A perennial question among grass farmers is what to seed in our pastures. Having started my career as a botanist, I ve always been intrigued by this question from an ecological perspective. In fact, much of what we do in crop husbandry involves attempts to simplify plant communities by eliminating or controlling weeds. In contrast, a pasture is a diverse plant community by nature, and ecological principles can provide some valuable insights for grass farmers.
Ecologists define complexity in terms of both individual species and functional groups.
The concept of combining two functional groups such as grasses and legumes is basic to pasture management. Because they occupy different niches in the plant community, functional groups use and contribute resources in different ways. These groups can complement or enhance each other s performance. A third functional group, broadleaves or forbs , usually occurs in pastures in the form of weeds, although chicory is one valuable example of that group. Within each of these functional groups are many species, each of which has a set of unique qualities that make it valuable for certain settings or management systems.