With rising fertiliser and feed prices perhaps it's time to think outside the box and look at some alternatives which can reduce nitrogen inputs, reduce bought-in feed requirements and increase the quantity of crop grown on your farm. First let's takea look at lucerne, which offers high yields up to 15tDM/ha. Once established this will last up to five years and provide high quality forage of up to 19-22%P plus minerals. It has excellent drought resistance but will not stand being waterlogged. In addition it does not require any N fertiliser and when ploughed out will leave 200kg N/ha for the next crop. However, it does not like compacted or shallow soils because it needs to get its tap root down. It is slow to establish and is often undersown under a spring7 cereal crop, and is mostly a cutting crop.
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