Annual cool‐season legumes for forage production in mild winter areas

Abstract

The forage potential of several annual winter legumes – crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), faba beans (Vicia faba L.), forage peas (Pisum sativum L.), serradella (Ornithopus sativus Brot.) and vetches (Vicia sativa L. and Vicia villosa Roth.) – was evaluated over two growing seasons in the wet and mild winter areas of Galicia (north‐west Spain) with a moderately acid soil, at the two normal harvesting dates in the region, April and May.The results indicate that, in April, serradella and crimson clover (in the warmer location), can produce dry‐matter (DM) yields of 4–5 t ha−1, which is similar to other winter forages in the same area, with an average growing season of 212–237 d, corresponding to about 339–420 accumulated degree–days above 10°C (GDD10). In May, mainly in the warmer location, fava beans, peas and vetches yielded on average 4·7–8·5 t ha−1 DM, with an average growing season of 166–206 d but with only 233–278 GDD10 units. Faba bean, with an average of 8·5 t ha−1 DM in the May harvest, was the highest producing forage legume. The results also suggest that some cool‐season legumes could fit into double‐cropping systems based on summer crops, such as maize, because of their forage yields and nutritive value. However, in order to produce consistent DM yields, the date of sowing is crucial; they must either be sown much earlier than the dates in this study or the harvests must be delayed until the end of April.