WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL OF SUBSTITUTING LEGUMES FOR SYNTHETIC NITROGEN IN WARM SEASON PERENNIAL GRASSES USED FOR STOCKER CATTLE GRAZING?

Stocker cattle grazing warm season perennial grasses is an important economic activity in the southern Great Plains. Substantial increases in the price of nitrogen fertilizer is negatively affecting forage producers’ profitability. Two alternative nitrogen management systems that use annual and perennial legumes have been developed for bermudagrass pastures. The goal of the study is to determine if the legumes systems are more profitable than the conventional practice of applying synthetic sources of nitrogen. Enterprise budgeting techniques were employed to compare the economics of the legume systems relative to the common practice. Results of the two-year grazing study show that the legume systems could not compete economically with the common practice. The perennial legume system was most sensitive to the expected life of the stand and the number of grazing days