Feeding trials indicate that annual lespedeza hay is nearly equal in quality to alfalfa hay. Chemical analyses show that the protein and mineral content of lespedeza hay varies with the stage of maturity at which it is cut and with the fertility or composition of the soil on which it is grown. The maturity of annual lespedeza hay markedly affects its nutritive value.
In tests at the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station, hay cut when in bloom was more palatable and resulted in greater milk production than late-cut hay. It was also found that large quantities of foreign material, such as straw and weeds, reduces the nutritive value of lespedeza hay. Tests with milk cows showed that 4 tons of U.S. No. 3 lespedeza hay containing 18.3 percent of foreign material is equal to 5-tons of lespedeza hay of which one-third is foreign material.
The annual lespedezas are primarily pasture plants that afford good grazing m both temporary and permanent pastures. They make their best growth in the summer and provide excellent grazing during this period. This is often the time that lading and other white clover pastures are low in production and forage is needed.
The lespedezas start growth slowly in the spring and are of little value for early grazing. Iowa 6 is ready to graze a week ahead of Rowan, Summit, and Korean. Climax, Kobe, and Common provide progressively later mitral grazing. Grazing begins in June or July, depending on the location, and may continue until frost.
Maximum production from lespedeza is obtained if it is seeded in late winter or early spring in winter oats, winter wheat, rye, or barley. Winter grain may be grazed off completely, or the grazing animals may be removed in February ebruary or March in order to produce a grain crop. Lespedeza seeded in the grain crop is ready for grazing shortly after the grain is combined. The pastures can be renewed by disking the land in the fall after the lespedeza seed has matured, again drilling in the small grain, and allowing the lespedeza to volunteer. High rates of nitrogen fertilization of the small grain, however, may crowd out the lespedeza.
In the region to which lespedeza is adapted annual lespedeza may be in uded in any grass-legume mixture for permanent pasture. In areas where orchardgrass and Korean lespedeza are adapted, the seeded mixtures will give good, season-long grazing with [muted fertilizer applications. Annual lespedezas are often included in rotation pasture mixtures containing orchardgrass and lading clover to balance the mixture, and they may help to reduce bloat hazards.
The annual lespedezas can be maintained well with grasses that do not form a dense sod. Grasses that make a-heavy, matted growth, such as carpetgrass and bermudagrass, crowd out the lespedeza almost completely in the second season. Bermuda grass offers less competition than carpetgrass.) Such pastures usually must be plowed or otherwise renovated every third year if lespedeza is to be maintained. The use of phosphate with a lespedeza-grass mixture helps maintain the stand of lespedeza. In a perennial grass pasture, close grazing in spring is advised to assist the young lespedeza plants to become well established.
