Agriculture Victoria is currently evaluating 47 different lucerne cultivars for “grazing preference” of sheep.
Agriculture Victoria Senior Research Scientist and project leader, Meredith Mitchell, said the project was evaluating all currently available commercial lucerne cultivars. It would also look at pre-release material from seed companies and some material from China.
“These experiments will help identify traits, for producers to potentially take advantage of,” Dr Mitchell said. “Lucerne is a highly diverse species with large variation in traits and restrictions, such as seasonal growth variations, growth patterns, and tolerance to stresses.”
The experiment is being conducted at Rutherglen and Hamilton.
