Adoption, profitability and future of leucaena feeding systems in Australia

Abstract

Keynote paper presented at the International Leucaena Conference, 1‒3 November 2018, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala ssp. glabrata) is a highly palatable and productive forage used mainly by beef producers on extensive properties in northern Australia. When sown into native or sown grass pastures, leucaena provides significant production, economic, environmental and social benefits. Adoption of leucaena was slow initially due to a range of technical, agronomic and landscape factors. These have now been largely overcome through extensive research, development, producer experience and other advances, resulting in around 130,000 ha of cultivated leucaena being utilized across northern Australia.A range of aspects will need to be addressed if the adoption of leucaena is to be accelerated into the future. These include environmental concerns, especially potential weediness, and a range of technological needs, including soil nutritional requirements, grazing and toxicity management, opportunities for companion fodder systems and conservation options. Advances in technology and the ongoing need for a high-quality, profitable and sustainable perennial forage will ensure the continued adoption of leucaena across northern Australia for the foreseeable future.

Research, development and adoption for the north Australian beef cattle breeding industry: an analysis of needs and gaps

“…Thus, despite the availability of grazing cultivars since the 1960s and repeated research demonstrations of the production, profitability and environmental benefits of the legume (e.g. Bowen et al 2018), the total area sown to leucaena across northern Australia is estimated to be no more than ~130 000 ha, mostly in Central and southern Queensland (Buck et al 2019a). This is miniscule considering a conservative estimate that >8 Mha of land in Queensland alone is potentially suitable for growing leucaena (Peck et al 2011).…”

“…The slow rate of adoption has been attributed to multiple factors including: lack of awareness of or confidence in the plant's productive potential; concerns about the negative effects of mimosine toxicity on cattle health and performance; high rates of crop failure related to inadequate knowledge of the environmental and agronomic requirements for the successful establishment and management of leucaena; and high upfront cost of establishment and ongoing cost of management (Buck et al 2019a(Buck et al , 2019b. Additional factors include susceptibility of the most used leucaena cultivars to the psyllid insect Heteropsylla cubana, especially in more humid growing regions (Lemin et al 2019), and environmental concerns about the potential of leucaena to establish as a weed in native ecosystems (Campbell et al 2019;Revell et al 2019).…”

“…This applies particularly to leucaena, which has a passionate following among its protagonists in the scientific and production communities but has yet to be widely adopted by the industry at large. The multiple reasons for this disappointing level of adoption have been discussed in the earlier Feedbase management section (Buck et al 2019a(Buck et al , 2019b, the principal of which are inadequate knowledge of the environmental and agronomic requirements for, and cost of, successful establishment and long-term maintenance of leucaena plantations. Clearly, exposure of producer groups to peers who have overcome these obstacles should help to overcome negative attitudes such as 'I'm a grazier not a farmer'.…”

Achieving drought resilience in the grazing lands of northern Australia: preparing, responding and recovering

“…Both of these technologies have been well researched and for several decades, identified as very sound investments. Despite this, Niethe (2011) estimated that only ,10% of cattle located in acutely phosphorus deficient regions of northern Australian are appropriately supplemented with P. Additionally, the adoption rate of leucaena, as an example of a perennial legume suited to areas of Northern Australia, has been slow with Buck et al (2019) estimating that plantings have occurred on only ,1.5% of the potential suitable area in Queensland and ,0.5% of the potential area in northern Australia. Either of these two management strategies has the capacity to dramatically alter the drought preparedness of a large number of individual beef properties, and that of the northern beef industry as a whole, if they were more widely adopted.…”

Hydrology and runoff water quality from three improved pastures compared with virgin brigalow (

“…Despite support for legume inclusion into central Queensland grazing systems (Bowen et al 2018;Buck et al 2019), there are no quantitative studies on the effect of leguminous pastures on runoff water quality in Australia. This is of particular concern in the Fitzroy Basin, because it is Queensland's largest coastal catchment that drains directly into the Great Barrier Reef.…”