Visual Reference Guide for Estimating Legume Content in Pastures

As the prices of nitrogen fertilizers rise, there is increased incentive to grow legumes for fixing nitrogen and improving forage quality in pastures and hay meadows. From a management perspective, it is important for managers to be able to estimate legume content in the stand. In research, clipping and hand separation is the standard method for measuring legume content. However, this method is impractical for farm managers. Another option is visual appraisal of the percentage surface covered by legumes. The objective of this photo reference guide is to provide a tool that pasture managers can use to assess legume content as it is related to legume cover. For each photo, the area within the quadrat was clipped and hand separated to determine the actual legume content. These photos represent a range of legume content across two ranges of forage mass. By using these photos to help estimate legume content, forage managers should be able to increase the accuracy of their visual estimate of legume content in pastures and aftermath meadows.