I went to bed last night feeling pretty low. Still felt that way today. So I read and dozed and dozed and read. Got a little bored not to mention jealous of my fellow farmers--finishing up the timber frame, working on their fiber projects. So, to pass the time, I began working on a chart of pasture forage.
There are three main types plants that our cows and sheep eat--grasses, legumes and forbs. This chart isn't complete but it has certainly helped me to start to begin to commence to understand what it is that soaks up the sun, takes a four-stomach journey and ends up as milk or meat for us to eat.
The images didn't copy well. The important information is the content upon which I am still... ruminating (sorry, could NOT resist that pun.).
| Name of grass | Image | Sci-name | Bunch or sod | Low med hi | Important info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchard grass |  | Dactylis glomerata | bunch | med | Ratio of digestible/undigestible 1:1 |
| Perrenial rye grass | | Lolium perenne | bunch | low | Ratio of digestible/undigestible 4:1 |
| Tall fescue | | Festuca arundinacea | bunch | tall | |
| timothy | | Phleum pratense | bunch | med | |
| Kentucky bluegrass | | Poa pratensis | | low | |
| Smooth bromegrass | | Bromus inermis | sod | tall | |
| Reed canarygrass | | Phalaris arundinacea | | tall | |
| quackgrass | | Elytrigia repens | sod | med | |
| Canada bluegrass | | Poa compressa | | | Confused with Kentucky bluegrass, cuts gums –improve fertility to grow Kentucky |
| Meadow fescue | | Festuca pratensis | bunch | med | Gorws with timothy, wet soils, close grazing and lax grazing OK |
Need to have 30 to 50% legume GROWING IN PASTURE
| Name of Legume | Image | Sci-name | | details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White clover | | Trifolium repens | | Grows low to ground, via stolons, shallow rooted |
| Red clover | | Trifolium pratense | | Deeply rooted, upright grow, good with tall grasses, lives only two years |
| alfalfa | | Medicago satvia | | With bromegrass and canary grass, withstand drought |
| Birdsfoot trefoil | | Lotus corniculatus | | Can grow on poor soil, tricky to grow, |
| vetch | | | | Viny legume |
| | | | | |
Animals love forbs, we call them weeds, edible at early stages
| Name of forb | Image | Sci-name | notes |
| plantain | | Plantago major | |
| dandelion | | taraxacum | |
| chicory | | | |
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