A change of pace this week with my thoughts on our well-regarded perennial legume crop called Lucerne. This mostly fodder crop has been around for centuries in overseas countries and is highly regarded by many sectors of the Australian landscape.
I was asked on X (was Twitter) for my two tips for giving Lucerne survivability and persistence.
I could have said having a healthy soil with key nutrients like Potassium, Phosphorus, Calcium and Sulphur present in the Lucerne plant’s root zone. However, I didn’t.
I did, however, mention choosing your variety carefully or, more specifically, your crown type carefully. The crown of a Lucerne plant sits atop the big root system and is the powerhouse for producing your Lucerne plant’s stems or stalks with fresh leaves aplenty.
These high or low crowns in different varieties are basically positioned on the soil surface of this root system, which delves down into the soil many metres given time.
The crown is a key part of your stem or stalk production, plus a huge assist on the long-term survivability and profitability of your Lucerne paddock.
The crown can be from 2 to 4 inches across and so easily damaged; animal hooves and new very heavy grip tractor tyres are two methods of potential crown damage. The crown is made of hard plant or root material and when ripped apart looks a whitish colour inside. However, even so, damage the crown and the Lucerne plant will not forgive you and eventually will die from some dreadful disease.
The other point I make in relation to Lucerne survivability is not letting it get its feet wet for too long.
It definitely does not like standing in any amount of water, post-rainstorm or runoff from an irrigation event. I lost count of the number of occasions where a young farm lad named Paul was despatched by my father to a Lucerne block to drain (by the shovel method of course) the excess water away from several Lucerne blocks we had in our South Burnett farms.
I did not mention it, however having your Lucerne plants very healthy across a range of criteria is a major point to ward off various diseases and insects like Leaf Rollers, etc.
So the extra points for successful Lucerne growing is try and ensure no dry growing conditions, big maintenance of nutrition in the root zone and mitigate any sub-soil constraints.
Invariably 90% of things wrong with a Lucerne crop is not enough water.
Of course, there is always a surprise in growing plants in our climate extremes, however take confidence in the fact that Lucerne is fairly tough and with some basic agronomic skills looking after your crop, will give you a long-lived Lucerne crop.
Regards,
Paul McIntosh (JP Qual)
Paul McIntosh has been involved in providing broadacre agronomic support since 1977. Since 2015, Paul has held combined roles with Pulse Australia and Weedsmart, as an industry development and extension agronomist. His regular weeds column is published in a number of places including New England Times Engage.
Got something on your mind? Go on then, engage. Submit your opinion piece, letter to the editor, or Quick Word now.