Abstract Warm‐season annual (WSA) forages enhance the summer forage supply in subtropical livestock systems. The objective of this study was to determine forage mass (FM), nutritive value, nitrogen (N) yield, and botanical composition in 12 forage mixtures managed under two harvest strategies (simulated grazing vs. baleage). A randomized complete block design with a split‐plot arrangement and three replications was used. Treatments consisted of four grasses: brown‐top millet ( Urochloa ramosa L.; BM), Japanese millet ( Echinochloa esculenta L.; JM), pearl millet ( Pennisetum glaucum L.; PM), and sorghum–sudangrass Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench × S. sudanense (Piper) Stapf.; SS; four legumes: cowpea Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.; CW, hairy indigo ( Indigofera hirsuta L.; HI), sunn hemp ( Crotalaria juncea L.; SH), and soybean Glycine max (L.) Merr.; SD; and four mixtures: PM+SH, PM+SH+CW, SS+SH+CW, and Ray's Crazy Mix (RM). Under the simulated grazing and baleage strategies, treatments were harvested every 30 and 90 days, respectively. There was a forage system × harvest strategy interaction for FM and N yield ( p < .05). Greater FM was obtained for JM, SH, and RM under the baleage strategy than simulated grazing (11,908, 14,289, and 18,669 vs. 5565, 10,344, and 9476 lb dry matter ac −1 , respectively). Legumes and mixtures had greater crude protein concentrations (up to 17%) and lower neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber concentrations, ranging from 20% to 45% and 15% to 30%, respectively. Weed percentage exceeded 65% in HI and SD but was <26% in SS‐, BM‐, and PM‐based mixtures. Results show that mixtures and monocultures managed under proper harvest strategies improve productivity, nutritive value, and support weed suppression in WSA low‐input systems.
García et al. (Tue,) studied this question.