Forage production and steer performance in fertilized smooth bromegrass and smooth bromegrass–legume pastures

Abstract Smooth bromegrass is a commonly used cool‐season pasture grass that responds favorably to annual spring fertilization, but annual fertilizer applications require annual inputs of both time and expense. This study was conducted to determine if interseeding legumes into established smooth bromegrass pasture is a viable alternative to spring fertilization. Steers (Bos taurus) were rotationally grazed in either fertilized smooth bromegrass pastures or smooth bromegrass pastures interseeded with legumes. Data were collected on forage production, forage available at the beginning of each grazing rotation, steer weight gain, and the number of grazing days. Total forage production for the growing season was not different between the pasture types, but fertilized pasture had greater available forage early in the growing season and interseeded pasture had greater forage production late in the growing season. Season‐long average daily gain of steers was not different between pasture types, but daily gains were greater in interseeded pasture late in the growing season and may be linked to proportionally greater abundance of legumes late in the season. Beef production ac–1 was higher in interseeded pastures, largely due to increased days of grazing. We found that interseeding legumes into established pasture can be a viable alternative to annual spring fertilization and may outperform fertilized pasture depending on the metric and growing conditions.