Productive Legum-Cereals Mixtures for Preparing Green Forage

In the foreststeppe conditions of the Middle Volga region, in 2022–2025, the seeding rates of hairy sweet clover in mixed legumecereal crops were studied in order to create a raw material conveyor for harvesting green fodder. The work was carried out in the Penza region. The experimental design: grass mixture (factor A) – sweet clover + alfalfa + brome, sweet clover + sainfoin + brome, sweet clover + goat’srue + brome, sweet clover + clover + brome; the seeding rate of sweet clover in the mixture, in % of the seeding rate in pure form (factor B) – 40, 60, 80. Legume components (alfalfa, sainfoin, goat’srue, clover) with brome were sown in a ratio of 60 + 60 % of the seeding rate in pure form. The sowing method was row sowing at a distance of 15 cm (crop placement was inter-row). The weather conditions during the growing season of perennial grasses allowed for 3 cuttings in 2023, 2 cuttings in 2024 and 2025. The highest dry matter yield in the experiment in the first year of use in total for three cuttings was achieved by mixtures of sweet clover + alfalfa + brome (10.83 t/ha) and sweet clover + clover + brome (10.77 t/ha). In the second year of use, the highest yield in total for 2 cuttings was obtained in the variant of sainfoin + brome mixture (15.25 t/ha). The content of crude protein in dry matter of the mixtures varied from 21.30 % to 21.65 % in the first year of grass stand use, and from 19.98 % to 21.26 % in the second year. The content of exchangeable energy in 1 kgof dry matter varied insignificantly across the experimental variants – from 10.17 to 10.38 MJ. The content of digestible protein in 1 feed unit was high – 171…184 g. Starting from the second year of use, a raw material conveyor can be formed from the mixtures: in late May – first ten days of June, the mixture of goat’srue and brome reaches cutting maturity; in the first and second ten days of June – alfalfa and brome and sainfoin and brome; in the second and third ten days of June – clover and brome.

perennial legumes and cereal grasses, grass mixtures, mixture components, seeding rates, yield, nutritional value