Sims Brothers Inc is an agricultural seed company currently involved with the research and development of sericea lespedeza, a hardy legume that thrives on less fertile and/or highly acidic soils. Sericea lespedeza has been a staple in erosion control, land reclamation and soil-building projects for years. Its copious foliage covers road banks, conservation acreage and recovered strip mines across the southeastern United States. Because it thrives on marginal soils and tolerates drought, sericea has offered tantalizing prospects for a low-cost forage crop. Sims Brothers have developed a hybrid of the sericea lespedeza, AU Grazer, which is better able to withstand rigorous grazing from cattle and horses. In successive rounds of plant selection, various areas that included many types of sericea lespedeza were subjected to extreme grazing and frequent mowing. Specimens were stressed to a point where only the hardiest endured. AU Grazer was then bred from the survivors of the multi-generational process; with the result being a high quality late spring and summer pasture on highly acidic, low-fertility soils. It makes excellent hay for cattle and horses, especially when harvested at early to mid stages of growth. At these stages, AU Grazer may provide less tonnage than other hay crops that are harvested at mature phases in their growth cycles, however this is more than offset by its nutritional quality and the fact that no nitrogen fertilizer is needed for AU Grazer.
