Pasture legumes are special

Pasture legumes play a special role in profitability. They are often fragile to conditions and attractive to most grazing animals. So there must be some reason why legumes are able to survive at all.

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How do they get ahead?

Once you understand this key principle with legumes you can use it to assist you to manage any other plant or animal.

The principle is Any individual or species needs an advantage. Every organism needs to have an advantage under some circumstances to survive. Otherwise all the other species that have an advantage will eventually outcompete it or get ahead in some other way.

You can use this to Beat pests by using advantage

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What this means

Legumes in pastures are often
  • less tolerant of a range of soil conditions such as soil pH (acidity or alkalinity) than a lot of the grasses and other plants they are growing with
  • more readily grazed by any selective grazer (any animal that is able to aim for and get a particular plant) except for goats (they are mostly browsers, rather than grazers)
    and
  • more highly digestible and this makes them more able to be consumed in high quantities.

    • Given all these factors, there must be some reason why legumes are able to survive at all in pastures.

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    So how do legumes get ahead?

    If you understand this principle with legumes you can use it with any other plant or animal. This principle makes it easier to manage any organism on your land, whether you are managing the organism to succeed or to have it disappear.

    Legumes must have an advantage at least some of the time.

    So it is for weeds, successful crops, dominant grasses (poa, phalaris, timothy etc), whales, kangaroos, trees, human beings etc. All species need an advantage over other species at least some of the time.

    Legumes only have their advantage when a soil is low on a key nutrient (nitrogen). And nitrogen is low at times or permanently in most soils. Because the legume gets this key nutrient before anything else does, it can get ahead of plants that don't have that access.

    Not only can the

    legume get ahead,

    the legume can get you ahead

    because it provides you with the key factor in your livestock management and in your money management.

    That key factor is the digestibility of the pasture as a whole. Most pasture legumes have very high digestibility. The grasses they feed the nitrogen to tend to have very high digestibility compared to the same grasses growing without adequate nitrogen. That nitrogen is a lot more cheaply obtained from legumes than from a factory.

    The digestibility of the pasture is the key driver of profitability in livestock enterprises and as legumes are the key drivers of digestibility, legumes play a huge role in profitability.

    And in cropping, the key driver of profitability is often the quality and quantity of grain or other yield.

    Nitrogen from the pasture legumes in the rotation usually boosts both of those and costs a lot less than nitrogen from a bag or pressurized gas tank.

    And it boosts soil biological activity and soil quality at the same time.

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    If you want the species: make sure it gets to use its advantage, ideally in such a way that it gets an outstanding lead over other species. This is how you can Beat pests by using advantage

    If you don't want the species: take away any key advantages it has or give an advantage to an organism you do want.


    If you are looking at a printed version of this page and you would like to visit it on the internet and get a stack of other info that may assist you, the full web address is
    http://www.OrganicExchange.com.au/all/fc910221.htm

    Related info:

    Selective grazing

    Beat pests by using advantage

    Learning from pests

    Ground cover

    Niche

    Green manures in orchards and vineyards

    Understanding the causes of weed problems

    Weed control without chemicals

    Choosing a farming course and teacher

    Do weeds come to heal the soil?

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    Summary
    You can use this key principle that allows legumes to get ahead when you are managing any other plant or animal.

    The principle is that any individual or species needs an advantage under some circumstances to survive. Otherwise all the other species that have an advantage will eventually outcompete it or get ahead in some other way.


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    This page was updated on December 27, 2007