Perennial legumes and grasses stable source of quality livestock fodder feed

Perennial legumes, alfalfa, red clover, bird's foot trefoil, white clover, sainfoin and grasses, cock's foot, meadow fescue, tall fescue, Italian ryegrass, English ryegrass, French ryegrass, red fescue and Timothy grass can be grown successfully in pure crops and in legume-grass mixtures, on different soil types. Their importance in livestock development is based primarily on the great potential for yield of dry matter of over 20 t ha-1 if adequate agro-technical measures have been applied. Also, perennial legumes are characterized with high content of nutritive substances, especially protein and represent the most important protein source in livestock nutrition. Depending on the species and pheno stage of utilization, the content of crude proteins in grasses varies from 100 to 174,6 g kg-1 of DM, and in perennial legumes from 190,0 to 228,8 g kg-1 of DM. Livestock feed obtained from these plant species can be used in several ways, from grazing as most efficient and economical way, to preparation of hay and high quality silages and haylages. Stated forage species are very important in sustainable agriculture and organic production, considering that they carry out the process of biological fixation of nitrogen, but also from the ecological aspect. By using diverse selection/breeding material numerous domestic cultivars of perennial legumes and grasses have been created which are characterized with high potential for main agronomical traits.