Establishing climate-resilient pasture mixtures by sod-seeding

An on-farm experiment was carried out in Sardinia in the framework of the Operational Group ‘Paschinres’ to promote the use of permanent pastures and conservation tillage on four sheep farms. Two innovative pasture mixtures (Mix A, Mix B), sown after minimum tillage (MT) and by sodseeding (SS) on bare soil, were compared to temporary grasslands (TG) typically sown on the farms. Each mixture featured some core species combined with farm-specific species from three functional groups (grasses, G; legumes, L; and herbs, H). Mixtures were sown in autumn 2023 in large fields. One-way ANOVA and LSD test were carried out to assess differences for seedling establishment, forage yields and its botanical composition and forage quality among farms, soil management before sowing and grassland type. G and L established better in Mix A and on farm 1, but no differences were assessed for soil management type and H establishment. On average, Mix B yielded higher than Mix A but similarly to TG. The proportion of functional groups in mixtures was similar for both sowing after MT and SS. SS succeeded in the establishment of biodiverse pasture mixtures featuring seeds of different sizes on soils with variable traits.