Evaluation of pasture legumes in northern New South Wales, Australia

Spring herbage mass of 80 mostly annual and biennial legumes was evaluated regionally on the North-West Slopes of New South Wales, Australia in ungrazed plots at three sites (Curban, Terry Hie Hie and Moree) in 1998 and 1999. Of the cultivars tested, Trifolium vesiculosum cvv. ‘Cefalu’ and ‘Zulu’ and T. resupinatum cv. ‘Prolific’ at the Moree and Terry Hie Hie sites, and T. resupinatum cv. ‘Nitro’ at the Curban site generally performed better than the standard ‘test’ cultivars of T. subterraneum cv. ‘Junee’ and T. brachycalycinum cv. ‘Clare’ and Medicago sativa cvv. ‘Aquarius’ and ‘Aurora’. T. michelianum (5) and (11), T. isthmocarpum (SA 8410) and T. glanduliferum (CPI 87182) also had superior performance to many of the other entries and could be considered for further testing and evaluation in this region.