Are you thinking about seeding a new hay or pasture field in the next few years? If so, consider trying something new and adding sainfoin into the mix.
“Sainfoin is a cool-season, perennial forage legume,” says Stephanie Kosinski, forage specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “It was introduced to North America from Europe and parts of Russia and Asia. It develops a deep, branched taproot and numerous fine lateral roots. It is a non-bloat legume that is suitable for mixtures with alfalfa or cool-season grasses, such as crested wheatgrass, russian wild rye and western wheatgrass. Sainfoin has good longevity under optimal growing and management conditions.”
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Sainfoin is best adapted to the brown and dark-brown soil zones, and the irrigated areas of southern Alberta. It favours well-drained, light- and medium-textured soils with good water-holding capacity. It has poor tolerance of acidity and salinity, but handles those soil conditions better than alfalfa. It has good tolerance of alkalinity and drought. Sainfoin grows well in areas that receive 300 mm or more of precipitation in a year. However, it is sensitive to flooding, wet soils and high water tables.
“Sainfoin is quite large seeded compared to the other forage legumes, but even with its large seed size, it still needs to be seeded shallow, no more than three-quarters inch (two cm) deep,” says Kosinski. “Be sure to inoculate sainfoin with the correct rhizobia species before seeding to facilitate nodulation. It germinates well, but can establish slowly. In general, spring-seeded sainfoin stands are well established by the fall. There may be some hard seed, but you generally don’t need to scarify seed before seeding. It has been suggested that sainfoin is seeded separately and at a right angle to other forages if in a mixture. If seeding sainfoin alone, it is not recommended to use a companion or cover crop.”
The seeding rate of sainfoin should be based on the pure live seed (PLS). Suggested seeding densities are 40-60 seeds/metre of row (12-18 seeds/foot of row) and 175-250 seeds/m2 (16-23 seeds/ft.2). The final bulk seeding rate will vary with row spacing, seed quality and seed amendments. Seeding rate can be calculated using the forage seed mix calculator found on Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s website.
“Sainfoin grows upright, making it easy to harvest as hay,” says Kosinski. “It also has excellent leaf retention. If cut at 50 to 100 per cent flowering, you will maximize yields. It can work in either a two-cut system under irrigation or a one-cut system in drier areas. Sainfoin has a higher moisture content than alfalfa, but still cures well for hay. It yields about 80 to 90 per cent of alfalfa hay.
Rotational grazing
If considering sainfoin for pasture, it is best suited to a rotational grazing system. It can be grazed midsummer or stockpiled and grazed in the fall. You will have maximum yield when sainfoin is grazed at 50 to 100 per cent bloom, but you will get better regrowth when it is grazed in the vegetative stage. Sainfoin relies on its residual leaf material and stem buds to support new growth more than alfalfa does. This means it is important to leave residual sainfoin after each grazing period. Newer varieties, such as Mountainview have improved regrowth compared to older varieties.
Sainfoin has good leaf retention and frost tolerance, making it ideal for fall grazing. Be sure to rest it four to six weeks before a killing frost in order to allow the plants enough time to build up their carbohydrate reserves to survive the winter. It is a good management practice to allow sainfoin plants to reseed themselves every few years. This helps maintain its presence in the stand.
Recent studies conducted in Alberta and Saskatchewan have looked at the potential of including new sainfoin varieties in alfalfa pastures for grazing. They have found that these new varieties are more competitive and have improved regrowth rates compared to some older varieties. These studies have also shown that including 20 to 30 per cent sainfoin in an alfalfa pasture significantly lowers, and in certain cases eliminates, the risk of bloat.
“Sainfoin is highly palatable, with cattle often selecting it over alfalfa when grazing,” says Kosinski. “Research has shown that it has lower acid detergent fibre and neutral detergent fibre levels than alfalfa, along with increased digestibility of its stems.”
Sainfoin is a non-bloating legume due to the presence of condensed tannins. These tannins bind to protein in feed, allowing it to be digested as bypass protein. This avoids the problem of large amounts of protein being quickly digested in the rumen, which can lead to bloat.
