Sub4Spring – Dryland Pastures

Guide for subterranean clover identification and use in New Zealand (1^st Edition)

This project, initiated in 2015 and funded by the Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF Project 408090), was created to identify, describe and promote methods to increase the subterranean clover content on summer dry farms throughout NZ. A complete list of blog posts and documents is provided at the bottom of the page.

A decade of research by the Lincoln University Dryland Pastures Research Team has identified subterranean clover as second only to Lucerne as the most suitable legume for dryland pastoral farmers. Our aim with this project is to develop a comprehensive best management strategy (similar to that developed previously for Lucerne) to maximize the use of sub clover for dryland New Zealand farms.

Summer dry hill country pastures (>2M ha) are always extremely nitrogen deficient. This means they, like all N deficient grass, use their scarce spring water inefficiently (5 kg DM/mm water used) to produce low yields (1-3 t DM/ha/yr). As a consequence of this severe N deficiency, dryland pastures typically show high responses to fertilizer N (20 kg DM/ha/kg N applied) which is obvious in urine areas throughout the region in spring.

The difference in growth in urine and non-urine patches is an obvious visual indicator of the lost growth opportunity that exits on all dryland farms. The physics of evapotranspiration means that both plus and minus urine patches are using their limited water resource at the same rate. A problem is that increasingly farmers recognise this and use urea fertiliser to overcome this N deficit. The opportunity exists to produce similar pasture responses to N by the introduction of suitable legumes (that are never N deficient).

Sub clover is our earliest spring growing legume, fixes N at the same rate as white clover (~30 kg N/t DM grown) and can increase dry matter yield and quality during lactation while reducing the need for urea.

Successful use of sub clover in Marlborough has been shown to increase lamb live-weight by over 7 kg/hd (27-34 kg live-weight) during lactation. Assuming 2M ha of N deficient dryland hill country the current lost opportunity is conservatively 5 kg/hd x 14 lambs/ha x 2M ha = 140M kg or 140,000 t of additional lamb meat each spring. Arguably the potential animal live-weight gain from appropriate use of sub clover is greater than exists for lucerne, plantain and chicory combined.

Subterranean clover flower — Sub clover in flower. Photo: K.M. Pollock.

Researchers

Derrick Moot, Head of Dryland Pastures Research
Dick (Richard) Lucas, Senior Lecturer
Sonya Olykan, Research Officer
Breanna Taylor

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Students

Carmen Teixeira (PhD)
Teresa Lewis (M.Ag.Sci.)
Hollena Nori (PhD)

As a first step to exploring the potential for sub clover to increase the profitability and sustainability of dryland pastoral farmer’s members of the DPR Group have reviewed the relevant literature. The review can be viewed or downloaded in the list of relevant publications below.

Downloads

26 & 27 Oct 2016. Annual clovers in dryland systems. Field day booklet from events held at Tokaroa Farm, Wairarapa and Poukawa Research Farm, Hawkes Bay. The Dryland Pastures Research Team. (PDF 4.3 MB).
09 Nov 2016. Sub4Spring Field Day Booklet. Waiau Station, Wairoa. Dryland Pastures Research Team. (PDF 4.8 MB).
23 Nov 2017. Focus on Sub – Field day booklet. Koromiko, North Canterbury. Derrick Moot, Dick Lucas & the Dryland Pastures Research Team. (PDF 2.1 MB).
07 Nov 2018. Olykan ST, Lucas RJ, Teixeira CSP, Subtil R, Moot DJ. 2018. Establishment, production and regeneration of subterranean clovers in the Mackenzie Basin, New Zealand. NZ Grassland Association conference presentation. (PDF 3.5 MB).
02 Nov 2021. Spotlight on Legumes – Field day booklet. Mt Benger, North Canterbury. Derrick Moot, Dick Lucas, Jeff Morton & the Dryland Pastures Research Team with Pete Anderson. (PDF 4.0 MB).
17 Mar 2020. Derrick Moot & the Dryland Pastures Research Group. Summary of latest liveweight gain data from the legume grazing trials at Lincoln University and strategies for sub clover management. Field day booklet. North Canterbury. 16 p. (PDF 2.9 MB).
23 Nov 2017. Focus on Sub – Field Day Booklet. Koromiko, North Canterbury. Derrick Moot, Dick Lucas & the Dryland Pastures Research Team. 41 pp. (PDF 2.1 MB).
30 Jun 2017. Case studies of hill country development. Report for Milestone M3771 associated with SFF Project 408090. Derrick Moot and Sonya Olykan with the Dryland Pastures Research Team & Associates. 30 pp. (PDF 1.3MB).
31 Jan 2017. Establishment and Year 1 data collection and collation. Report for Milestone M3764 associated with SFF Project 408090. Derrick Moot with the Dryland Pastures Research Team & Associates. 22 pp. (PDF 1.3MB).
15 Dec 2016. Optimization of subterranean clover for dryland pastures in New Zealand – Field days. December Report for Milestone M3765 associated with SFF Project 408090. Derrick Moot with the Dryland Pastures Research Team & Associates. 24 pp. (PDF 2.3MB).
14 Oct 2016. Guide for subterranean clover identification and use in New Zealand (1^st Edition). Derrick Moot & the Dryland Pastures Research Group. 38 pp. (PDF 3.0 MB).
30 Jun 2016. Optimization of subterranean clover for dryland pastures in New Zealand. June Progress Report for Milestone M3756 associated with SFF Project 408090. Derrick Moot with the Dryland Pastures Research Team & Associates. 35 pp. (PDF 2.3MB).
05 May 2016. Sub 4 Spring Field Day Booklet, Koromiko North Canterbury. Dick Lucas, Derrick Moot & the Dryland Pastures Research Team. 24 pp. (PDF 1.8 MB).
30 Mar 2016. Optimization of subterranean clover for dryland pastures in New Zealand. June Progress Report for Milestone M3755 associated with SFF Project 408090. Derrick Moot with the Dryland Pastures Research Team & Associates. 12 pp. (PDF 0.8 MB).
30 Nov 2015. Review of published literature on subterranean clover. C.S.P. Teixeira, R.J. Lucas and D.J. Moot. 81 pp. (PDF 1.2 MB).