Effects of grazing and haycutting on the yield and persistence of dryland aphid-resistant lucerne cultivars at Tamworth, New South Wales

Published source details Lodge G.M. (1985) Effects of grazing and haycutting on the yield and persistence of dryland aphid-resistant lucerne cultivars at Tamworth, New South Wales. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 25, 138-148.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Use grazing instead of cutting for pasture or grassland management Action Link

Use grazing instead of cutting for pasture or grassland management

A randomised, replicated experiment in 1977-1981 involving 22 lucerne Medicago sativa varieties in New South Wales, Australia (Lodge 1985) found lower yields when lucerne was grazed (average total 16,230 kg/ha over four years) rather than cut (30,893 kg/ha). Another experiment testing seven varieties found the same effect (9,740 vs. 19,122 kg/ha in grazed vs. cut over 3.5 years). The number of lucerne plants in grazed and cut plots declined by 89% and 51% (respectively) over four years in the first experiment and by 82% and 39% over 3.5 years in the second. Lucerne varieties that are active in winter performed better than dormant varieties when both types were grazed (9,887-11,611 vs. 7,638-9,991 kg/ha yields), but yields were similar for these varieties in cut plots (16,067-21,213 vs. 19,040-20,954 kg/ha) in the second experiment. All lucerne varieties were tested in four replicate plots (10 x 2 m) divided into grazing areas of 8 x 2 m (grazed with 85 Merino sheep/ha) and cutting areas of 2 x 2 m. Grazing occurred approximately every 6 weeks and for 4-29 days each time (202-287 days in total). Yields were measured as dry vegetation matter. Effects on natural processes of pest control were not presented.