B.GBP.0040 | Demonstrating the productivity and profitability of cattle grazing Redlands leucaena in northern Queensland
Did you know, Redlands leucaena offers potential to increase profitability and resilience of northern beef enterprises?
| Project start date: | 31 May 2019 |
| Project end date: | 29 September 2022 |
| Publication date: | 16 May 2023 |
| Project status: | Completed |
| Livestock species: | Grass-fed Cattle |
| Relevant regions: | Northern Australia |
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Download Report
(11.2 MB)
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Summary
Leucaena offers the opportunity to dramatically improve live weight gain with increased stocking rates in Northern Australia. However, there has been low adoption due to concerns that northern environments are more prone to attacks by leucaena psyllids.
The ‘Redlands’ leucaena cultivar is psyllid resistant and offers potential to increase profitability and resilience of northern beef enterprises, however, has been untested commercially.
This project compared the performance of Redlands against the Wondergraze cultivar over four and a half years, and demonstrated that Redlands was readily eaten by cattle and had equivalent live weight gains to Wondergraze.
Objectives
The objectives of this project were to:
- Evaluate live weight gain performance of cattle grazing leucaena, under commercial-like conditions in north Queensland.
- Determine potential productivity advantages offered by Redlands
- Communicate directly to industry through on-site inspections and workshops.
Key findings
The trials demonstrated that Redlands was readily accepted and grazed by cattle and had equivalent live weight gains in steers compared to Wondergraze. No productivity advantage was demonstrated as there were no sustained psyllid populations at the site during the trial.
Benefits to industry
This project has provided producers with assurance that Redlands has demonstrated equivalent productivity in a commercial environment in northern Australia. Furthermore, the project has shown the benefits of grazing leucaena in a sub-coastal north Queensland environment. This underpins the economic case for leucaena in the region and provides producers with more confidence to adopt.
MLA action
MLA currently has investments in a variety of projects to validate the benefits of leucaena, mitigate the risks of planting, and increase adoption across regions of northern Australia.
Future research
Recommendations for further research following this project included:
- Obtaining long-term animal performance data from Redlands plantings in the Wet Tropical Coast (WTC) and Atherton Tablelands region
- Investigating strategies to best utilise leucaena when it is seasonally productive and maintaining soil fertility.
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For more information Contact Project Manager: Lindsey Perry |
