasonably well late into the fall. It can even be grazed after frost.

However, the plant can be difficult to establish, he says. The problem has to do withtrefoil being a slow starter. It's one of the later plants to get going in the spring, usually about two to three weeks behind clover or some of the other grasses. It is therefore on the losing side when competing with the faster-growing plants around it for sunlight.

When overseeding, Wells broadcasts seeds using a four-wheel, all-terrain vehicle with a cyclone seeder on the back. "For a number of years, we had the University of Guelph's no-till drill and we put it on that way."

A study conducted some years ago on the pasture showed that between the middle of March and May 10 is the best time to plant, depending on the weather. "You like to get it on in time early in the spring so that the frost does cause some movement of the ground in order to work the seed down a little into the ground." The seed doesn't need a lot of cover (no deeper than a quarter of an inch). Kyle recommends seeding rates of about a pound an acre.

To help it compete with the other plants, Wells recommends grazing the area where it's planted fairly closely at the start of the season to get the sun into it. But, later in the season, he advises you to watch grazing activity, noting that the plant will reseed itself, though to do so, it must be allowed to go to seed. Cattle can become your best friend in helping to spread the seed elsewhere, both he and Kyle suggest.

Kyle recommends feeding the seed to be distributed to the animals. The seed is small and hard enough that it will pass through the rumen and, in the process, will get a warm treatment that's ideal to promote germination. When it comes out the other end, the seed has the added bonus of being in an environment that promotes fertility and offers protection from predators while it's getting established.

Wells uses a variation on this approach, allowing the already-established plant to go to seed, then turning the cattle into that field to graze. He will then open fields on either side to allow cattle access to these. The cattle transfer the seeds to the next pasture through their droppings.

Even with this ingenuous approach, Wells warns that it takes time. "It's a very versatile plant, very hardy," he says. "Given the opportunity to reseed it, it'll stay there."

Whether it's trefoil or another mixture, you're seeding into established pasture, points out Wells. "You're fighting against the ability to get sunlight, which it needs." He also warns against allowing cattle to graze too closely later on in the season. The young plants "have a very, very small root system and that big long tongue of the cattle beast can lick those out just like nothing." BF