Variability in nutritive value allows better selection of perennial pasture legumes

Abstract

The major criteria for selection of improved forage varieties for ruminants have been to optimize yield and digestibility along with the need to minimise disease susceptibility and maintain other agronomic traits (Beever 1993). Relatively little regard has been given to the deliberate selection and breeding of plants for other components of feeding value for ruminants. Feed quality (digestibility, protein and fibre content) and presence of anti-nutritional factors are major determinants of animal performance and grazing preference. It is important to ensure that new releases of pasture legumes have desirable feed qualities and do not contain compounds that cause illness or taint animal products, eg. coumerins, tannins and cyanogens. This study aims to characterise a diverse range of alternative perennial pasture legumes for quality and anti-nutritional characters and to demonstrate the variation that exists within and between these plant species with a view for exploitation through selection and breeding.