Lucerne Bar 7

Lucerne is a perennial legume with a woody crown and an erect growth habit. It is suited to fertile, deep, well drained, neutral to alkaline soils. Its deep tap root can access moisture deep in the soil profile, providing extraordinary summer growth and drought tolerance.

Careful management, including grazing control as well as weed and pest control, is usually required for a stand of lucerne to persist. Lucerne is mostly used as a perennial hay or fodder crop. It provides high quality forage that is readily saleable as hay or useable as a high protein addition to livestock diets. Because of the high value of the lucerne forage and its excellent summer production, lucerne is perfectly suited for irrigation. Lucerne may be grown as part of a mixed pasture sward, but the conditions must suit it. Rotational grazing is usually necessary to ensure its survival.

Winter Active Lucerne

Winter active lucernes are the most versatile, providing good growth into late autumn and holding their quality longer than highly winter active varieties. Best suited to medium-term mixed farming situations that require grazing tolerance and the ability to make reasonable quality hay. They are ideal for irrigated or dryland production and are useful as a pure stand or as a perennial legume component in pasture blends for regions with 450-650 mm winter dominant rainfall. These lucernes also make excellent permanent summer forage crops in the high rainfall dairy regions because they provide feed over a longer period than summer brassicas without the same insect problems.

BAR 7

BAR 7 (SARDI 7 Series 2) is the next generation winter active lucerne. It is even more versatile, broadly adapted and persistent than Sardi 7, offering a greater performance in cold, wet environments where older varieties can struggle. It has been bred specifically to perform well in both dry land and irrigated systems. It offers superior performance where persistent, high-producing lucerne stands are required and in grazing situations where winter produced feed can be utilised.

Key features

• Dormancy 7 variety
• High yielding
• Multipurpose
• Excellent persistence
• Strong pest and disease resistance
• Good grazing tolerance
• Improved performance in cold, wet environments
• Well suited to grazing and hay production with a broad crown and high leaf to stem ratio
• Better sustainability than other 7 dormancy lucerne (5-8 years)

Seeding rate

• 20-30kg/ha (irrigation)