Sanfoins Future in Wyoming :: Sanfoin Wyoming Farming Environment Essays

Sanfoin's Future in Wyoming Sainfoin, Onobrychis viciifolia is a perennial forage legume that is native to Mediterranean regions around the Black and Caspain Seas and north into Russia. Sainfoin leaves are oddly pinnate with 13-21 leaflets per leaf and produce an erect flower pink to rose in color. Sainfoin has been introduced into many other countries including Iran, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Soviet Union, Poland, Norway and the United Kingdom. It is known that sainfoin has been grown in Europe for the past 450 years. New varieties of sainfoin such as ‘Eski’, ‘Remont’, ‘Renumex’, ‘Melrose’, and ‘Nova’ have been developed and introduced into the United States and Canada starting in the 1950s. (Gray, 2004, p. 2) Sainfoin is a non-bloating legume that has nitrogen fixation capabilities and can be used in a forage mixture. Sainfoin also is extremely palatable and nutritious for all classes of livestock and wildlife. Livestock actually prefer sainfoin even when other plants species are readily available. Other uses include wildlife habitat restoration, wildlife food plots or as a legume component in the conservation reserve program (CRP). Sainfoin is often compared to alfalfa based on its nitrogen fixation, forage capabilities, and nutritional value. The main advantages of sainfoin are the earlier maturation rate, non-bloating qualities, resistance to the alfalfa weevil and higher digestible nutrients when compared to alfalfa. Another important advantage over alfalfa is that sainfoin is resistant to the root rot phase. The earlier maturation allows for earlier spring forage for grazing and hay cutting which is beneficial to livestock operations (Gray, 2004, p. 2). Sainfoin is primarily used as a hay or pasture crop and has many characteristics beneficial to farming and ranching operations in the western states such as Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Montana and New Mexico where annual precipitation in generally low. Sainfoin is very drought resistant and does better in cold soils than alfalfa (Stannard, M). It is also shown that sainfoin thrives in soils with a pH 7.0 to 8.0 that are too dry for clover and alfalfa. Sainfoin is longer lived in dryland applications opposed to irrigated land but generally needs re-seeding every five to six years. Another interesting positive side-affect about sainfoin is the relationship it shares with honey and leaf cutting bees. The large pink flower attracts these insects and on top of producing large amounts of high quality honey, the sainfoin showed increased seed production when the bees were present.