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"AU Donel annin A new variety of low t. Sericeci Lespedeza
\a Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Lowell T.Frobish, DirectorW Auburn University University, Alabama Auburn Circular 302 April 1999

Beltsville 23-864 x Alabama 2193

Selfed

Selection for low tannins F2 x Serala

Selfed

Selection for low tannins F2 x Serala

Selfed

Selection for low tannins AU Donnelly

BREEDING METHOD OF AU DONNELLY

Information contained herein is available to all without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin.
FIRST PRINTING 4M APRIL

1990

AU DONNELLY: A NEW VARIETY OF LOW TANNIN SERICEA LESPEDEZA
J. A. MOSJIDIS, E. D. DONNELLY, C. S. HOVELAND, AND D. M. BALL 1

SERICEA LESPEDEZA [Lespedeza cuneata (Dumont) G. Don] is a popular nonbloating summer perennial legume grown for forage, soil conservation, and wildlife purposes in Alabama and the Southeast. Research aimed at improving the digestibility of sericea forage and its acceptability to grazing animals resulted in the development of the variety AU Lotan by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University. This variety, released in 1980, was the first variety low in tannins. A second variety of low-tannin sericea lespedeza developed by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station was released in 1987. This cultivar, named AU Donnelly, was developed by the backcross method and was originally tested as line 73-162-19 in Alabama and Georgia. Recurrent parents, see figure, were high-tannin Alabama 2193 and Serala. Beltsville 23-864, the source of the low-tannin gene, was crossed to Alabama 2193 and backcrossed twice to Serala. Selection took place at the Plant Breeding Unit, Tallassee, Alabama. AU Donnelly has an upright growth habit similar to Serala and AU Lotan. Tests in Alabama indicate that AU Donnelly has more early spring growth and is higher yielding throughout the season than AU Lotan, table 1. However, AU Lotan had slightly higher production than AU Donnelly in Piedmont soil at Auburn, table 2. AU Donnelly also was tested at four locations in Georgia between 1983 and 1985. In this work, AU Donnelly clearly was more productive than AU Lotan, table 3. Its successful production at Americus, Georgia, where the soil pH was 4.9, indicates that high production of AU Donnelly can be obtained on highly acidic soils. AU Donnelly has averaged 6 percent higher in digestible dry matter and 10 percent higher in crude protein than AU Lotan at the hay stage. Tannin
'Assistant Professor and Professor (retired) of Agronomy and Soils, former Professor of Agronomy and Soils (now Professor of Agronomy, University of Georgia), and Extension Agronomist-Pastures.

TABLE 1. MEAN DRY FORAGE YIELD PER ACRE OF EACH CUTTING AND TOTAL FORAGE YIELD OF SERICEA LESPEDEZAS GROWN IN 10 ENVIRONMENTS IN ALABAMA

Yield of cuttings First entry Lb. 2,456 2,233 3,126 Other cuttings Lb. 4,054 3,751 4,983 Average total yield Lb. 6,510 5,992 8,108

AU Donnelly ............. AU Lotan ................ Serala, high tannin .........

TABLE 2. TOTAL DRY FORAGE YIELD OF SERICEA LESPEDEZAS GROWN AT THREE LOCATIONS IN ALABAMA

Location and year AU Donnelly Lb. Brewton 1983 1984 1985 1986 .................. .................. .................. .................. 8,204 8,182 8,188 4,860

Dry forage per acre AU Lotan Lb. 6,559 6,724 7,054 4,866 Serala (high tannin) Lb. 10,017 11,291 12,077 6,849

Auburn 1984 ................. 1985 .................. 1986 ..... Winfield 1983 .................. 1984 .................. 1986 ..................

....

5,771 6,675 3,578

6,594 7,056 4,038

6,742 7,539 4,060

6,275 6,197 7,164

4,947 5,422 6,641

6,498 7,123 8,894

TABLE 3. THREE-YEAR AVERAGE FORAGE YIELD OF SERICEA LESPEDEZAS GROWN AT FOUR LOCATIONS IN GEORGIA, 1983-85

Yield per acre Entry Blairsville Lb. AU Donnelly ........ 2,820 2,630 AU Lotan ........... 5,040 Serala .............. Athens Lb. 7,680 6,180 7,810 Eatonton Lb. 4,550 4,030 5,780 Americus Lb. 6,080 4,950 7,690

content, measured by the method of Rosenblatt and Peluso (2), is about the same in AU Donnelly as in AU Lotan. AU Donnelly is tolerant to Rhizoctonia spp. However, it can be damaged by late season attacks of these fungi in areas of high humidity, such as southern Alabama. AU Donnelly is well adapted to well drained soils in Alabama and Georgia and should perform well in other areas where sericea lespedeza is normally grown. Its uses are the same as for any sericea lespedeza. However, grazing animals prefer low-tannin sericeas (1). In a grazing trial with sheep, it was found that about 80 percent of the low-tannin variety was consumed by sheep, while only up to 30 percent of the forage from the high-tannin varieties was consumed (5). These results suggest that low-tannin varieties offer advantages when used for grazing. However, since low tannin varieties are more palatable and animal intake of them is greater, the likelihood of overgrazing is also greater. Recent experiments indicate that field-dried sericea forage undergoes a great reduction in analyzable tannins. Thus, since the intake and quality of a high tannin sericea improves when cut for hay (4), the primary advantage of low tannin cultivars is in grazing rather than hay situations. To date, no animal performance data have been obtained with AU Donnelly. However, work done with yearling beef steers grazing a pasture of AU Lotan indicates that average daily gains of 1.65-1.85 pounds and gains per acre of 276-300 pounds can be obtained by cattle grazing low-tannin sericea cultivars (3). It is expected that similar gains would be obtained with AU Donnelly. Breeder seed of AU Donnelly will be maintained by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. Limited amounts of certified seed should be available in 1990.

LITERATURE CITED (1) DONNELLY, E.D. 1954. Some Factors That Affect Palatability in Sericea Lespedeza, L. cuneata. Agron. J. 51:71-73. (2) ROSENBLATT M. and J. V. PELUSO. 1941. Determination of Tannins by Photocolorimeter. J. Assoc. Off. Agric. Chem. 24:170-181. (3) SCHMIDT, S.P., C.S. HOVELAND, J.A. McGUIRE, and R.A. MOORE. 1987. Beef Steer Performance on Cimarron Alfalfa and Serala and AU Lotan Sericea Lespedeza Pastures. Ala. Agr. Exp. Sta. Cir. 288.

(4) TERRILL, T.H., W.R. WINDHAM, C.S. HOVELAND, and H.E.
AMOS. 1989. Forage Preservation Method Influences on Tannin Concentration, Intake, Digestibility of Sericea Lespedeza by Sheep. Agron. J. 81:435-439. (5) WOLF, D.D. and D.C. COVE. 1987. Grazing Preference for Low Tannin Sericea Lespedeza. Forage and Grassland Conference pp. 216-219, March 2-5, 1987, Springfield, Ill.

Alabama's Agricultural Experiment Station System AUBURN UNIVERSITY With an agricultural research unit in every major soil area, Auburn University serves the needs of field crop, livestock, forestry, and horticultural producers in each region in Alabama. Every citizen of the State has a stake in this research program, since any advantage from new and more economical ways of producing and handling farm products directly benefits the consuming public. Research Unit Identification Main Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn. E. V. Smith Research Center, Shorter.

20

1. Tennessee Valley Substation, Belle Mina.
2. Sand Mountain Substation, Crossville. 3. North Alabama Horticulture Substation, Cullman. 4. Upper Coastal Plain Substation, Winfield. 5. Forestry Unit, Fayette County. 6. Chilton Area Horticulture Substation, Clanton. 7. Forestry Unit, Coosa County. 8. Piedmont Substation, Camp Hill. 9. Plant Breeding Unit, Tallassee.

10. Forestry Unit, Autauga County.
11. Prattville Experiment Field, Prattville.

12. Black Belt Substation, Marion Junction. 13. The Turnipseed-Ikenberry Place, Union Springs. 14. Lower Coastal Plain Substation, Camden. 15. Forestry Unit, Barbour County. 16. Monroeville Experiment Field, Monroeville. 17. Wiregrass Substation, Headland. 18. Brewton Experiment Field, Brewton. 19. Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center, Covington and Escambia counties. 20. Ornamental Horticulture Substation, Spring Hill. 21. Gulf Coast Substation, Fairhope.