Annual Legume Tests of New Medics, Subterranean
Clovers, and other Trifolium Species

Fred Thomas

CERUS Consulting, Richvale CA

Introduction

In 1997 Kamprath Seed Co., LLC, Manteca, CA, hired CERUS Consulting to test a new generation of subterranean clovers, medics, balansa and Persian clovers and perennial hardinggrasses. It was an excellent year for testing as the warm rainfall into June allowed for late flowering. Following are the results and analyses of those tests.

Sites

Tehama, Bob Williams, Corning, Tehama County, CA. Elevation: 180 ft. Soil: Corning gravely loam, pH 5.7, very uniform, well rototilled seedbed.

Calaveras, Bill Spence, Angels Camp, Calaveras, CA. Elevation: 1850 ft. Soil: Clay loam with rocks. pH 5.5, sloping terrain with shallow topsoil and heavy weed pressure, seed bed was disked and raked.

Methodology

Both plots were laid out in a randomized 4 by 4-foot checkerboard design. Each plot had three replications and was seeded at 1½ times the normal seeding rate. All seed was inoculated with the appropriate inoculant except for balansa, Persian, and spike clovers, which were inoculated with a combination of subterranean and white clover inoculants.

The plots were sprayed with Roundup to kill germinated weeds, the seed was hand spread, and the plots tamped with a rake. The Tehama plot was planted on October 21, 1997 and the Calaveras plot planted on October 25, 1997. The first germinating rain was on Nov. 4, 1997. The plots were mowed in early March to simulate grazing.

A 1 square foot ring was cut from each 16 square foot area to represent the best of the 4 by 4-foot replication. The Tehama plot was harvested on May 19, 1998, and the Calaveras plot was harvested on May 23, 1998. One technician did all of the clipping to assure uniformity of method. The above ground material and seed pods were air dried in paper bags, separated into weeds and legume, and weighed.

Results

Table 1 shows the results of the Tehama trial. Nitro Persian clover, Bolta Balansa clover, Antas subclover, Polygraze medic, Argeles subclover, Spike clover, Mauguio medic, Prolific Persian clover, and Koala subclover produced the greatest biomass.

The ranking of the top yields in the Calaveras trial were similar to those of the Tehama trial, although different species of subterranean clovers did better in Calaveras compared to Tehama (Table 2). The varieties Nitro Persian clover, Bolta Balansa clover, Polygraze medic, Prolific Persian clover, Spike clover, Campeda subclover, Monte Frio rose clover, SCO 6668 medic, and Karridale subclover performed best in this trial.

Conclusion

The tests have demonstrated new legumes for potential use on annual range seedings in California as well as potential new species for cover crop plantings. Likewise, some of the standard subclovers and medics were consistently outproduced by the new Balansa and Persian clovers under diverse conditions.

 

Table 1. Dry weight of weeds and clover in the Tehama legume trial.

	Rep 1		Rep 2		Rep 3
Variety	Weeds	Clover	Weeds	Clover	Weeds	Clover	Average Clover	Projected Yield
	----------------------------------------oz./ft.2-------------------------------------							--lbs./acre--
Nitro Persian Clover	0.1	1.8	0.1	1.3	0.3	1.5	1.53	4175
Bolta Balansa Clover	0.2	1.3	0.2	0.9	0.2	1.6	1.27	3449
Antas Subclover	0.5	0.9	0.2	1.0	0.1	1.3	1.07	2904
Polygraze Medic	0.2	1.2	0.2	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.73	1997
Argeles Subclover	0.4	0.8	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.9	0.67	1815
Koala Subclover	0.3	0.6	0.4	0.6	0.2	0.8	0.67	1815
Mauguio Medic	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.8	0.2	0.7	0.67	1815
Prolific Persian Clover	0.2	0.8	0.4	0.7	0.2	0.5	0.67	1815
Campeda Subclover	0.2	0.7	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.6	0.63	1724
Limbara Subclover	0.3	0.8	0.3	0.5	0.3	0.6	0.63	1724
Riverine Subclover	0.1	0.6	0.4	0.6	0.2	0.7	0.63	1724
Spike Clover	0.4	0.7	0.6	1.0	0.4	0.2	0.63	1724
Gosse Subclover	0.4	0.5	0.3	0.7	0.3	0.5	0.57	1543
Karridale Subclover	0.6	0.3	0.3	0.6	0.3	0.7	0.53	1452
Denmark Subclover	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.50	1361
Trikkala Subclover	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.2	0.4	0.47	1271
Losa Subclover	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.6	0.7	0.1	0.37	998
York Subclover	0.2	0.5	0.5	0.2	0.7	0.3	0.33	908
SCO 6668 Medic	0.1	0.2	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.33	908
Dalkeith Subclover	0.3	0.2	0.6	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.17	454
Medicago Aculeata	0.3	0.1	0.5	0.2	0.6	0.2	0.17	454
Carpet Medic	0.7	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.7	0.1	0.13	363

 

Table 2. Dry weight of weeds and clover in the Calaveras legume trial.

	Rep 1		Rep 2		Rep 3
Variety	Weeds	Clover	Weeds	Clover	Weeds	Clover	Average Clover	Projected Yield
	----------------------------------------oz./ft.2-------------------------------------							--lbs./acre--
Nitro Persian Clover	0.2	0.9	0.7	1.4	1.0	2.1	1.47	3993
Bolta Balansa Clover	0.3	1.6	0.5	0.9	1.2	1.3	1.27	3449
Polygraze Medic	0.3	1.0	0.5	1.3	0.3	1.4	1.23	3358
Prolific Persian Clover	0.4	1.6	0.6	0.9	0.5	1.6	1.00	2723
Spike Clover	0.5	1.4	0.9	0.6	1.0	0.5	0.83	2269
Campeda Subclover	0.7	0.3	0.1	1.4	0.7	0.7	0.80	2178
Monte Frio Rose Clove	0.6	0.6	0.8	0.7	0.7	1.0	0.77	2087
Karridale Subclover	0.2	0.5	0.4	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.67	1815
SCO 6668 Medic	1.1	0.4	0.8	1.2	0.9	0.2	0.60	1634
Carpet Medic	0.7	1.0	1.2	0.2	0.9	0.5	0.57	1543
Mauguio Medic	0.7	0.7	1.0	0.5	1.0	0.4	0.53	1452
Argeles Subclover	0.8	0.3	1.1	0.4	1.0	0.6	0.43	1180
Antas Subclover	0.7	0.4	1.0	0.7	1.5	0.1	0.40	1089
Denmark Subclover	1.0	0.3	1.1	0.4	1.0	0.5	0.40	1089
Limbara Subclover	0.8	0.4	0.9	0.2	1.5	0.5	0.37	998
Riverine Subclover	0.7	0.3	1.0	0.5	1.2	0.3	0.37	998
Trikkala Subclover	1.0	0.3	1.3	0.5	0.9	0.2	0.33	908
Medicago Aculeata	0.6	0.3	0.6	0.3	0.7	0.4	0.33	908
Koala Subclover	0.5	0.3	1.7	0.3	1.3	0.3	0.30	817
Losa Subclover	1.1	0.2	0.5	0.5	1.1	0.2	0.30	817
Gosse Subclover	0.9	0.1	1.4	0.1	2.2	0.5	0.23	635
Dalkeith Subclover	0.7	0.1	1.0	0.4	0.7	0.1	0.20	545
York Subclover	0.9	0.1	0.7	0.2	1.0	0.2	0.17	454

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