Summer sowing - alternative techniques to introduce legumes into pastures

2011
CC BY 4.0

Research organisatons

Trial details

Researcher(s) N/A
Year(s) 2011
Contributor West Midlands Group
Trial location(s) Mingenew, WA
Summer sowing - alternative techniques 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
Related program N/A
Acknowledgments N/A
Other trial partners Not specified

Method

Crop types Pasture: Clover : N/A
Trial type
Trial design

Mingenew 2011 Clover

Sow date Not specified
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified

Mingenew 2011

Sow date Not specified
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified
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
Mingenew, WA Not specified
Derived trial site soil information
Australian Soil Classification Source: ASRIS
Trial site Soil order
Mingenew, WA Sodosol
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 Mingenew WA
2011 162.9mm
2010 134.2mm
2009 142.1mm
2008 152.6mm
2007 104.7mm
2006 124.9mm
2005 144.0mm
2004 123.2mm
2003 138.1mm
2002 113.7mm
2001 108.6mm
2000 147.3mm
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.

Mingenew WA

NOTE: Exact trial site locality unknown - Climate data may not be accurate
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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


No trial reports or attachments found


Trial last modified: 06-08-2019 07:54am AEST