Establishing persistent, productive new legumes

MFS has been successful in securing $70,000 over three years as part of the MLA Participatory Research Program (National Feed Base Plan) to run on-farm trials looking at establishing persistent and productive legumes.  This work is a partnership between producers and researchers to determine “if” and “how” the research work findings can be applied at the farm scale and will be supervised by NSW DPI Researcher Belinda Hackney and the MLA NSW State Coordinator, Doug Alcock.

Trials have been established at “Gaerloch” (Cooma/Jerangle),  “Sth Bukalong” (Bombala) and “Kyleston” (Bombala). Some of the legumes to be trialed alongside the more traditional white and sub clovers include French and yellow Seradella, Casbah Biserrula, Prima Gland, Paradana Balansa as well as some lucernes.

Aims

• identify the value of alternative legumes (based on their establishment success, persistence  and production) compared with the traditional legumes
• effectiveness of sowing these new legumes into existing pasture swards
• role of sowing time on legume performance and persistence
• document nodulation status and occupancy of subterranean clovers in the Monaro region