# Legumes for Resource Conservation Programs 

Legumes play a major role in production agriculture and resource
conservation. Legumes can serve to enhance conservation tillage systems,
improve soil quality, reduce nitrogen requirements on row crop and
pasture land, enhance wildlife habitat, enhance pasture and hay land
quality and reduce soil erosion in cropland and critical areas.

![Picture: 'AU Sunrise' crimson
clover.](media/image3.jpeg){width="2.75in"
height="2.1291338582677164in"}Conservation tillage and nitrogen
management have enormous implications for farm energy conservation.
Recent increases in fuel prices have not only increased the cost of
tillage, but also the price of fertilizers, especially nitrogen
fertilizers. Legumes can provide part of the nitrogen needs for row
crops as well as pasture and hay land. In the United States, nitrogen
fertilizer accounts for nearly 25% of a farm energy budget.

![Picture of diverse planting of grasses and
legumes.](media/image4.wmf){width="2.707086614173228in"
height="1.9755905511811023in"}In parts of the United States, legumes are
planted with grasses to improve livestock performance and extend the
grazing season.

Perennial native legumes are included in native mixtures to increase
species diversity, restore range condition and enhance wildlife habitat.
In a perennial grass and legume mixture, legumes not only supply their
own nitrogen, but they also supply approximately one third of the
nitrogen needs of the grasses growing with them. Other herbaceous
legumes are used in critical area planting mixtures to revegetate
disturbed sites such as roadsides and surface mined lands.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Plant Materials Program
and cooperating agencies are major contributors of many legume
selections that are planted on private and public lands for the
conservation of natural resources. Of the 73 legumes cooperatively
released through the Plant Materials Program, 44% are plants native to
North America and 56% are from introduced and naturalized sources.

In addition to conservation plant releases, the Plant Materials Program
has active legume studies underway that focus on developing the cultural
techniques necessary to ensure successful establishment of the legume
species we are working with.

Legumes released by the plant materials program can be categorized under
four major uses: conservation tillage; wildlife habitat; pasture, hay
and rangeland; and disturbed site rehabilitation.

![Picture: 'Quail haven' reseeding soybean
](media/image5.jpeg){width="2.8751968503937007in" height="2.25in"}

![Picture: 'Kaneb' purple prairie clover
](media/image6.jpeg){width="2.8645669291338582in"
height="2.1874015748031495in"}

**Legumes to address resource conservation concerns:**

***Conservation Tillage, Green Manure and***

***Cover Crops***

-   'Americus' hairy vetch

-   'AU Ground Cover' caley pea

-   'AU Sunrise' crimson clover

-   'AU' Early Cover' Hairy vetch

***Wildlife Habitat***

-   'Quail haven' reseeding soybean

-   'Kanoka' roundhead lespedeza

-   Alexander germplasm showy ticktrefoil

-   'Timp' Utah sweetvetch

***Pasture, Hay and Rangeland***

-   'Meechee' arrowleaf clover

-   'Overton R18' rose clover

-   'Kaneb' purple prairie clover

-   Antelope Germplasm white prairie clover

-   'Lutana' cicer milkvetch

-   sainfoin

-   alfalfa

***Critical Area Planting***

-   'Crockett' herbaceous mimosa

-   Hondo Germplasm velvet bundleflower

-   'Comanche' partridge pea

-   'Sabine' Illinois bundleflower