Diversified forages boost animal, soil, & economic health
Updated: Sep 28
By: Josh and Tara Morris, 312 Ranch, Slaughter, LA
Back in January of 2024, I had the opportunity to go on an American Forage and Grasslands Council (AFGC) trip, visit some ryegrass test plots planted by Auburn University. My main takeaway from that trip was that there are SO MANY varieties of ryegrass.
When visiting the test plots, on January 10, we were asked to put a flag on the grass plot that we thought was most productive. The demonstrators then explained that although that grass plot looked best in January specifically, other varieties would thrive more at different times of the growing season. They explained that ryegrass comes in early, mid, and late varieties.
It made me wonder which “season” our one variety of ryegrass back home was hitting each year. And, it gave me an idea for some adjustments back on our farm, based on the desire for longevity. We know that diversity is a ticket to success in grazing.
Ever since seeing that demonstration, on our farm, we have added three varieties into our mix: an early, a mid, and a late variety.
Ed Twidwell, forage specialist with LSU AgCenter, helped us identify varieties tested in Louisiana that would be a good fit for these. Now we make sure to mix bags of three different types of ryegrass, instead of just one.
It seemed that the research showed that the triploid and diploid varieties had differing yields, so we considered the diploid/triploid differences less than the variety of maturity.
We are coming into our third year of this seed diversity, and are happy with the longer growing season we are getting with our ryegrass. For two years, we’ve drilled oats and some clover into the mix. This year, we plan to add some cereal rye, white, and red (not crimson) clovers, bringing our mix up to a 7-way mix. I’m sure as we learn more, we will add more varieties.
To add to the diversity conversation, I once observed one of our mama cows eating the tops off perilla mint, a known toxic plant. I was horrified and certain that the following day I would find a dead cow. I called a mentor farmer to ask about my concerns, and he reassured me that as long as there are plenty of other things to eat in the pasture, my cow would not die, but rather somehow have more nutrients. He was right — she survived, and now, I worry tremendously less about toxic plants as long as they make up less than about five percent of the pasture forage. And I wonder, what was in the perilla mint seeds that my cow enjoyed so much?
In my travels to other farms across the Southeast US, I have noticed that many of the fattest and healthiest low-to-no input cows are rotationally grazed on the most diverse, shaggy, somewhat “weedy” pastures. This is not to be confused with pastures that are overgrazed and weedy — there’s a significant difference. I’m talking about the Louisiana pastures that are typically grown taller than 8” before grazing, with over 10 species of plants in the paddocks. There seems to be a direct observable relationship between diversity and animal health.
This led me to a search for research, and here are some interesting findings. First, this article from Science Direct discussed how diverse plants help animals combat a multitude of metabolic needs.
"There is sound evidence that ruminants manage these challenges [metabolic needs such as rumen process balancing, protein and fatty acid protection, toxin inhibition, and curation of parasitic diseases] by making selective choices from arrays of different plants with different contents of nutrients and phytochemicals..... "
Second, an article from Noble Research Institute laid out soil health and economic reasons why diversity in fall forages benefits your farm.
“When you identify a multi-species seed mix to increase your diversity, you start to get a synergistic effect underground in the root systems where everything gets a benefit... By selecting a seed mix as opposed to a single species, ranchers can hedge their risk."
Lastly, a Mississippi State expert explains in this article that pasture diversity also helps wildlife.
"Research has shown that as we increase the diversity of plant species (called biodiversity) in a pasture, we generally see the diversity of other species increase, too. This increase in biodiversity includes everything from soil organisms and insects to songbirds and small mammals like rabbits and chipmunks."
Whatever your reasoning, give your "ryegrass" planting a shake of diversity in species this year and see what happens! Add in some clover, a different variety of ryegrass, some turnips or radishes, clovers, whatever you can afford and prefer.
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