Alternative Forage

GARDEN CITY, Kan. (DTN) -- Forage producers willing to think outside the box may find two lesser-known plants offer some advantages, while still maintaining comparable forage quality: sainfoin and fenugreek.

SAINFOIN

Sainfoin is a perennial forage legume native to Eastern Europe that was introduced to Montana and North Dakota in the 1950s. It can grow up to 3 feet tall with pink flowers and many leaflets. While the stems appear big and coarse, they are actually very soft and palatable. Sainfoin can be used for either grazing or baling.

Augustine Obour, assistant professor of soil science at the KSU Agricultural Research Center in Hays, Kansas, said one advantage of sainfoin is that it does not cause bloating problems for ruminant animals; any animal that eats alfalfa can eat sainfoin. Horses especially do well with sainfoin because of the non-bloating characteristic.

Sainfoin is hardy in cold, winter temperatures and is more drought tolerant than alfalfa and has earlier spring growth. Yields for sainfoin are usually greater than alfalfa yields because it emerges earlier from dormancy, Obour said. It is a non-invasive species, produces excellent honey from seed production fields and is resistant to alfalfa weevils.

It grows well in calcareous or high pH (pH>7.0) soil. Obour said most sainfoin is grown in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. Sainfoin prefers well-drained soil and does not do well in heavy soils or with too much moisture, such as under flood irrigation.

The seeding rate for sainfoin for irrigated fields is 25 to 30 pounds PLS (pure live seed) per acre in 7-to-12-inch rows, or 17 to 20 pounds PLS/acre when planting in a mixture, Obour said. The seeding recommendations for sainfoin for dryland fields is 21-to-30-inch rows at 12 to 30 pounds PLS/acre, or 10 to 12 pounds PLS/acre when planting in a mixture.

Growers must start with a clean seedbed, supply adequate phosphorus and nitrogen and plant with a seed depth of 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Sainfoin is a legume and does not need nitrogen fertilization.

Weed management is important during the first year either pre- or post-emergence, but after that sainfoin crops compete well with weeds.

As far as limitations, sainfoin stands will eventually decline after the fourth growing season, similar to alfalfa. Obour added that sainfoin does not compete well with cereal grains such as oats when planted as a companion crop and requires a specific rhizobium strain for inoculation.

Sainfoin produces large brown seeds, larger than most common forage legumes, in single pods that remain intact during harvest and cleaning, Obour said. Each de-hulled pod contains about 32,000 seeds per pound.

Don Keil has been growing sainfoin for 50 years on his farm near Conrad in north-central Montana. He sells Rocky Mountain Remont (RMR) Sainfoin, a natural selection regrowth variety of Remont Sainfoin, a variety developed by Montana State University. The advantages of RMR are its longevity and frost tolerance.

Keil grows about 1,300 acres of sainfoin yearly and uses it for grazing his own cattle, as well as for hay and for seed that he sells.

Keil said his cattle do better on sainfoin than anything he can buy, because it is high in energy and protein, is more palatable than alfalfa, and its digestibility is "beyond reproach."

There is a steady market for sainfoin bales in Keil's area, mostly to feedlots and horse owners.

Keil processes and ships sainfoin seed mostly to people wanting to grow it for forage via his company, Montana Seeds (http://bit.ly/…). He has a large market in Montana and the northwestern states, as sainfoin seems to do better in those areas. However, he gets calls for orders across the U.S.

The company sells about a half million pounds of sainfoin seed per year in 50-pound bags or totes, but will only sell a minimum of 400 pounds. Currently, Montana Seeds sells sainfoin seeds for $2 per pound, which includes the inoculant that is stirred into the seed before planting.

FENUGREEK

Fenugreek is an annual legume native to Europe and Asia but is mostly grown in Canada. The word fenugreek translates to "Greek hay."

According to Surya Acharya, research scientist and forage breeder for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge, Alberta, Fenugreek has many nutritional uses for humans, especially the gum, which is extracted for use in food products. Because of its aromatic compounds, it is also used for flavoring in foods such as ice cream and maple syrup. In addition, fenugreek is a common ingredient in curry powder.

Fenugreek seedlings are sometimes sold for cooking, as it is very healthy and helps with lowering cholesterol. It is eaten like other leafy greens, such as spinach and kale, Acharya said.

The many fenugreek producers in Saskatchewan still grow it mostly for seed, Acharya said. Mature brown fenugreek pods contain about 20 to 30 yellow seeds. While growers may keep some seed for planting, they sell most of the seed for extracting chemicals for food products. Currently, fenugreek seeds can only be purchased from Canada.

One company in Saskatchewan, Emerald Seed Products Ltd., produces large quantities of seed to be used for food products, however, Acharya has developed a variety of fenugreek called Tristar, which is used for forage. Tristar should be on the market by 2017.

Fenugreek grows about 2 feet tall, has highly branched stems with trifoliate leaves, and produces slender green pods and white flowers. Being an annual crop, fenugreek is usually baled like alfalfa. It is also a non-bloating forage legume, which makes it especially suitable for horses, which are more susceptible to bloat.

Obour added that fenugreek quality is very similar to the high-quality alfalfa needed by dairies. He said a lot of the research on fenugreek is being done in Canada and the feed is used for dairies, as it helps boost milk production in cattle.

The advantages of fenugreek are that stands don't decline with maturity and the mature plants are still highly digestible if left in the field. Although it is better to bale fenugreek in order to get the maximum tonnage, Acharya said, but it can also be grazed because of its ability to maintain its quality until it is fairly mature.

"Alfalfa and other forage crops normally start dropping their bottom leaves when they go past their flowering stage. That's why quality goes down after it has attained about 5% to 10% bloom," Acharya said. "But fenugreek, even the mature parts, do not lose its quality."

Although fenugreek requires less water than alfalfa, Obour said he planted fenugreek in Kansas in 2014, but with an extremely dry season the fenugreek did not do well. However, he said a study he did in Wyoming yielded 7,000 to 8,000 pounds per acre irrigated. Fenugreek grows well in the cooler Canadian climate, although it does best in the country's semiarid regions, Acharya said.

Fenugreek can also be grown as a short rotational crop.

"If you plant it in late May or early June, you can harvest it in August," Obour said. "So, you can grow it in rotation with other crops. If you harvest it early and have enough moisture you can grow a cereal crop like wheat."

There is little agronomic information on fenugreek production. However, in the trials at KSU Obour is currently planting fenugreek 25 pounds PLS/acre at 10- to 12-row spacing in early May. He added that fenugreek can be inoculated with Dormal or any alfalfa inoculant, and needs to be supplied with adequate phosphorus and potassium. Like sainfoin, fenugreek is a legume and does not need nitrogen fertilization.

There is not much information or research out on weed management for fenugreek, so there are no herbicides registered for it yet. Obour added that if farmers talk to an agronomist or weed management expert, they will be able to recommend registered products that will work.

Acharya currently is developing fenugreek with leaf-spot-disease resistance. While fenugreek is more widely grown in Canada than the U.S., Acharya said that it will be important to develop varieties that are disease resistant and more tolerant of ample moisture.

"We only have one variety that does well in dry areas of western Canada. That's not good enough," Archarya said. "It's limited in its capability because it cannot be grown in areas with more moisture. If more people put effort into breeding, then it can be used on a wider scale."

For more information on the KSU fenugreek research, Obour recommended a link to the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Report (http://bit.ly/…).

For more information on sainfoin, he recommended a link to an article about sainfoin from the Montana Extension (http://bit.ly/…), and one from the University of Wyoming (http://bit.ly/…).

Acharya published a paper in 2008 titled "Fenugreek, an Alternative Crop for Semiarid Regions of North America" (http://bit.ly/…)..

Cheryl Anderson can be reached at cheryl.anderson@dtn.com

Follow Cheryl Anderson on Twitter @CherylADTN

(SK/CZ/BAS)

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