A new project aiming to discover recently developed, low-cost resilient pasture legume species for mixed farmers will be on show at the Birchip Cropping Group’s (BCG) Main Field Day on Wednesday 11th of September near Birchip.
Researchers Ross Ballard and David Peck from Primary Industries and Regions SA’s research division, the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), will introduce growers to the novel species and new varieties, explain soil type preferences, growth habits, management considerations and much more during their outdoor session: ‘New legume pastures to benefit mixed farms’.
“The project will to look at how persistent these newer legume pasture varieties are in a mixed farming system and what value they can provide as a feed source” says Alison Frischke, Birchip Cropping Group (BCG).
Traditionally, annual legumes have comprised of clovers and medics and over the last 30 years, background seedbanks of these legume pastures have declined due to increased cropping intensity and dry finishes impacting on seed-set. Pasture renovation rates and the uptake of new pasture legume cultivars is low.
As part of the project, BCG is evaluating novel annual species such as biserrula, serradella and trigonella. These species are being compared against the more traditional, as well as newer, varieties of medics, clovers and vetch pastures like rose clover, bladder clover PM250 strand medic, and Studenica vetch.
Management practices being explored by the project include; rhizobial inoculants, exploiting seed dormancy characteristics to promote multiple year persistence, harvestability with existing farm machinery, and sowing legumes in summer or with previous crops.
The ‘Dryland Legume Pasture Systems (DLPS) – Boosting profit and reducing risk in medium and low rainfall areas’ project aims to discover newer, low-cost and resilient pasture legumes species with appropriate management practices to provide livestock and cropping benefits to the low-medium rainfall mixed farming regions of Australia.
The project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources as part of its Rural R&D for Profit program, the Grains Research and Development Corporation, Meat and Livestock Australia and Australian Wool Innovation.
The BCG Main Field Day is on Wednesday September 11 at the BCG main research site at Birchip, 9km west of town on the Sunraysia Highway. The event is free for BCG Members and $50 for non-members.
For more information visit www.bcg.org.au/events or phone 03 5492 2787.
