North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 01:28 PM 3/31/2009, Naomi wrote:
> I apologize .. OT
> again.  I have been doing some reading about the Environmental and
> Nutritional benefits of  low lignin and high tannin forages as feed
> for ruminants.  I will be doing a replanting of my alfalfa field
> next year.  Does anyone know When  If Where From whom ..seed
> will be
> available?

Naomi,
What species, in particular, are you looking for?

Down here in the Southeast, the meat goat researchers are pushing the perennial sericea lespedeza - but it's on the noxious weed list in some states.  There are some low(er) tannin sericea varieties(like AU Lotan & Serala) that evidently are more palatable to cattle, but I'm not certain that goats discriminate against the straight species type.
I'm a big fan of annual lespedeza - Marion is really good, and the old standard Kobe & Korean types are not at all bad.
Another species the goat folks have recommended is sainfoin - but I know absolutely nothing about it.
I've tried birdsfoot trefoil, but had no success getting it established.

Lucky Pittman
USDA Cold Zone 6
AHS Heat Zone 7
Hopkinsville, KY