AWI is commercialising new breeds of annual legumes, perennial legumes and phalaris cultivars which will be more productive and resilient in conditions ranging from droughts to waterlogged soils, acid soils and salinity.

Sustainable pasture production and utilisation is the foundation on which profitable wool production is based.

High quality wool with good staple strength, low vegetable fault and high yield is absolutely dependent on the supply of quality pasture on a year-round basis.

The benefits of proactive pasture management can spread across every facet of woolgrowing: from drought preparation to maximising the genetic potential of wool. By optimising the conditions in which the right pastures flourish, and ensuring their longevity through careful management, Australian woolgrowers can maximise the productivity of their land.

AWI investments in pasture selection and plant breeding have been focussed on providing wool growers with a suite of varieties for pasture improvement.

AWI has invested in the development of annual legumes through programs such as NAPLIP, perennial grasses (e.g. Phalaris) and legumes (e.g. Lotus) to provide woolgrowers with highly productive pasture species that will thrive across a variety of rainfall zones and environmental conditions.

Recent AWI investments have been focussed on a range of pasture cultivars that are;

• Able to grow in waterlogged conditions
• Persistent through drought
• Tolerant of acidity or salinity.

For high productivity and nitrogen fixation, legumes require an association with rhizobium bacteria. For each legume variety there is a specific rhizobium which optimises production from the pasture. AWI also invests in the development of rhizobium that will increase the productivity of new legume cultivars released to the market.

Through our commercial partners, woolgrowers have access to a wide variety of pasture cultivars. Sowing introduced pastures is expensive and carries risk of failure if the wrong pasture mix is chosen.

AWI projects, such as Pastures Australia and Evergreen, have increased the quality and quantity of information available on pasture varieties, their suitability to different environments and agronomy and management techniques to optimise production.

Pastures Australia

Pastures Australia represents an industry-wide effort to create the most efficient vehicle for future investment in annual grasses, perennial grasses, legumes, shrubs and herbs to best benefit Australian agriculture.

Pastures Australia manages and coordinates future investments in pasture improvement and drive increased returns from pastures in Australian farming systems.

Pastures play a vital role in the production of meat, wool, grains, milk and fodder, and it is the generic nature of pastures that provides an opportunity for coordinated effort by the five reseach and development corporations: Australian Wool Innovation, Grains Research and Development Corporation, Meat and Livestock Australia, Dairy Australia and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.

Pastures Australia provides a mechanism for increasing communication and cooperation along the value chain for pastures: from breeder to commercial seed company to producer.

It makes strategic investments to increase the efficiency of that value chain, but will not invest in activities that will compete with the private sector. Future investments in plant breeding are subject to analysis of the market demand for the product and evidence of market failure in the private sector.

Pastures Australia is the vehicle for future investment in annual and perennial grasses and legumes, shrubs and herbs. Early investments were focussed on increasing the adoption of new pasture varieties in farming systems by:

• Increasing knowledge and understanding of the agronomy and management requirements of new pastures species 
• Providing a “one stop shop” website where producers can source information on pasture varieties, their adaptation and performance under different environmental conditions.

Pastures Australia is also investigating the potential to utilise new genetic tools and breeding technologies to reduce the time taken to develop new varieties and demonstrate their genetic gain over standard industry varieties.

AWI funding ceased at the end of June 2009.

NAPLIP

Finalising in 2006, the NAPLIP - National Annual Pasture Legume Improvement Program - and its predecessors, delivered to Australian producers more than 50 different types of commercially available legumes specifically designed to improve farm output.

The program has developed superior pasture options for agricultural producers in the high rainfall and sheep/wheat zones of southern Australia.

Highlights of NAPLIP include:

• Two new subterranean clovers, Izmir and Coolamon, are expected to boost cropping and livestock industries through greater productivity and nitrogen inputs for WA producers.
• Two medics resistant to blue-green aphids, Jester barrel medic and Toreador disc medic hybrid, are finding favour with sheep/wheat farmers on alkaline soils, particularly in South Australia and western Victoria.
• Napier sub clover has been commercialised, and is a likely replacement for Meteora sub clover.
• Prima gland clover resists attack by red-legged earthmites, spotted and cowpea aphids, tolerates frost and is now available to producers.
• Bolta and Frontier balansa clovers are resistant to water logging.
• Urana is a new early season sub clover.
• Balansa and Persian clovers are suited to low rainfall zones
• Coolamon sub clover was released to replace the mid-season sub clover cultivar, Junee.
• Cavalier and Scimitar are spineless burr medics suited to heavy alkaline soils where sub clovers don't persist.

How can I buy NAPLIP varieties?

Commercially developed legume varieties are available through seed merchants and rural merchandisers in each state.

How can get information on the NAPLIP varieties available?

‘Pasture Legumes for the Temperate Farming Systems The Ute Guide,’  and “Pasture Legumes for Subtropical Grain and Pastoral Systems The Ute Guide were published by GRDC and AWI to facilitate selection of pasture species for  individual enterprises and locations. The guides can be ordered from the GRDC website or from Ground Cover Direct on Free Phone 1800 11 00 44.

The following websites provide information on NAPLIP varieties and their suitability for a range of environments:

• http://www.seedmark.com.au/
• http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/
• http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/field/pastures-and-rangelands/species-varieties
• http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/field/pastures-and-rangelands/management
• http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/
• www.dpi.qld.gov.au/pastures/
• http://www.sardi.sa.gov.au/

Partners

NAPLIP was a joint initiative of Australian Wool Innovation and the Grains Research and Development Corporation, in conjunction with the WA Department of Agriculture, the SA Research and Development Institute, NSW Department of Primary Industries, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, the Victorian Department of Primary Industry, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, the University of Adelaide and the Centre for Legume Improvement in Mediterranean Agriculture at the University of Western Australia.

Phalaris

Phalaris is the most widely-sown, deep-rooted, temperate perennial grass for the inland high-rainfall zone and adjacent cropping areas in southern Australia. AWI and CSIRO developed new cultivars to improve phalaris performance.

It has been sown on at least 2.5 million ha in the last 100 years, the highest levels of planting occurring from the 1960s until today. The high value and importance of phalaris in productive grazing systems is unique to Australia as all cultivars came from the phalaris improvement program run by CSIRO.

AWI invested with CSIRO in the development of the widely planted and utilised cultivars Atlas PG, Australian II, Holdfast and Landmaster.

AWI and CSIRO recently invested in the development of three new phalaris cultivars for particular environments: 

• A general-purpose winter-active cultivar with improved persistence under heavy grazing pressure and targeted at areas where phalaris is widely adopted
• An aluminium tolerant cultivar for strongly acidic soils
• A heat tolerant cultivar better adapted to the north-west slopes of NSW.

The phalaris development program emphasised persistence because of its importance in gaining economic and environmental returns from perennial pastures.

Benefits of new phalaris species

The new winter-active cultivar, with improved persistence under grazing, represents a significant improvement in the adaptation of phalaris to intensive grazing systems, combining the grazing tolerance of Australian phalaris with the high productivity of the winter-active cultivars. The winter active cultivar will be commercially available in 2010. Commercial success could see this cultivar sown on 0.5-1.0 million ha in the ten years following its release.

The new acid tolerant cultivar will be commercially available in 2010. This cultivar is projected to allow more reliable establishment of phalaris on 0.3 million ha of acidic soils in southern Australia.

The heat tolerant cultivar developed for the north-west slopes of NSW is projected to provide high quality forage and help fill the severe winter feed gap on 0.35 million ha in this region.

Lotus

AWI is currently investigating new means to spread the usage of Lotus and increase its tolerance to acid and waterlogged soils.

Grazing and mixed farming enterprises in the 450-700 mm rainfall zone of southern Australia support over 50% of the Australian sheep flock and rely on legumes to drive crop and animal productivity.

Lucerne is currently the only perennial legume available for these enterprises, but it will not persist in the 7.6 million ha of acid and waterlogged soils that are also prevalent in this zone.

AWI is funding a project with the Future Farm Industries CRC to commercialie perennial lotus legumes developed specifically to help improve pasture quality in acidic and waterlogged soils in southern Australia.

Several perennial lotus species tolerate low pH and transient waterlogging, and some of these species provide higher wool growth rates per kg of dry matter than lucerne.

As an additional advantage, lotus contains tannins that protect ruminants from bloat and suppress the activity of some internal parasites.

Evergreen

The Evergreen program is investigating and encouraging the use of tropical and sub-tropical perennial pastures to alleviate issues such as salinity, whilst increasing the feed profile.

Evergreen Farming Inc was established in 1997 by a group of farmers interested in increasing the use of perennial pastures in south-west WA.

Farms in south-west WA are predominantly sown with annual pasture which provide a flush of feed in spring but often result in feed gaps through late summer and autumn.

These annual systems have relatively low water use and leak excess water to the groundwater system. The excess water is discharged in low-lying areas of the landscape which quickly become salinised.

Increasing the quantity of perennial pastures in the system will increase water use, improve the feed profile and reduce the impact of salinity in the landscape. Salinity affects two million ha in WA and five million ha nationally.

In recent years on-farm demonstrations of tropical and sub-tropical (C4) perennial grasses, such as Rhodes, Panic, Signal and Splenda Setaria and Kikuyu, have demonstrated increased water use, dry matter production and reduced leakage to groundwater. Evergreen believe that these C4 perennial grasses offer great potential to increase the productivity of farming systems and can significantly decrease current and potential impact of salinisation in WA.

The AWI funded Evergreen project ran commercial validation trials to investigate;

• The performance of C4 perennial grasses in south west WA
• Establishment techniques for C4 perennial grasses with an emphasis on weed control, time of sowing and sowing method.
• The effect of grazing management on animal performance and pasture persistence.
• Water use under C4 perennial grass pastures compared to annual pasture.

AWI funding in Evergreen has now ceased.

Rhizobium

Each legume species has a specific rhizobium bacteria strain which, through attaching itself to plants roots, maximises the ability of legumes to fix soil nitrogen and hence drive productivity of the whole pasture.

Woolgrowers rely on nitrogen-fixing legumes such as lucerne, subterranean clover and medics to increase pasture productivity and wool quality.

A legume pasture’s ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen is totally dependant on the seed being inoculated with rhizobium bacteria at the time of sowing. The rhizobia invade the plants root system to create a symbiotic relationship between the plant and bacteria.

Each legume species has its own specific rhizobium strain which maximises the plants ability to fix nitrogen once attached to the roots.

As a result, legume pastures are high in protein, easily digestible and very fertile for the soil via the fixing of atmospheric nitrogen.

The increased soil fertility benefits both the grass and legume species that are present in the pasture as well as the subsequent crop phases in a mixed farming system.

The National Rhizobium Program screened and selected specific rhizobia for each new annual or perennial legume species released in Australia. It was funded by AWI and GRDC.