Abstract
In the mountainous region of South Tyrol, clover-rich seed mixtures for leys are a beneficial option for crop rotation with silage maize, helping farmers to optimise the use of the limited arable land. Given the reduced persistence of Trifolium pratense under frequent defoliation, identifying the optimal ley duration is pivotal to sustain the production of high yields of high-quality forage. We investigated the impact of ley duration (two vs. three harvest years), different locally used seed mixtures (abbreviated as WW, KGR, KG), different Trifolium pratense cultivars (Semperina, Spurt, Milvus) and the replacement of Festuca pratensis by Festulolium on dry matter (DM) yield and crude protein yield. The trial was conducted in Dietenheim/Bruneck (South Tyrol, NE Italy) and mown four times per year. Extending the ley duration from two to three years resulted in a slight decrease in average DM yield for the seed mixture KG and the red clover cultivar Spurt and a slight increase for the seed mixture WW. However, while the effects on DM yield had a very limited impact, crude protein yield declined moderately in all treatments. The results allow farmers to make informed decisions about incorporating longer ley durations into their crop rotations on arable land.