This study reports on the herbage production and quality of a range of pasture legume species during spring, at three sites with moderate to strongly acidic soils in southern NSW, Australia. These data have enabled prediction of livestock production when legumes are conserved as silage or hay. Total herbage production, its timing and quality differed significantly between species, which generally was not predicted by the traditional metric of time to flowering. Trifolium incarnatum L., T. michelianum L., Biserrula pelecinus L., Ornithopus sativus Brot. and Hedysarum coronarium L. all maintained growth rates exceeding 200 kg DM/ha/d for 4 weeks over spring, while T. vesiculosum Savi. maintained this for 6 weeks, with a peak growth rate of 561 kg DM/ha/d. Herbage quality of all species declined over time and was greatest in species with a rapid increase in stem‐to‐leaf ratio or with weak stems, resulting in lodging. The modelling inferred that maximizing potential livestock production via fodder conservation required earlier cutting. Only the indeterminate species B. pelecinus and Ornithopus spp. increased potential liveweight gain per hectare through delayed harvesting from (probable) silage to hay‐making time.

中文翻译：

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整个春季，牧草豆类在牧草生产和品质上都存在差异，影响了它们在饲料保护和动物生产中的潜在作用

这项研究报告了春季在澳大利亚新南威尔士州南部三个中等至强酸性土壤中的牧草产量和品质。这些数据可以预测将豆类保存为青贮饲料或干草时的牲畜产量。不同草种的总牧草产量，时间和品质差异很大，通常传统的开花时间无法预测。绛三叶L.，T. michelianum L.，Biserrula pelecinus L.，Ornithopus红花BROT。春季的4周内，Hyedsarum coronarium L.和Hedysarum coronarium L.的生长速率均保持在200 kg DM / ha / d以上。萨维 维持了6周，峰值生长速率为561 kg DM / ha / d。所有物种的草本质量随时间下降，在茎叶比快速增加或茎弱的物种中表现最好，从而导致倒伏。该模型推断，通过养护饲料来最大程度地提高牲畜产量，需要尽早切割。仅不确定的物种B. pelecinus和Ornithopus spp。通过从（可能的）青贮饲料到干草制作时间的延迟收获，每公顷潜在的活体重增加。