Review of productivity decline in sown grass pastures

Productivity decline in sown grass pastures is widespread in northern Australia and reduces production by approximately 50%, a farm gate cost to industry of > $17B over the next 30 years. Buffel grass is the most widely established sown species (>75% of plantings) and has been estimated to be “dominant” on 5.8 M hectares and “common” on a further 25.9 M hectares of Queensland. Legumes are the most cost effective mitigation option and can reclaim 30-50% of lost production. Commercial use of legumes has achieved mixed results with notable successes but many failures. There is significant opportunity to improve commercial results from legumes using existing technologies, however there is a need for targeted research to improve the reliability of establishment and productivity of legumes. This review recommends the grazing industry invest in targeted R,D&E to assist industry in improving production and sustainability of rundown pastures.

[1]  A. Webb,et al.  Soil nitrogen status and pasture productivity after clearing of brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) , 1981 .

[2]  P. N. Nelson,et al.  Water and nutrient cycling processes , 2004 .

[3]  F. Robertson,et al.  Nitrogen cycling in brigalow clay soils under pasture and cropping , 1997 .

[4]  A. Moore,et al.  Feed gaps in mixed-farming systems: insights from the Grain & Graze program , 2009 .

[5]  I. Rochester,et al.  Factors regulating the contributions of fixed nitrogen by pasture and crop legumes to different farming systems of eastern Australia , 2004, Plant and Soil.

[6]  M. Stephens,et al.  The Brigalow Catchment Study: III. Productivity changes on brigalow land cleared for long-term cropping and for grazing , 2007 .

[7]  Michael Peters,et al.  Adoption of tropical legume technology around the world : analysis of success , 2006 .

[8]  S. Dalzell,et al.  Leucaena: A guide to establishment and management , 2006 .

[9]  E. Weston,et al.  Potential distribution of major commercial crop grass and legume species in Queensland. , 1984 .

[10]  B. Henry,et al.  Pasture degradation and recovery in Australia's rangelands: learning from history , 2004 .

[11]  Jim Cavaye,et al.  Sustaining Productive Pastures in the Tropics .12. Decision Support Software as An Aid to Managing Pasture Systems , 1991 .

[12]  D. Freebairn,et al.  Why restore marginal cropland to permanent pasture? - land resource and environmental issues , 2007 .

[13]  J. Teitzel,et al.  Productive and stable pasture systems for cattle fattening in the humid tropics. 2. Field testing on a naturally infertile site , 1991 .

[14]  J. Scanlan,et al.  Native Pastures in Queensland. The Resources and their Management , 1988 .

[15]  K. Rickert,et al.  Productivity decline of sown tropical grass pastures with age : the problem and possible solutions. , 1986 .

[16]  J. Dubeux,et al.  Nutrient Cycling in Warm‐Climate Grasslands , 2007 .

[17]  R. Routley,et al.  Poor adoption of ley-pastures in south-west Queensland: biophysical, economic and social constraints , 2009 .

[18]  D. Freebairn,et al.  The Brigalow Catchment Study: II. Clearing brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) for cropping or pasture increases runoff , 2007 .

[19]  R. Dalal,et al.  Total soil organic matter and its labile pools following mulga (Acacia aneura) clearing for pasture development and cropping 1. Total and labile carbon , 2005 .

[20]  J. A. Taylor,et al.  Tropical pasture establishment. 4. Population dynamics of sown species in developing pastures. , 1993 .

[21]  Th Rudder,et al.  The effects of year of birth, dam age, breeding and dam reproductive efficiency on live weights and age at sale of commercially managed steers in central Queensland. , 1982 .

[22]  F. Robertson,et al.  Distribution of Carbon and Nitrogen in a Long-term Cropping System and Permanent Pasture System , 1993 .

[23]  J. Scanlan,et al.  Woody overstorey and herbaceous understorey biomass in Acacia harpophylla (brigalow) woodlands , 1991 .

[24]  R. Mayer,et al.  Long-term trends in fertility of soils under continuous cultivation and cereal cropping in southern Queensland. VII. Dynamics of nitrogen mineralization potentials and microbial biomass , 1987 .

[25]  J. R. Brown,et al.  Rotational Grazing on Rangelands: Reconciliation of Perception and Experimental Evidence , 2008 .

[26]  E. Weston,et al.  Pasture development in Queensland - a success story. , 1990 .

[27]  K. Butler,et al.  Decline in plant and animal production from ageing pastures of green panic (Panicum maximum var. trichoglume) , 1987, The Journal of Agricultural Science.

[28]  G. McKeon,et al.  Nitrogen immobilization in decomposing litter contributes to productivity decline in ageing pastures of green panic (Panicum maximum var. trichoglume) , 1989, The Journal of Agricultural Science.

[29]  M. E. Probert,et al.  Nitrogen inputs from a pasture legume in rotations with cereals in the semi-arid tropics of northern Australia: experimentation and modelling on a clay loam soil , 1996 .

[30]  J. Ladha,et al.  Enhancing legume N2 fixation through plant and soil management , 1995, Plant and Soil.

[31]  R. Gilkes,et al.  The challenge to sustainability of broadacre grain cropping systems on clay soils in northern Australia , 2010 .

[32]  J. Scanlan,et al.  Plant ecological relations in open forests, woodlands and shrublands , 1988 .

[33]  H. Shelton,et al.  Response of Leucaena leucocephala pastures to phosphorus and sulfur application in Queensland , 2010 .

[34]  P. Singleton,et al.  Legume Response to Rhizobial Inoculation in the Tropics: Myths and Realities , 1992 .

[35]  D. Silburn,et al.  The Brigalow Catchment Study revisited: Effects of land development on deep drainage determined from non-steady chloride profiles , 2009 .

[36]  J. Baldock,et al.  Measurement of asymbiotic N2 fixation in Australian agriculture , 2008 .

[37]  A. G. Cameron.  Evaluation of tropical pasture species as leys in the semi-arid tropics of northern Australia. , 1996 .

[38]  R. A. Date.  Bradyrhizobium effectiveness responses in Stylosanthes hamata and S. seabrana , 2010 .

[39]  D. Tilman,et al.  Species effects on nitrogen cycling: a test with perennial grasses , 1990, Oecologia.

[40]  J. Scanlan,et al.  Woody overstorey impact on herbaceous understorey in Eucalyptus spp. communities in central Queensland , 1990 .