Legume options for summer-active pastures in a temperate rainfall environment of south-eastern Australia
Rebecca S. Stutz
A * , Joanne De Faveri B C and Richard A. Culvenor A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A CSIRO Agriculture and Food, PO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
B CSIRO Data 61, PO Box 780, Atherton, Qld 4883, Australia.
C Present address: The University of Queensland, QAAFI, Centre for Horticultural Science, Maroochy Research Facility, SCMC, PO Box 5083, Nambour, Qld 4560, Australia.
Crop & Pasture Science - https://doi.org/10.1071/CP22406
Submitted: 7 July 2022 Accepted: 11 April 2023 Published online: 18 May 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Context: High-quality, summer-active pastures could improve meat production in south-eastern Australia by facilitating livestock finishing over summer, with legumes critical for enhancing the nutritive value of pasture mixes. Available legumes vary in their ability to withstand moisture stress and grazing.
Aims: We aimed to identify legumes suitable for a summer–autumn finishing system.
Methods: We tested pure swards of 12 cultivars across eight legume species in replicated small-plot experiments at Goulburn and Bombala, New South Wales, assessing productivity, persistence and warm-season nutritive characteristics over 2–3 years.
Key results: Lucerne (Medicago sativa) was clearly the most productive species during summer and outperformed the clovers (Trifolium spp.) in terms of persistence and productivity throughout most of the experimental period at both sites, except during autumn 2021 after high rainfall in March. Caucasian clover (T. ambiguum) was also highly persistent at both sites. Talish clover (T. tumens) and strawberry clover (T. fragiferum) were more persistent than white clover (T. repens) and red clover (T. pratense). White clover recovered strongly under high rainfall after drought, whereas red clover established rapidly but showed less capacity for post-drought recovery. Hybrid Caucasian × white clover was the least productive legume. Alternative clover species sometimes had slightly lower values of nutritive characteristics than white clover; red clover sometimes had distinctly lower values.
Conclusions: Lucerne performed best but several clovers were also productive, persistent and of high nutritive value over the summer–autumn period.
Implications: Talish, Caucasian and strawberry clovers warrant further investigation for inclusion in summer-active pastures in south-eastern Australia.
Keywords: clover, drought resilience, legume persistence, lucerne, perennial legume, southern tablelands, summer pasture, water-logging.
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