Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > AN > EA04262
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 46(5)

Do some naturalised legumes have the potential to improve pasture production in the Victorian Mallee?

S. M. Robertson A C D and J. G. Smith B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Primary Industries Research Victoria, Department of Primary Industries, Private Bag 1, Walpeup, Vic. 3507, Australia.

B Primary Industries Research Victoria, Department of Primary Industries, Private Bag 260, Horsham, Vic. 3400, Australia.

C Current address: ‘Nindethana’, Turners Lane, Old Junee, NSW 2652, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: susanrob@dragnet.com.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46(5) 615-625 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA04262
Submitted: 20 December 2004  Accepted: 27 January 2006   Published: 12 May 2006

Abstract

Some naturalised (not commercialised or deliberately sown) annual pasture legumes may be valuable pasture components, but their production relative to commercial species is poorly defined. This study aimed to determine the relative productivity, morphology, nutritive value, ecotype variation and sulfonylurea tolerance of some naturalised species in the Victorian Mallee. A series of 3 glasshouse and 2 ungrazed field experiments compared the production of haresfoot clover (Trifolium arvense L.), little woolly burr medic (Medicago minima L.), spineless M. minima, and M. monspeliaca (L.) Trautv. with the commercial species strand medic (M. littoralis Loisel cv. Herald) and barrel medic (M. truncatula Gaertn cv. Paraggio). The crude protein and in vitro digestibility of leaf and stem components were similar among species. The proportion of leaf was associated with species maturity, with later maturing species having a greater proportion of leaf at each harvest. There was a range of 52 days among species for date of first flowering. T. arvense produced similar or more biomass than the commercial species in spring, but had lower winter production. A 38-day range in days to first flower and a 2-fold range in winter biomass production among T. arvense ecotypes indicate potential for selection within this species. T. arvense also appears to have greater tolerance of triasulfuron residues than M. littoralis. Spineless M. minima requires further evaluation for persistence in this environment, but the low production of M. monspeliaca limits its value as a component of pastures. T. arvense, spineless and spiny M. minima all have some characteristics which could enhance pasture production in low-rainfall, low-input mixed farming systems.

Additional keyword: seed.


Acknowledgments

Technical assistance was provided by Ron Sly, David Towk, Kevin Grayling and Bill Beasley. Steve Hughes, SARDI, Adelaide, supplied the seed of spineless M. minima and 4 ecotypes of T. arvense seed. We thank the farmers who allowed collection of seed from their properties. Murray Unkovich, DPI Walpeup, provided valuable advice, and several reviewers made useful comments on the manuscript.


References


Aerts RJ, Barry TN, McNabb WC (1999) Polyphenols and agriculture: beneficial effects of proanthocyanidins in forages. Agricultre, Ecosystems and Environment 75, 1–12.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Baldock JA, Moore AD, Bellotti WD, Yunusa I (1998) Influence of grazing on nitrogen and water dynamics in cereal–pasture rotation. In ‘Proceedings of the 9th Australian agronomy conference’. (Eds DL Michalk, JE Pratley) pp. 859–860. (The Australian Society of Agronomy: Wagga Wagga)

Ballard RA, Charman N (2000) Nodulation and growth of pasture legumes with naturalised soil rhizobia 1. Annual Medicago spp. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 40, 939–948.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Begg JE (1963) Comparative responses of indigenous, naturalised, and commercial legumes to phosphorus and sulphur. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 3, 17–19.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Bennett SJ (1999) Using collections to describe ecological relationships In ‘Genetic resources of Mediterranean pasture and forage legumes’. (Eds SJ Bennett, PS Cocks) pp. 41–52. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht)

Busso CA, Fernandez OA, Fresnillo Fedorenko DE (1998) Dry weight production and partitioning in Medicago minima and Erodium cicutarium under water stress. Annals of Botany 82, 217–227.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Carter ED, Wolfe EC, Francis CM (1982) Problems of maintaining pastures in the cereal-livestock areas of southern Australia. In ‘Proceedings of the 2nd Australian agronomy conference’. (Ed. MJT Norman) pp. 68–82. (Australian Society of Agronomy: Wagga Wagga)

Clarke T, Flinn PC, McGowan AA (1982) Low cost pepsin-cellulase assays for prediction of digestibility of herbage. Grass and Forage Science 37, 147–150.
| Crossref |
open url image1

Cocks PS (1999) Reproductive strategies and genetic structure of wild and naturalised legume populations In ‘Genetic resources of mediterranean pasture and forage legumes’. (Eds SJ Bennett, PS Cocks) pp. 20–31. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht)

Cornish PS (1974) Drought resistance of seedlings of annual Medicago. In ‘Proceedings of the 12th international grassland congress. Biological and physiological aspects of the intensification of grassland utilization’. pp. 331–336. (Izdatel’stvo Mir.: Moscow)

Cregan PD (1985) Factors limiting farmer adoption of annual medic pasture improvement technology. Technical Bulletin 32 The ecology and agronomy of annual medics. Proceedings of a workshop at the Agricultural Research and Advisory Station, Condobolin. (Ed. Z Hochman) pp. 55–56. (Department of Agriculture New South Wales: Condobolin)

Derkaoui M, Caddel JL, Rommann LL (1993) Forage quality in annual Medicago spp. Agricoltura-Mediterranea 123, 86–91. open url image1

Fortune JA, Cocks PS, Macfarlane CK, Smith FP (1995) Distribution and abundance of annual legume seeds in the wheatbelt of Western Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 35, 189–197.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Fresnillo Fedorenko DE (2001) Ten years of ecological research on Medicago minima (L.) Bart. In ‘Quality in lucerne and medics for animal production. Proceedings of the XIV Eucarpia Medicago spp. Group Meeting’. (Eds I Delgado, J Lloveras) pp. 111–114. (Universidad de Zaragoza and Universitat de Lleido: Spain)

Hill NL, Korte CJ (1998) Nutrition and disease control improve Victorian Mallee pastures. In ‘Proceedings of the 9th Australian agronomy conference’. Wagga Wagga. (Eds DL Michalk, JE Pratley) pp. 343–344. (Australian Society of Agronomy: Wagga Wagga)

Hollaway K, Noy DM (1999) Not all sulfonylureas persist for the same time. In ‘Twelfth Australian weeds conference’. (Eds AC Bishop, M Boersma, CD Barnes) pp. 629–630. (Tasmanian Weed Society: Hobart)

Holter V (1978) Nitrogen fixation of four legumes in relation to above-ground biomass, root biomass, nodule number, and water content of the soil. Oikos 31, 230–235. open url image1

Isbell RF (1996) ‘The Australian soil classification.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Jones WT, Anderson LB, Ross MD (1973) Bloat in cattle. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 16, 441–446. open url image1

Kellaway RC, Ison RL, Li X, Annison G (1994) Nutritive value of alternate pasture legumes. Department of Primary Industries South Australia, Technical Report 219.

Knight WE (1985) Miscellaneaous annual clovers. In ‘Clover science and technology’. (Ed. N Taylor) pp. 547–563. (ASA-CSSA-SSSA: Madison)

Kuhbauch W (1983) Estimation of digestibility of legume forages by means of morphological parameters. In ‘Proceedings of the XIV International grassland congress’. (Eds A Smith, V Hayes) pp. 827–830. (Westview Press: Boulder)

Latta RA, Carter ED (1998) Increasing production of an annual medic-wheat rotation by grazing and grass removal with herbicides in the Victorian Mallee. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 38, 211–217.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Lodge GM, Greenup LR (1980) Seedling survival, yield and seed production of three species of annual medics exposed to lucerne aphids. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 20, 457–462.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Lodge GM, Cullis BR, Welsby SM (1993) Evaluation of pasture legumes sown into a prepared seedbed at Tamworth, New South Wales 1. Dry matter yield. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 33, 287–297.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Niezen JH, Robertson HA, Waghorn GC, Charleston WAG (1998) Production, faecal egg counts and worm burdens of ewe lambs which grazed six contrasting forages. Veterinary Parasitology 80, 15–27.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | open url image1

Palmer TP (1972) Variation in flowering time among and within populations of Trifolium arvense L. in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 10, 59–68. open url image1

Payne R, Baird D, Cherry M, Gilmour A, Harding S, Kane APWL, Murray D, Soutar D, Thompson R, Todd A, Tunnicliffe Wilson G, Webster R, Welham S (2003) ‘The guide to Genstat Release 7.1, Part 2: Statistics.’ (VSA International: Oxford)

Radcliffe JC, Cochrane MJ (1970) Digestibility and crude protein changes in ten maturing pasture species. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production 8, 531–536. open url image1

Rayment G, Higginson F (1992) ‘Australian laboratory handbook of soil and water chemical methods.’ (Inkata Press: Melbourne)

Rigby S, Latta R (1995) The performance of medics in the Mallee In ‘The Mallee Farmer Newsletter’. pp. 10–11. (Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment: Swan Hill)

Robertson SM (2006) Crop stubbles are as important for sheep production as annual pastures in the Victorian Mallee. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture In press 46, open url image1

Robertson SM, Wimalasuriya RK (2004) Limitations to pasture and sheep enterprises and options for improvement in the Victorian Mallee. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 44, 841–849.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Robertson HA, Niezen JH, Waghorn GC, Charleston WAG, Jinlong M (1995) The effect of six herbages on liveweight gain, wool growth and faecal egg count of parasitised ewe lambs. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 55, 199–201. open url image1

Sarkar SK, Howarth RE, Goplen BP (1976) Condensed tannins in herbaceous legumes. Crop Science 16, 543–546. open url image1

Shenk JS, Westerhaus MO (1991) Population definition, sample selection and calibration procedures for near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. Crop Science 31, 469–474. open url image1

van Soest PJ, Wine RH (1967) Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. IV. Determination of plant cell wall constituents. Journal of Official Analytical Chemists 50, 50–55. open url image1

Tanner GJ, Moore AE, Larkin PJ (1994) Proanthocyanidins inhibit hydrolysis of leaf proteins by rumen microflora in vitro. British Journal of Nutrition 71, 947–958.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | open url image1

Thomson EF, Rihawi S, Cocks PS, Osman AE, Russi L (1990) Recovery and germination rates of seeds of Mediterranean medics and clovers offered to sheep at a single meal or continuously. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 114, 295–299. open url image1

Waghorn GC, Barry TN (1987) Pasture as a nutrient source. Livestock feeding on pasture New Zealand Society of Animal Production Occasional Publication No. 10. (Ed. AM Nicol) pp. 21–37. (New Zealand Society of Animal Production: Hamilton)

Waghorn GC, Douglas GB, Neiezen JH, McNabb WC, Foote AG (1998) Forages with condensed tannins — their managment and nutritive value for ruminants. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association 60, 89–98. open url image1

Woodward RG, Morley FHW (1974) Variation in Australian and European collections of Trifolium glomeratum L. and the provisional distribution of the species in southern Australia. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 25, 73–88.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

You MP, Sivasithamparam K, Riley IT, Barbatti MJ (1999) Relationship of rainfall, cultural practices, soil and plant nutrients, and seedling survival with root disease and parasitic nematode numbers in annual Medicago spp. pastures. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 50, 977–983.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1