The persistence and productivity of 5 annual pasture legume species: French serradella (Ornithopus sativus Brot) cv. Cadiz; rose clover (Trifolium hirtum All.) cv. Hykon; balansa clover (T. michelianum Savi) cv.�Frontier; gland clover (T. glanduliferum) cv. Prima) and subterranean clover (T. subterraneum L.), grown in monocultures or as binary mixtures with subterranean clover cv. Nungarin, were examined on an acid soil (pH�4.7) in the low rainfall wheat belt of south-eastern Australia over a 3-year period of continuous pasture.

Experiments were conducted at three sites across southern New South Wales, Australia, over three years (2008 to 2010), to evaluate the agronomic and quality parameters of two wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), two barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), two oat (Avena sativa L.) and one triticale (× Triticosecale) variety, grown as monocultures or in combination with purple vetch (Vicia benghalensis L.). Harvests occurred when individual cereal varieties were at the boot, anthesis, milk and soft/mid dough stage of maturity; though drought conditions or lodging forced some soft/mid dough stage harvests to be abandoned. Yield and species composition of mixed crops were measured and digestibility, crude protein, water soluble carbohydrates and fibre content were determined. Yield differed between years reflective of growing season rainfall, which varied from 185 to 479 mm. Drought conditions in 2008 were associated with low yield, vetch inclusion and fibre content and high digestibility, water soluble carbohydrates and cereal crude protein content. Conversely, very favourable conditions in 2010 were associated with high yield and fibre content, and lower digestibility, water soluble carbohydrates and cereal crude protein content. Addition of vetch increased crude protein content all crops in 2009 and 2010, and 50% of the crops in 2008. Lodging was observed in later harvests of cereal/vetch crops in 2009 and 2010.

Grazing systems in global Mediterranean and temperate environments rely on natural rangeland plants to support livestock production. However, livestock production can be constrained in these environments during periods when herbage availability is limited and/or herbage quality is sub-optimal. In Mediterranean-type environments, herbage supply and herbage quality gaps are common over summer and into autumn. These pastures are usually dominated by annual plants that germinate in autumn and complete their lifecycle prior to the onset of low moisture-high temperature conditions experienced in summer (Cocks & Thomson, 1988; Moore et al., 1997). In temperate environments, where there is a greater prevalence of perennial plants, inadequate herbage availability in winter often limits livestock production, as pasture growth is constrained by low temperatures (Barrett et al., 2005; Kemp, 1988; Moore et al., 1997). In both Mediterranean and temperate environments of Australia, the timing of opening season rainfall and rainfall received throughout the growing season are the major factors impacting herbage production (Black, 1964; Chapman et al., 2009). Recent modelling has shown increasing variability in autumn rainfall, declining growing season rainfall and tripling (from 20 to 60 days) in the number of spring moisture stress days in the period 2002-2015 compared to 1988-2001 for medium rainfall areas of southeastern Australia (Perera et al., 2020). Despite variability in seasonal conditions, a common feature of both Mediterranean and temperate environments in extensive livestock production systems, such as those in southern Australia, is an excess of spring production relative to

Swards of four cultivars of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) were cut at three different times to determine the effect on forage yield and quality, seed set and seedling regeneration in two successive seasons in southern New South Wales. The four cultivars of subterranean clover (Seaton Park LF, Junee, Goulburn and Clare) were cut on 23-25 September (early cut), 8-10 October (mid cut) or 22-23 October (late cut), to simulate an early silage, late silage or hay cut. Additional treatments imposed included either grazing or leaving the regrowth after cutting and raising the cutting height from 3 to 6 cm.Forage yields ranged from 3.5 to 9.3 t dry matter (DM)/ha in the first year and from 2.0 to 5.9 t DM/ha in the second year. Herbage yield was influenced by both cultivar and harvest time with the highest yields achieved with the mid cut. Lower forage yields at the later cut were attributed to losses due to respiration and decay under dense leaf canopies.Changes in forage quality were consistent across both years, with in vivo DM digestibility declining from 76-79% to 69-70% as cutting time was delayed. Crude protein fell from 22-24% to 14-17% over the same period, depending on cultivar.Seed yields in both years were influenced by both cutting time and cultivar with a positive relationship (R 2 = 0.45-0.61) between herbage present in late spring after a period of regrowth and subsequent seed yield. The early flowering cultivar Seaton Park LF had the highest seed yield in both years and the more erect cultivar Clare had the lowest. Seed yields declined with later cutting time but increased by an average of 39% when the cutting height was raised from 3 to 6 cm. Seedling regeneration reflected seed yield responses with the largest seedling regeneration occurring in treatments cut early.The study found that forage conservation in early October is likely to yield more and be of higher quality than swards cut later in the season. Seed set is greatly reduced by all cutting strategies to levels unprofitable for seed harvesting but may be adequate for pasture regeneration.