Establishment and Management Chris Agee, Forage Specialist Kerr Center Publ. Natural Soil Fertility Aid Worldwide there are some 19,000 leguminous species ranging from giant tropical trees and woody vines to annual and perennial shrubs and herbs. Legumes are valued for timber, dyes, resins, gums, insecticides, medicines, and animal and human feed. Farmers used legumes as a soil fertility aid for thousands of years. This particular plant family developed a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen- harvesting bacteria that takes advantage of the unlimited supply of nitrogen in the earth's atmosphere.
Legumes are more than just an efficient influx of nitrogen into the nutrient cycle of the pasture.
When grown with a companion grass, legumes are a source of high-quality forage capable of increasing animal productivity, animal gain per day, and animal gain per acre and of extending the grazing season. Legumes added to a tall fescue paddock reduce fescue toxicosis. They are an excellent tool for the grazing manager to increase pasture productivity by promoting diversity. Site Preparation Take a soil sample. Instructions are available from the Kerr Center or your local Extension office.