Lead Scientist
Perth, Australia
Co-funded research project for Meat and Livestock Australia/Australian Wool Innovation - Pasture legumes in the mixed farming zones of WA and NSW: shifting the baselineThe traditional legume feedbase has diminished in quality and quantity in mixed farming zones of WA and NSW over the last 25 years as a consequence of continuous cropping and climate variability. Alternative pasture legumes with physiological characteristics that make them more resilient to perturbations have been domesticated, and are now available for implementation to improve the feedbase. This project was undertaken by agronomists in NSW and WA associated with Murdoch University, Charles Sturt University and DPIRD, and has given producers the information to select, summer sow and manage these alternative pasture legumes. Grower Groups and producers were able to evaluate the benefits of doing so at the paddock scale. The new pasture legumes carried stock at high numbers through difficult winters, and provided the basis of better N nutrition to animals and crops, delivering up to $1200 per ha. in increased meat production. Three hundred and fifty tonnes of serradella were delivered for cleaning at one seed works in WA in 2016/2017, which demonstrates the massive adoption of the new species. Twenty-seven articles in rural newspapers and social media were aired on the project in 2016 and 2017, again indicating the popularity of the topic. As a consequence of the project, producers have been given the confidence to adopt alternative pasture legumes in situations where sub clover has been unreliable.
