PLANT PERSISTENCE AND ANIMAL PERFORMANCE FOR CONTINUOUSLY STOCKED ALFALFA PASTURES AT 3 FORAGE ALLOWANCES

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) has nat been well suited for pasture beca use of its Intolerance to grazing. 'Alfagraze', a cultivar bred for gr azing tolerance, offers potential to use alfalfa as pasture. A 3-yr gr azing study was initiated in central Georgia ta investigate persistenc e and animal performance of 'Apollo' and Alfagraze alfalfa at low, med ium, and high forage allowance (FA), The FA for this study were target ed at 1000, 2000, and 3000 lb dry matter (DM)/1100 lb animal unit for low, medium, and high FA, respectively. Low FA reduced stand of both c ultivars (P < 0.05) after only 1 yr (low = 6.8, medium = 8.2, high = 8 .8 plants/sq ft). After 2 yr, high FA paddocks averaged 8.6 plants/sq ft, while medium and low FA bad decreased to 5.4 and 4.4 plants/sq ft, respectively, The difference in grazing tolerance between cultivars b ecame evident after 2 yr of grazing, when, averaged across FA, Alfagra ze had 7.3 plants/sq ft and Apollo had 5.0 plants/sq ft. After an addi tional year of continuous stocking, Alfagraze had approximately 150% m ore plants than Apollo, Persistence differences between cultivars were most evident at low FA. After 2 yr of flow FA, Alfagraze had 5.5 and Apollo had 3.3 plants/sq ft. After 3 yr, Alfagraze maintained stands o f 5.5 plants/sq ft, while Apollo stands decreased to 1.5 plants/sq ft. Lower FA resulted in greater bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers .] encroachment. Lower FA decreased average daisy gain (ADG) in yr 1, At low FA, improved persistence of Alfagraze resulted in 0.45 lb/d hig her ADG than Apollo in yr 2. The better grazing-tolerance of Alfagraze alfalfa resulted in longer stand persistence and better animal perfor mance.