Effect of components ratios and management of an annual ryegrass/burr medic mixture on the forage quality.

A trial was carried out to evaluate the benefits of grass-legume mixtures in terms of sward establishment, dry matter yield, self-reseeding ability and unsown species control. In this paper we present the aspects related with the forage quality. Two annual self-reseeding species coming from Sardinian candivars Lolium rigidum Gaudin NURRA (L) and Medicago polymorpha Anglona (P) were used. The trial was carried out in Sardinia (Italy) comparing two pure stands (L100P0 and L0P100) and three mixtures (L75P25, L50P50 and L25P75), where 100 represented the standard dense sowing rate of each component in pure stand. Two different cutting treatments were compared:two cuts vs three cuts. Crude protein, NDF and ADF of the different treatments were determined. Mixture s assure a more seasonally-balanced quality of forage respect to the pure stands; two cuts achieve a higher CP content. Results are important for defining suitable strategies at farm level, in terms of grazing techniques