In New Zealand, many farmers moved away from Lucerne in the 1970’s and 80’s because of pest and diseases which decimated stands of the widely used, and high susceptible, cultivar ‘Wairau’. The majority of farmers used it for conservation cuts. Plant breeding resulted in the release of newer cultivars which were resistant to or tolerant of attack. However, over time the knowledge of how to manage the crop was lost and it gained the reputation of being expensive to establish and difficult to manage.
Research at Lincoln which has improved management flexibility is mainly due to work which has allowed us a greater understanding of how, when and why lucerne responds to environment and management decisions.
The research conducted has been used to create a practical management guide for farmers who are moving to direct grazing of lucerne (also known as alfalfa). The guide outlines what happens and when – basically an on-farm cheat sheet to getting started and what to expect.
Most recently, Rachel Fields, Derrick Moot and Graham Barrell have put together a 4 page handout you can save or print out about “Identifying oestrogenic lucerne crops and pre-mating ewe management” There’s some great practical information for those planning on flushing on lucerne in autumn.
On-farm success with lucerne at ‘Bonavaree’ in Marlborough was highlighted at the Beyond Reasonable Drought field day in May 2008.
On-farm success with lucerne at ‘Bonavaree’ in Marlborough was highlighted at the Beyond Reasonable Drought field day in May 2008. For more information refer to the downloadable documents below.
Our Dryland Pastures Blog also provides practical information from ‘Bonavaree’ which outlines seasonal activity and planning for a successful direct grazed lucerne system in a dryland environment and a range of information on subjects including recovery from drought and set stocking.
Researchers
- Derrick Moot, Head of Dryland Pastures Research
- Annamaria Mills, Research Associate
- Malcolm Smith, Research Technician
- Alistair Black, Senior Lecturer
- Keith Pollock, Research Technician
Students
- Hamish Brown (PhD)
- Edmar Teixiera (PhD)
- Hung Ta (PhD)
- Xiumei Yang (PhD)
- Sarch Hoppen (PhD)
- Jian (Frank) Liu (M.Ag.Sci.)
- Travis Ryan-Salter (PhD)
- Katheyn Wigley (PhD)
- Rachel Fields (PhD)
- Georgia King (B.Ag.Sci. Honours)
- Grace Clouston (B.Ag.Sci. Honours)
- Tim Reynolds ((B.Ag.Sci. Honours)
- Saman Berenji (PhD)
- Richard Sim (PhD)
- Emma Coutts (B.Ag.Sci. Honours)
- Kate Murray-Cawte (B.Ag.Sci. Honours)
- Lisa Box (B.Ag.Sci. Honours)
- Alice Speedy (B.Ag.Sci. Honours)
- Qakathekile Khumalo (M.Sci.)
- Sarah Bennett (B.Ag.Sci. Honours)
- Natalie Stocker (B.Ag.Sci. Honours)
- Alexandre Varella (PhD)
Blog posts
- 20/02/2013. Flushing and mating on Lucerne – the stuff you need to know
- 20/03/2013. Post drought recovery – the stuff you need to know
- 10/09/2013. Spring Management of Lucerne
- 07/10/2013. Management of lucerne stands under aphid attack
- 14/02/2014. Resurrecting a mid-age flood damaged lucerne stand
- 31/10/2014. Set stocking lucerne in early spring – the stuff you need to know
- 15/01/2015. Putting a price on lucerne
- 22/01/2015. Summer grazing management of lucerne
- 04/02/2015. How to rotationally graze lucerne in summer
- 09/02/2015. Effective irrigation of lucerne stands
- 28/07/2015. Winter grazing management for lucerne stands
- 17/08/2015. Winter weed control in lucerne and grazing management of the annual clover pastures at Ashley Dene
- 01/09/2015. State of the lucerne and lucerne-grass mixtures at Ashley Dene in early spring
- 17/09/2015. Grazing begins in the lucerne monocultures on 17 Sept 2015
- 24/09/2015. Stocking rate and quality of direct grazed lucerne in early spring
- 20/10/2015. Grazing a runout lucerne stand
- 23/10/2015. How to successfully set stock lucerne during the spring lactation phase
- 04/11/2015. How to reduce the lifespan of your lucerne by set stocking
- 04/11/2015. How to avoid reducing the life of your lucerne stand when set stocking
- 02/12/2015. Preliminary spring production data from lucerne
- 02/12/2015. Lucerne root growth and access to soil moisture
- 29/01/2016. State of spring sown lucerne during the establishment phase prior to the first graze
- 21/04/2016. Evaluation of three lucerne cultivars with different fall dormancy ratings
- 26/04/2016. Status of a spring sown lucerne cultivar evaluation in early autumn
- 06/05/2016. Effects of oestrogen content of lucerne on ewe ovulation rates
- 18/08/2016. Soil moisture status in winter
- 02/12/2016. Lucerne in dairy systems
- 16/03/2016. Disappointing lucerne not so disappointing – when you do the right calculations!
- 31/07/2017. Causes of elevated coumestrol content in lucerne
- 10/04/2018. Tupping on lucerne – Autumn 2018 update
- 13/08/2018. Lambing under way at Bonavaree
- 07/09/2018. Lucerne transformation
- 25/10/2018. Keep Sowing Legumes
- 17/08/2020. Lucerne – bending the rules at lambing
Downloads
| 2017 Causes of elevated coumesterol in lucerne and mitigation of subsequent risk to ewe reproductive performance. Rachel Fields |  |
| 2017 Identifying oestrogenic lucerne crops and pre-mating ewe management. Rachel Fields, Derrick Moot and Graham Barrell | |
| 2015 Impact of autumn (fall) dormancy on growth and development of seedling lucerne. H.T. Ta, Edmar Teixeira and Derrick Moot | |
| 2016 Liveweight production of ewes and lambs grazing a dryland lucerne monoculture with or without barley grain supplementation. Derrick Moot, Anna Mills, Mart-Marie Roux and M.C. Smith | |
| 14 May 2008. Moot DJ. Lucerne: grazing for production and persistence. Field day handout from Beyond Reasonable Drought. Adapting farming to Climate Change. A Field day at ‘Bonavaree’ Marlborough as part of the Starborough Flaxbourne Soil Conservation Project. | |
| 14 May 2008. Moot DJ, Avery D, Avery F. Seasonal priorities for successful grazing management of lucerne. In: Beyond Reasonable Drought. Adapting farming to Climate Change. P Wardle, H Collins (Eds.). Publications from a Field day at ‘Bonavaree’ Marlborough as part of the Starborough Flaxbourne Soil Conservation Project. Published by the New Zealand Landcare Trust. (SFF Project No. 05/132). p 17-22. | |
| 21/03/2019. Winefield, C. 2019. Tannin accumulation, biochemistry and genetics in the genus Medicago. Report prepared for Graham Butcher of Rural Solutions, Gore. 13 p. (PDF 0.4 MB). | |
| 01 Janr 2011. Practical Lucerne Management Guide. Derrick Moot and Malcolm Smith. (PDF 0.3 MB). | |
| 05 Nov 2014. Roux M, Leask S, Moot DJ. 2014. Yield & composition of lucerne stands in Central Otago after different winter grazing and weed control treatments. NZ Grassland Association Conference presentation. Alexandra. (PDF 3.0 MB). | |
| 05 Nov 2014. Anderson D, Anderson L, Moot DJ, Ogle GI. 2014. Integrating lucerne (Medicago sativa) into a high country merino system. NZGA Conference presentation. Alexandra. (PDF 0.3 MB). | |