Seed Distributors - Science Based Pasture®

LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• 54Q53 LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• L56 LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• Q75 LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• L90 LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• L91 LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• MULTILEAF® ML99 LUCERNE FEEDBACK

• MEDIC FEEDBACK
• RYEGRASS FEEDBACK
• LEGUMES FEEDBACK
• FORAGE CEREALS FEEDBACK
• SPRING OPTIONS FEEDBACK
• SOWSMART BLENDS FEEDBACK
• ESTABLISHMENT GUARANTEE FEEDBACK

	Chris Randall - 54Q53 Lucerne “54Q53 is giving me excellent hay quality. I’ll be growing more 54Q53 because it gives me the same yield as other more active varieties from fewer cuts each year. I’m getting the same amount of hay with better hay quality for less work” Chris Randall “Springfield” Pallamallawa, NSW

Jake Thompson - 54Q53 Lucerne
“We have been aiming at a hay yield per season of 20t/ha from the 54Q53. We are wrapped with it.” Individual cuts this season have yielded 5 t/ha each. The 54Q53 is into its second year after being sown in the autumn of 2005. The autumn sowing was preferred with the ability to spray the weeds out prior to sowing and then apply an in-crop herbicide for better weed control. This season the available irrigation water has been managed for the better lucerne paddocks. “We will grow more 54Q53 next year”
Jake Thompson (farming with Glen Thompson) Kyabram, Victoria

Ross Didio - 54Q53 Lucerne
Approximately 73 hectares of the specialist hay variety 54Q53 is grown on the property with the stands ranging in age from four to seven years. The variety thrives throughout the summer and is cut for hay every four to six weeks. It hold on well if a later cut is needed and yields of 2 t/acre (5 t/ha) have been achieved on individual cuts. “We try and get to a quality and maintain it”. Up to six cuts per year are can be accomplished if the good weather continues through until May.
Ross Didio, Stratford, East Gippsland, Victoria

David Barker - 54Q53 Lucerne
The varieties of 54Q53, L56 and L55 have stood out for yield and quality in the local area. I do a bit of hay contracting and there has been a lot of lucerne put in using reclaimed water. One patch of 54Q53 which was 6.5 to 7 acres yielded 404 bales this time with 500 last cut and more than 600 the cut before. The paddocks have been going really well with some still in the first or second year. We generally make 25 kilogram bales. 54Q53, L56 and L55 don’t get too stalky and produce nice leafy green bales.
David Barker, Virginia SA

	Bill Gribben - 54Q53 Lucerne 54Q53 and L56 are used to produce hay on the property.The winter dormancy of 54Q53 makes it particularly useful high quality hay variety. It will produce excellent yields of hay throughout the summer months and then virtually shut off during the autumn and winter periods. Bill Gribben, Shepparton VIC

Daryl & Maurice Nicol - 54Q53 Lucerne
We are very happy with 54Q53. It has a lot of vigour and is not too stalky. The 54Q53 hay is sold into the horse market. In its first full season of production this season we should get six cuts off it. The crop has yielded up to 70 bales/acre on some cuts with approximately 40 bales to the tonne. We currently have 30 acres and as the other varieties get older we are replacing them with 54Q53. It really jumps out of the ground after cutting.
Daryl & Maurice Nicol, Virginia SA

Murray Stewart - 54Q53 Lucerne
Dormant varieties working well on Lindenow property. A range of more dormant lucerne varieties have worked well for hay, silage and grazing on the property of Murray Stewart at Lindenow, in the Gippsland region of Victoria. Mr Stewart said he had tried a number of different lucerne varieties over the years with mixed success and was leaning more towards the more winter dormant options. He said a stand of Goldstrike 54Q53 lucerne was still producing well after seven years and had provided up to six cuts per season. The first and last cuts were generally taken for silage with the four cuts during the middle of the summer harvested for hay. Mr Stewart said he had tried a winter active variety which provided an extra cut over the summer but over the course of the year yielded one and a half tonnes per hectare less than the more dormant options. He said the hay and silage were sold off-farm to a range of customers with big squares of hay, small squares of hay, round bales of hay and round bale silage produced to meet end-user needs. The lucerne also provides valuable feed for fat lambs during the autumn following the final silage cut. Grazing over the winter period also helps with weed control. The winter dormant varieties such as 54Q53 are generally sown in the spring time for better emergence and vigour during the warmer weather conditions. It is also a good option for weed control. Mr Stewart said he would normally grow a variety for five seasons, take it out and replace it with a maize crop, and then return to lucerne the following season. 54Q53 has impressed with its persistence with the stand continuing to produce after seven years. Good stand management is a key to the longevity with nutrition, weed control and irrigation key elements of long-term success. Typically the stand was watered immediately after the previous forage crop was harvested and also received good nutrition along with trace elements during the same period. Mt Stewart said regular feed tests were taken from the lucerne with protein contents of 21 to 23 percent achieved along with energy at between 10.2 and 10.9 ME. He said if there was a lot of hay around potential customers tended to ask for feed tests and buy hay on the result. When hay is short the feed tests are not so critical for sales, although a quality product is being presented in any case. “Some dairy farmers are switched on a bit more and will pay a premium for a quality product,” Mr Stewart said. The lucerne is generally sown at a rate of 20 kilograms per hectare on the flatter irrigation country, with the rate reduced to between 12 and 15 kilograms per hectare on the hills. A stand of L56 semi-winter dormant lucerne was sown on the property this season and is expected to go well after good reports from other local growers.
Murray Stewart of Lindenow, in the Gippsland region of Victoria

Matthew Neumann - 54Q53 Lucerne
54Q53 lucerne the best option for chaffing. Goldstrike 54Q53 lucerne has proved an excellent option on the property of Matthew Neumann of Mundulla, in South Australia to supply a mill for chaff. Mr Neumann said they had been growing 54Q53 under centre pivots for the past six years with the majority of hay produced during the last three years used to supply a chaff mill in western Victoria. He said the miller believed the variety to be the best for chaffing and had been very happy with the quality of hay produced. The 54Q53 variety has consistently yielded between 18 and 22 tonnes per hectare over many years and has also been used for lambing in the autumn. Mr Neumann said they would generally get five cuts per season from the variety with the first cut taken as silage early in the season. Between 1200 and 1500 rolls of silage are produced each year and used on-farm for the sheep. The second cut is normally very good with yields of 4 tonnes per hectare regularly achieved from the different blocks. At the end of the season the fifth cut is taken off and the crop is then allowed to regrow. “We allow it to get up and going and then put first cross ewes at the point of lambing into the paddock,” Mr Neumann said. “The lucerne certainly helps with milk production and the lambs do really well.” He said the oldest stand was six years old and still producing high yields of quality hay. The chaffing market supplied with the variety has taken between 20,000 to 30,000 small square bales each year and provides a premium for the quality of hay. “We need to have it spot on,” Mr Neumann said. “For the height of the crop, there is always a lot of bulk and yield,” he said. “If you have two similar looking lucerne crops the 54Q53 will always outyield the other.” There are approximately 140 hectares of 54Q53 grown on the property with a further planting planned for the coming season.
Matthew Neumann of Mundulla, South Australia

Michael Gaffy - 54Q53 Lucerne
Hay for the horse market with lucerne variety. Goldstrike 54Q53 lucerne has proved to be an ideal option for the horse market for Michael Gaffy, at Mooroopna, in the Goulburn Valley of Victoria. Mr Gaffy has four irrigation pivots on the property and uses the 54Q53 variety to produce hay and chaff in a premium market. He said lucerne was a premium feed and he was looking to produce a quality product to get a premium price. The area is used for forage production and not for grazing by stock, so a lucerne variety that was totally winter dormant was chosen for the application. Mr Gaffy said the oldest stand had been in for four years and had produced a quality product throughout that time. Yield will vary from year to year, however an overall average of between 16 to 18 tonnes per season per hectare have regularly been achieved. “We are continually working on our management to improve things,” Mr Gaffy said. He said the hay quality needs to be very good with the horse industry typically wanting a green, good looking product. The hay is sold and targeted at the horse industry through produce stores and to racehorse, trotting, warmblood horse and pony people. Mr Gaffy said lucerne was good to grow and you could control most of the problems that arose through the season. Approximately six cuts of lucerne are achieved each season with both small square bales as hay and large square bales destined for chaff, harvested.
Michael Gaffy of Mooroopna in the Goulburn Valley, Victoria

Noel Taylor - 54Q53 Lucerne
Seven year stand for hay. “My 54Q53 lucerne stand is now 7 years old and has averaged 6 hay cuts per year. I like winter dormant lucerne because it lasts longer, gives me big yields each cut, and makes good quality hay. We use all of our lucerne on our own farm for our cattle and horses and get good weight gains when we use the 54Q53 hay as a supplementary feed for the cattle on oat crops.”
Noel Taylor of Quirindi, NSW