Yield, quality, and composition data were taken from 1995 to 1997. All 5 varieties successfully established in the 3 seedbeds and have persisted over 4 growing seasons. Findings from this study indicate that birdsfoot trefoil can be successfully interseeded into mountain meadows. Both yield and quality of hay can be increased without environmental risks associated with nitrogen fertilization. However, this N is unavailable for plant uptake since it is in a fixed organic form and producers must apply commercial fertilizer to obtain acceptable hay yields.
Some producers also use aeration as a means of renovating meadows.
The objective of this study was to evaluate methods of minimum tillage in conjunction with N fertilization as a means of promoting OM decomposition and N mineralization. After 3 years, tillage disturbances in meadows with soils high in OM did not increase forage yields. The severity of the decrease was directly related to the degree of soil disturbance. Adding N tended to partially offset the negative effects of the tillage treatments. Tillage disturbances did not affect crude protein content or digestibility of the hay.