Persistence and yield of ladino white clover in southeastern Louisiana.

Abstract

Ladino white clover (Trifolium repens L.) is usually reestablished annually for cool-season and early warm-season pasture improvement. Careful pasture management during summer can encourage persistence of stolons so that renovation and reseeding may not be needed for subsequent grazing. Ladino white clover might be manageable for both cool- and warm-season grazing if grass competition is controlled. Both cool- and warm-season yields of persisting ladino white clover exceeded that of new plantings by an average (+/- SE) of 180 +/- 41%. Winter yields of persisting swards averaged 5,250 +/- 350 kg/ha while those of new plantings were only 1,379 +/- 182 kg/ha. Average standing crop of persisting and new plantings was 3,497 +/- 724 and 2,500 +/- 378 kg/ha, respectively, from June through September. Suppression of warm-season competition leading to ladino white clover persistence may produce economic and soil conservation advantages. The greatest advantage of managing for persistence appeared to be increased forage for winter grazing.