If you have questions you'd like to see posted, send them to us.
 

1.    How does Big Trefoil differ from Birdsfoot Trefoil?

Big trefoil (Lotus uliginosus) is closely related to birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).  Both are trefoils and share the same general plant morphology and growth patterns.  Both are non-bloating legumes and can be used in similar ways.

The table below details the differences between these species:
 

	Big Trefoil	Birdsfoot Trefoil
Seeds	1,075,000 per pound (average); green	500,000 per pound; brown
Growth	Prostrate growth with rhizomes and stolons	May be prostrate, some stolons
Aluminum Tolerance	Very high (>3umols)	Lower (<7 umols)
Acidity Tolerance	4.5-5.5	>6.0
Manganese Tolerance	up to 0.76g/kg DM	<0.50g/kg DM
Soil Water Tolerance	Constant Moisture (Waterlogged)	Moist, but not constant
Soils	Fragipan (high clay, low pH)	Moderate Clay
Seeding Rates	2-4 pounds per acre (average)	4-6 pounds per acre (average)

The main difference between these two plants is the growing conditions.  Big Trefoil can grow in standing water, high acid soils, or soils with a high aluminum content.  Birdsfoot trefoil grows better in less extreme soils.  Both do well in soils with low fertility.
 
 

2.    Why isn't Big Trefoil a common legume?  Why don't more people grow it?

Good question!  There are several reasons this crop isn't well known:

• It is a small-seeded legume, so harvesting takes specialized equipment.
• Lotus does well on soils that are wet or poor in fertility, which many farmers don't consider worth tilling or improving. Thus, interest in this crop has been low.
• Marketing of the crop has been essentially non-existant, so most farmers have never heard of it.  (hopefully this website will help change that.)
• Most of the U.S. research was performed from the 1940s until the 1960s.  Once the research stopped, most universities lost interest in the crop and quit raising seed for the public domain.

Our original seed stock was "Columbia" that was purchased from Oregon State University in the early 1960s.  Since that time, we have maintained a small amount of the crop for seed.  During the 50 years that have past, the crop has adapted to our growing conditions and undergone small shifts in its genome.  Consequently, our gene stock for the crop is no longer "pure" Columbia.

Currently, Big Trefoil can be found with the following cultivars:  Columbia, Marshfield, Beaver (all early U.S. types) and Grasslands Maku (an Australian tetraploid variety.)
 

4.    Why are trefoils non-bloating?

Trefoils produce condensed tannins that prevent the solubility of forage proteins, thereby preventing excess gasses from building up in the rumen.
 

5.    Are diseases a problem for this crop?

Big trefoil has very few pathogens commonly.  Since it is grown in wet conditions, it can develop fungal diseases (e.g., blight, anthracnose).  However, we have never noticed any incidence of plant disease in our fields to date.
 

6.    Why do people use Big Trefoil for wildlife habitat?

Animals like the taste of this crop (think of it as a version of alfalfa).  Since it can grow near/in riparian areas, animals are additionly attracted to it.  The seed pods are small and so are capable of being consumed by smaller animals and birds.  An addition observation is that the deer around our farm love to sleep in the crop; the growth pattern makes a soft "bed."

Bees and other insects are attracted to the flowers. Since the trefoils flower throughout the summer and fall (indeterminate), the provide a constant source of nector for bees.
 

7.    What's an inoculant and why would I need it?

All legumes are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen into useable soil nitrogen through bacteria living in root nodules. Each species of legume has its own unique species of bacteria (usually Rhizobium sp.) If you plant a legume and the proper bacterial species isn't in the soil already, then the nitrogen fixing aspect of the plant is lost. It takes several growing seasons for the soil to gain the proper number and species of bacteria.

An inoculant is basically a mixture of bacteria that you put on the seed that ensures the proper species of bacteria are present in the soil.
 

8.    Why does this crop have some many names--Lotus pedunculatus/uliginosus/major?

You can blame botanists for this. As plant taxonomists study plants, they use criteria--such as plant anatomy--to determine its relationship to other plants. Over time, a plant's name may no longer relate to the current data, so a name change is suggested. To make a long story short, that's what has happened to this crop. Lotus pedunculatus used to be the correct name, but in the early 1990s, studies showed that L. pedunculatus was a different crop geographically than big trefoil, so the name went to L. uliginosus.