Part two of a four-part series looking at the value of legumes in dryland farming systems. This week, a pure lucerne stand is compared with three stands of lucerne mixes.
In a multi-year Beef + Lamb New Zealand-funded trial, the performance and production (dry matter and animal liveweight) of lucerne mixes were compared with a pure sward – and the pure sward won out.
Professor Derrick Moot says it is difficult to achieve balance with mixes and growing pure stands within a forage system is a better option.
The mixes and results were:
- Lucerne and brome – brome dominated.
- Lucerne and cocksfoot – performed well for the first three years, but the cocksfoot began to dominate the sward in year four.
- Lucerne and prairie grass – the prairie grass died out after three years and, while lucerne now dominates, weeds encroached on the sward.
The lucerne was sown in spring and the grasses broadcast in autumn.
Suggestion: Run-out lucerne paddocks can be oversown with a short-term perennial grass to get two-to-three more years of production. Or use an autumn-sown annual ryegrass to generate good spring feed, before the paddock is renovated.
