Year-of-Establishment Utilization Options and Second-Year Grazing Management Effects On Strip-Planted Rhizoma Peanut in Bahiagrass Pastures.

Legumes are an alternative to fertilizer N for low-input, forage-livestock systems. Due to its capacity to spread laterally and demonstrated long-term persistence under grazing, rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.; RP) is an ideal candidate for sustainable forage-livestock systems in the southeastern USA. Nevertheless, high costs associated with vegetative propagation, management for weeds and water, and taking land out of production for one or more growing seasons to allow adequate establishment have limited the use of RP to production of high-quality hay for dairy and equine rations, where such management may be affordable. Lower-cost establishment practices are needed if RP is to be used economically in grazed pastures. Research was conducted in Gainesville, FL to evaluate the interaction of year-of-establishment utilization options and second-year grazing management on establishment of RP when strip-planted in bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flügge) pastures. Objectives were to identify the degree to which defoliation management affects RP cover and frequency during the year of and year after establishment. During the establishment year, continuous and rotational stocking severely reduced RP cover (2 and 3%, respectively) and frequency (17 and 19%, respectively) compared to treatments where the pasture was managed for hay production (17% cover and 49% frequency). During the year after establishment, RP canopy cover and frequency were greatest for rotationally stocked pastures with a grazing frequency of 42 d and that had not been grazed during the year of establishment (11.5 and 62%, respectively). Plots that were continuously stocked or grazed every 28 d during both years had only 3% RP cover and 26% frequency in the second year. Data show that hay production during the year of establishment of strip-planted RP in existing bahiagrass is a viable option and is best followed by rotational stocking with long regrowth periods during the year after establishment.