Soil-Fertility Principles for Warm-Season Perennial Forages and Sustainable Pasture Production

Abstract

Pasture fertilization plays a vital role in the biological and economic successes of forage-based livestock systems. Sustainability of productive, warm-season perennial forage systems depends, to a major extent, on management–utilization strategies and pasture fertilization. As soil nutrient reserves are exhausted, forage production and nutritive value are reduced proportionally. Despite the vast scientific literature suggesting that warm-season forage crops can respond favorably to high levels of N fertilization, the increasing costs of commercial fertilizers and environmental concerns have prompted the need to reexamine optimum-efficient fertilizer levels, sources, and methods of application that can sustain economic pasture production. Because the fate of fertilizers applied to grassland systems is extremely complex and is affected by several factors, including application rate and timing, fertilizer source, and soil and environmental characteristics, it is critical to implement management strategies for soil fertility that integrate all the factors that affect fertilizer efficiency, sustainable forage production, and protection of natural resources. The primary objective of this review paper is to present some of the basic principles of soil-fertility management for warm-season perennial forages and fertilization strategies for sustainable pasture production.