Lucerne key in gaining more punch from feed, team finds

• Published date: 26 October 2022

The nitrogen-fixing legume is nestled in six fields within the Lincoln University grounds where the academic and his small team are looking at gaining more punch from its feeding rotation

Lambs contentedly munch on the perennial, oblivious that they’re contributing to important science.

Once a minority player, lucerne — known as alfalfa in other parts of the world — has gained a following among dryland farmers because of its high energy, yield and resilience.

A large tap root reaches deep into the soil to access nutrients and water.

More commonly grown for grazing here, as opposed to being used as hay forage in other areas such as North America, it’s become a pivotal part of the university’s dryland pastures research (DPR) programme.

Initially a climate change project, the focus is on feeding animals well in tough dryland country typically on the East Coast from Central Otago to Gisborne.

The goalposts shifted this month with its genesis becoming even more valid, as the Government announced that farmers face paying a price for their agricultural emissions from 2025.

Prof Moot says the sheep and beef sector has reduced its methane emissions by 30% and its emissions per kilogram of meat over the past 30 years.

Total emissions have gone down because dairying expanded, but better feeding of animals is behind productivity gains going from about one kilogram of methane per 1kg of meat to now 0.7kg of methane for 1kg of meat, he says.

Fewer ewes with a higher lambing percentage have contributed to this with a faster growth rate of lambs to heavier kill weights.

He says more improvement needs to come from productivity, with lucerne playing its part on dryland farms by better feeding of ewes and lambs during the vital lactation phase.

‘‘That’s what we’ve done and we need to continue to do that, but that’s not part of the conversation at the moment.

‘‘There’s a lot of conversations of other forms of trying to reduce our emissions predominantly cutting numbers, lower-emitting sheep, vaccines, seaweed, a number of things experimental.

‘‘How does a farmer do it right now? The only way of doing it is feeding your animals better and getting rid of your lambs and cattle quicker and having fewer of them because they’re more fecund. If you have fewer ewes during the winter then you will have reduced methane as well.’’

He says the jury might be out whether other countries will follow our world-first legislation, but it’s going to land here so we have to deal with it.

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