ARTICLES

MANAGING FORAGES ARTICLES

This is where we talk all things managing forages. Please feel free to leave a comment below!

Phacelia!! ❤️ Author’s photo.

Functional plant families are gaining more importance, and there is increasing emphasis on the importance of diversity for the soil’s benefit.

However, the current focus (as of this writing) is still on the number of species as opposed to the number of plant families. Focusing on species only limits the capacity to see how a mix of plant families brings greater diversity to the soil biology below ground.

For example, one can have a multitude of different species that fall only in one or two plant families. For example, a cover crop mixture of barley, oats, Japanese millet, sorghum, Persian clover, hairy vetch, crimson clover, cowpeas and soybeans covers only two plant families!

It’s similar to a custom-made perennial pasture mixture containing smooth bromegrass, timothy, intermediate wheatgrass, tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, alfalfa, sainfoin, and red clover: this mixture also only contains two plant families.

These two plant families are Graminaceae/Poaceae and Fabaceae, or the Grass and Legume families, respectively.

A third-popular plant family can be included to increase diversity, containing forage rape, mustard, collards, Daikon radish, Tillage radish, canola, rapeseed, and forage brassica. This is the Brassicaceae Family or the Mustard family.

However, what if you want to increase the diversity of a stand to more plant families, more than just three, yet you’re not sure where to begin?

A list of plant families and their encapsulated species is a great place to start.

Note that these lists only include the common species found in perennial pasture/hay and annual forage/cover crop mixes. They do not include weeds, native plants, or other exotic species.

Plant Family NamePlant Species
Poaceae (Grass Family)Corn
Barley (Little, Common)
Oatsfccccc
Wheat (Spring, Winter)
Rye (Spring, Fall)
Triticale (Spring, Winter)
Sorghum
Sorghum-Sudangrass
Sudangrass
Millets (Proso, Green, Pearl, Foxtail, etc.)
Annual Ryegrass
Perennial Ryegrass
Teff Grass
Festulolium
Smooth Bromegrass
Meadow Bromegrass
Hybrid Bromegrass
Timothy
Intermediate Wheatgrass
Pubescent Wheatgrass
Tall Wheatgrass
Green Wheatgrass
Crested Wheatgrass
Tall Fescue
Meadow Fescue
Kentucky Bluegrass
Creeping Red Fescue
Meadow Foxtail
Creeping Foxtail
Orchardgrass
Wild Rye (Dahurian, Russian, Canada)
Fabaceae (Legume Family)Crimson Clover
Berseem Clover
Persian Clover
Hairy Vetch
Chickling Vetch
Common Vetch
Crown Vetch
Cowpea
Chickpea
Lentil
Faba Bean
Dry Bean (Mung, Navy, Pinto)
Soybean
Peanut
Field Peas
Pigeonpea
Serradella
Subterranean Clover
Lupin
Sunnhemp
Lespedeza
Fenugreek
Alsike Clover
Red Clover
White Clover
Common Alfalfa
Siberian/Yellow-flowered Alfalfa
Sainfoin
Medic (Black, Water)
Purple Prairie Clover
Cicer Milkvetch
Bird’s-foot Trefoil
Sweetclover (Yellow/White)
Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)Mustard (White, Brown, Black, Field)
Canola
Rapeseed
Forage Collards
Forage Brassica
Forage Rape
Daikon Radish
Tillage Radish
False Flax
Radish
Kale
Turnips
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)Annual Sunflower
Safflower
Chicory
Chenopodiaceae (Beet Family)Sugar Beets
Common Beet
Chard
Quinoa
Spinach
Boraginaceae (Borage Family)Tansy-leaf Phacelia
Borage
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family)Common Buckwheat
Plantagaceae (Plantain Family)Narrow-leaved Plantain
Amaranthaceae (Amaranth Family)Amaranth (Red, Prince-of-Wales, Foxtail, Plainsman)
Linaceae (Flax Family)Common Blue Flax
Cucurbiteae (Pumpkin Family)Pumpkin
Goard
Squash (Acorn, Butternut, Spaghetti, etc.)
Apiaceae (Carrot Family)Carrot
Parsnip
Fennel
Caraway