Quantifying leucaena cultivation extent on grazing land

Beutel, Terrence S.; Corbet, D. H.; Hoffmann, Madonna B.; Buck, S.; Kienzle, Marco

doi:10.1071/rj17085

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Shelton and Dalzell (2007) estimate that ~13.5 Mha of land is suitable for planting leucaena in the state of Queensland; this represents 9.2% of the grazing area in the state. Beutel et al (2018) estimated that, in 2018, leucaena was present in 123 500 ha of pastures. Leucaena has a deep and well-developed taproot facilitating rapid growth and greater access to water and nutrient reserves in lower soil horizons than grasses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the productivity and feed value of Wondergraze and Redlands leucaena cultivars under grazing

Charmley

McSweeney²,

Bishop-Hurley³

et al. 2023

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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Context. Leucaena leucocephala (leucaena) is a leguminous shrub used for beef grazing in lowrainfall regions (<600-700 mm). Newer cultivars have the potential to extend adoption of the species to higher rainfall (>600-700 mm), frost-free areas of Australia. Aim. We compared productivity, nutritional value and animal performance of two leucaena cultivars, new psyllidresistant Redlands and the 2010-released Wondergraze, under continuous grazing management in a higher rainfall environment. Methods. Growing steers were allocated to replicated established stands of Wondergraze or Redlands with inter-row mixed grass-legume pasture from January to July 2021. Pasture and leucaena were characterised for biomass and nutritive characteristics. Botanical composition was measured. Liveweight gain, rumen fermentation, and leucaena mimosine breakdown products were measured in grazing steers. Key results. At the beginning of the study, leucaena edible biomass was similar for both cultivars (P > 0.05), but at subsequent samplings, biomass of Redlands was lower than of Wondergraze (P < 0.01). Biomass of both cultivars declined rapidly over the grazing period. Pasture biomass increased between February and July and was significantly higher in Wondergraze paddocks (P < 0.05). Animal performance was not significantly different between cultivar treatments, averaging 0.8 kg/day, but declined over time. Patterns of mimosine conversion to DHP isomers and their conjugation were similar for the two cultivars, suggesting that effectiveness of detoxification did not differ between them. Conclusion. The results demonstrate that leucaena can sustain high levels of animal performance when included in tropical grass pastures in a higher rainfall environment if present in a sufficient quantity (>2 t leucaena edible dry matter/ha established leucaena). Implications. Grazing leucaena-grass pastures is an effective means of increasing animal productivity in parts of subtropical Australia. However, managing grass and/or leucaena growth to match animal requirements can be challenging.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the productivity and feed value of Wondergraze and Redlands leucaena cultivars under grazing

Charmley

McSweeney²,

Bishop-Hurley³

et al. 2023

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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“…de Wit. has been broadly adopted for use across the tropics, providing valuable forage (Takahashi and Ripperton 1949;Beutel et al 2018), wood pulp (Khanna et al 2019) and bioenergy (Haruthaithanasan et al 2010;Tanavat et al 2011). However, these introductions have come at a considerable cost to native ecosystems, with L. leucocephala becoming a notoriously invasive weed (Dadant 1953;Petty 1969;Campbell et al 2019;Idol 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…de Wit. has been broadly adopted for use across the tropics, providing valuable forage (Takahashi and Ripperton 1949; Beutel et al . 2018), wood pulp (Khanna et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Successful creation of seedless (sterile) leucaena germplasm developed from interspecific hybridisation for use as forage

Real

Revell²,

Han³

et al. 2022

Crop & Pasture Science

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Context. The legume shrub/tree leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit.) is highly regarded as a cattle fodder, although it is considered an environmental weed in many parts of Australia. Aims. We investigated the feasibility of developing a forage variety of triploid leucaena through interspecific hybridisation that is sterile (without seeds) as a strategy to mitigate its weed risk. Methods. A conventional breeding strategy was used to create triploid hybrids from handcrosses between tetraploid and diploid species of leucaena. Molecular markers were developed to confirm successful crosses and flow cytometry was used to confirm the ploidy level. The plants are being evaluated for flowering behaviour, seed and herbage production across two environmentally diverse sites at Carnarvon and Kununurra in northern Western Australia. Key results. During 2018/19 and 2019/20, 2260 crosses between 45 different combinations of diploid females by tetraploid males and their reciprocals have created over 3000 putative triploid hybrid plants. This is the first time that triploids have successfully been created in Australia and 10 new parental combinations were created as a world-first. Conclusions. A cohort of sterile triploid plants has been identified and selections will be made based on their edible biomass productivity, insect tolerance, capacity for regrowth after cutting, nutritive value and plant chemistry (including anti-methanogenic responses). A sterile leucaena variety will have application not only in Australian grazing systems but also in other tropical regions of the world. Implications. A cost-effective technology for mass vegetative propagation of leucaena will be required for commercialisation of a sterile variety.

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Productivity and profitability of alternative steer growth paths resulting from accessing high-quality forage systems in the subtropics of northern Australia: a modelling approach

Bowen¹,

Chudleigh²

2019

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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Beef producers have to determine the best allocation of a limited resource of high-quality forage. This analysis assessed the most profitable way of incorporating high-quality forages into the whole-of-life steer growth path on forage systems in central Queensland, using property-level, regionally relevant herd models that determine whole-of-business productivity and profitability over a 30-year investment period. Twenty-two growth paths (liveweight change over time) from weaning to marketing were investigated for steers grazing buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) pastures with and without access to leucaena–grass pastures (Leucaena leucocephala spp. glabrata + perennial, tropical grass (C4) species) or forage oats (Avena sativa) for varying intervals throughout their growth path. The production, economic and financial effect of each growth path was assessed by comparison to a base scenario that produced finished, slaughter steers (605 kg) from buffel grass pastures. The relative profitability of marketing steers at feedlot entry (feed-on) weight (474 kg) instead of slaughter weights was also assessed. The growth paths were applied within two beef enterprises, namely (1) steer turnover and (2) breeding and finishing. For both enterprises, grazing steers on leucaena-grass pastures from weaning until they achieved feedlot entry weight (474 kg) was substantially more profitable than any other growth path. Compared with the base scenario, this optimal growth path improved profitability by 121% and 37% for the steer turnover and the breeding and finishing enterprises respectively. The purchase of additional breeders for the latter enterprise was required to optimise utilisation of the leucaena–grass pastures immediately. Incorporating leucaena–grass pastures at any steer age improved the profitability of the steer turnover enterprise (AU$7368–AU$106508 extra profit/annum), and similarly for the breeding and finishing enterprise (AU$1754–AU$31383 extra profit/annum) except for two scenarios where leucaena–grass pastures were provided to older steers targeted at the feed-on market (AU$4816 and AU$23886 less profit/annum). However, incorporation of leucaena–grass into steer growth paths also resulted in increased peak deficit levels and financial risk to the business compared with buffel grass-only production systems, with payback periods for the most profitable growth path of 8 and 14 years for the steer turnover and the breeding and finishing enterprise respectively. All growth paths that incorporated forage oats and leucaena–grass resulted in lower economic and financial performance than did comparable growth paths that incorporated leucaena–grass only. Furthermore, incorporating oats into buffel grass-only growth paths always reduced the enterprise profitability. There was no relationship, across scenarios within an enterprise, between change in profit and the number of extra weaners produced or the amount of extra beef produced per hectare.

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Quantifying leucaena cultivation extent on grazing land

Cited by 4 publications

References 9 publications

Evaluation of the productivity and feed value of Wondergraze and Redlands leucaena cultivars under grazing

Evaluation of the productivity and feed value of Wondergraze and Redlands leucaena cultivars under grazing

Successful creation of seedless (sterile) leucaena germplasm developed from interspecific hybridisation for use as forage

Productivity and profitability of alternative steer growth paths resulting from accessing high-quality forage systems in the subtropics of northern Australia: a modelling approach

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