Dryland legume pasture systems: quantifying benefits of novel legume pastures to livestock production systems

Full description

In southern Australian mixed farming systems, there are many opportunities for pasture improvement, providing positive impacts to both cropping and livestock systems. Dryland legume pastures are necessary in low to medium rainfall zones to support productive and healthy livestock, along with optimal production in crops following these pastures. The majority of pasture species used in these mixed farming systems are short-lived annuals that complete their lifecycle from winter to early summer, with dry seasonal conditions resulting in a shorter growth window between germination and senescence. This is a major issue for livestock producers in these regions due to unreliable rainfall patterns leading to fluctuating legume growth, and the subsequent impact on feed supply and quality for grazing animals.
Innovative and improved legume species and pasture systems have the potential to fill existing nutrient gaps, thus reducing supplementary feed required for optimum ruminant performance, and maintain or improve livestock productivity through growth rates, fertility or product quality.
The Dryland Legume Pasture Systems (DLPS) project aims to boost profit and reduce risk in medium and low rainfall areas by developing recently discovered pasture legumes together with innovative management techniques that benefit animal and crop production and farm logistics. A theme of the DLPS project involves ‘Quantifying the benefits of novel legume pastures to livestock production systems’ and aims to maximise the advantages that pastures provide to livestock through increased animal growth and reproduction by extending the period of quality feed and reduced supplementary feeding. The animal systems research within the project will also assess areas of understanding anti-nutritional factors and ‘duty of care’ for new pasture species, providing opportunities for improved weed management and evaluate the main benefits of novel self-regenerating pasture legumes in crop rotations on animal production, health and welfare.
This theme is a component of a five year Rural R&D for Profit funded project supported by GRDC, MLA and AWI; and involving Murdoch University, CSIRO, SARDI, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development; Charles Sturt University and grower groups.
A five-year grazing system trial was established at the Minnipa Agricultural Centre (MAC) in 2018 to examine this theme and is the main livestock field site for the DLPS trial in the southern region of Australia.