Lucerne
Understanding More About Lucerne
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008Lucerne (Medicago sativa) is thought to have originated somewhere in north-western Iran and north-eastern Turkey. Varieties range from winter-dormant, through to winter-active lucerne.
Winter dormant lucerne has very fine stems producing the best quality hay, and is more forgiving in that it doesn’t decline as fast if cutting has to be delayed due to wet weather. […]
Prime vs Shedded Lucerne
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008Prime hay is the classification given to hay that has good green colour, plenty of intact leaf, and relatively fine soft stems. It may contain up to 10% of other plant material, such as grass, but should be free of prohibited weeds and mould, fungi, or weather damage. There is actually a grade above prime, […]
Nutritive Values of Feeds
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008Lucerne is the “king of fodders” because it provides high quality, high protein feed all year round. This is particularly significant in the subtropics where tropical grasses are frosted and lose their nutritive value in the winter months.
Compared with other feeds (see the following table) the protein and calcium contents of lucerne […]
All that Glitters is not gold/All that’s Green is not Lucerne
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008To be catagorised as prime lucerne hay, among other things, a bale should contain >90% lucerne. Cheaper lines of hay are often so because they contain 10% or more of plants other than lucerne.
The purpose of this article is to give a brief overview of what some of these plants are likely to be. […]