Pasture Species Selection

Select species that will produce lots of high quality feed. Orchard grass, Smooth Brome, and Alfalfa are good ones. Avoid Red Clover because it can cause a foaming mouth. Red clover is not really dangerous, just unsightly. Alsike Clover is dangerous and must not be used. A high quality cultivar of Ladino Clover (a white clover) is not a bad choice. to include in the mix. Timothy is a favorite of horse growers and is fine to include in the mix. Kentucky bluegrass is a good food and beautiful pasture, but keep in mind that it is not a high production forage so you will need more land to produce a high quantity of forage. Kentucky bluegrass is easily overgrazed. Tall Fescue is good in high traffic areas because of its toughness, but it is not really a high quality forage alone. It is not bad with alfalfa. If you have enough land, you can defer grazing of Fescue till winter and have some good winter pasture.