Summer sowing - alternative technique to introduce legumes into pastures

2011
CC BY 4.0

Research organisatons
Funding source

Trial details

Researcher(s) Angelo Loi (DAFWA)
Bradley Nutt (DAFWA)
Year(s) 2011
Contributor West Midlands Group
Trial location(s) Coorow, WA
Mingenew, WA
Summer sowing - alternative technique to introduce legumes into pastures locations
Aims

To compare two methods for the establishment of pasture legumes (i) summer sowing where dormant hard-seed is drill sown into the paddock after the crop is harvested; and (ii) traditional sowing where scarified seed is drill sown after the break of the season and knockdown weed control.

Key messages
  • Traditionally, forage legumes are sown after the main cropping program is completed and require the application of a pre-sowing knockdown herbicide to control established weeds.  This treatment seriously reduces early winter pasture production which is then compounded by the slow growth rate of legumes under the cold winter conditions. 
  • Summer sowing offers early winter grazing in a mixed enterprise farm. The technique has the ability to lift the legume component in a pasture which has degraded through a range of factors such as drought and/or intensive cropping. On a farm without grazing animals, summer sowing can be used to produce a green fallow with a high legume content that can be brown manured to provide  high nitrogen residues  and maximise the organic matter for the benefit of subsequent crops.
  • Summer sowing reduces establishment cost by firstly, minimising seed processing particularly in the case of serradella where seed extraction is difficult and expensive and secondly, sowing does not require a pre-sowing application of herbicide.
  • The requirement to sow hard-seeded cultivars in summer or early autumn does lose some of the flexibility to tactically respond to seasonal conditions and this needs to be balanced against the clear productivity advantages demonstrated.
Lead research organisation Department of Agriculture and Food WA
Host research organisation West Midlands Group
Trial funding source DAFWA
Related program N/A
Acknowledgments N/A
Other trial partners Not specified
Download the trial report to view additional trial information

Method

Crop types Pasture: Clover : N/A
Treatment type(s)
  • Crop: Rotation
  • Fallow
Trial type
Trial design

Coorow 2011 Clover

Sow rate or Target density Not specified
Sow date Not specified
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified
Fertiliser Not specified
Herbicide Not specified
Inoculant Not specified

Coorow 2011

Sow rate or Target density 50 kg/ha of pods (summer sowing) and 10kg/ha of seed (normal sowing) on 3 February 2011 (Summer sowing date) and 31 May 2011 (Autumn sowing date)
Sow date 31 May 2011
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size 5m x 50m
Plot replication 3
Fertiliser

120 kg/ha Super/Potash (3:1).

Herbicide

Kerb as post-sowing-pre-emergence @ 1L/ha on 31 May.

Inoculant 10kg/ha Alosca S and C

Mingenew 2011 Clover

Sow rate or Target density Not specified
Sow date Not specified
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified
Fertiliser Not specified
Herbicide Not specified
Inoculant Not specified

Mingenew 2011

Sow rate or Target density Not specified
Sow date Not specified
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified
Fertiliser Not specified
Herbicide Not specified
Inoculant Not specified
Download the trial report to view additional method/treatment information
Trial source data and summary not available
Check the trial report PDF for trial results.
Observed trial site soil information
Trial site soil testing
Not specified
Soil conditions
Trial site Soil texture
Coorow, WA Not specified
Mingenew, WA Not specified
Derived trial site soil information
Australian Soil Classification Source: ASRIS
Trial site Soil order
Coorow, WA Sodosol
Mingenew, WA Tenosol
Soil Moisture Source: BOM/ANU
Average amount of water stored in the soil profile during the year, estimated by the OzWALD model-data fusion system.
Year Coorow WA Mingenew WA
2011 309.3mm73.6mm
2010 278.4mm50.4mm
2009 293.9mm66.8mm
2008 303.2mm66.3mm
2007 248.5mm56.4mm
2006 275.9mm74.9mm
2005 298.8mm51.8mm
2004 295.1mm44.4mm
2003 278.1mm56.8mm
2002 244.8mm46.6mm
2001 264.3mm34.3mm
2000 323.6mm89.3mm
National soil grid Source: CSIRO/TERN
NOTE: National Soil Grid data is aggregated information for background information on the wider area
Actual soil values can vary significantly in a small area and the trial soil tests are the most relevant data where available

Soil properties

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Climate

Derived climate information

No observed climate data available for this trial.
Derived climate data is determined from trial site location and national weather sources.

Coorow WA

Mingenew WA

Coorow WA

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Mingenew WA

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Some data on this site is sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology

SILO weather estimates sourced from https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/silo/
Jeffrey, S.J., Carter, J.O., Moodie, K.B. and Beswick, A.R. (2001). Using spatial interpolation to construct a comprehensive archive of Australian climate data , Environmental Modelling and Software, Vol 16/4, pp 309-330. DOI: 10.1016/S1364-8152(01)00008-1.

Trial report and links

2011 trial report



Trial last modified: 13-12-2019 14:01pm AEST