What legume can I put in my wheat rotation to cut crown rot and root lesion nematode?
Faba beans are one of the best pulse break crops for this. Growing faba beans reduces soil-borne wheat diseases such as crown rot and pests such as root lesion nematode, and the nitrogen they fix, up to 40% of it below ground, lifts the following cereal.
Our Faba Beans suit areas with 400 mm or more of rainfall and do best on deep, neutral to alkaline loams and clays; avoid shallow, acidic or very sandy soils. Sow 5–8 cm deep with Group F inoculant. Dry sowing is an option.
Which field pea copes with boron and salinity in wheatbelt soils?
Coogee Field Peas is the variety to choose. It is an improved dun pea that tolerates boron and salinity, has low pH tolerance and resists powdery mildew, with rapid early growth, high biomass and longer vines.
Coogee suits sands through to heavy soils with 350 mm or more of rainfall, sown at 80–100 kg/ha. It can be grazed, cut for hay, harvested for stockfeed or used as a green or brown manure. Like all peas, it won't handle prolonged waterlogging or a severe salt scald.
Which inoculant group do I need for peas, vetch, faba beans, cowpeas and lablab?
Each crop needs its own rhizobia group. Field peas and vetches take Group E, faba beans Group F, cowpeas Group I and lablab Group J. Coogee Field Peas can be inoculated with Group E or F.
Store peat inoculant cool and out of the sun, and sow inoculated seed into moist soil within 24 hours. Keep rhizobia away from fertiliser, and if you use a seed dressing, apply it first and let it dry. Groups E and F are acid-sensitive, so good inoculation matters even more on acidic soils.
Which vetch suits a wetter, higher-rainfall paddock that sometimes waterlogs?
Popany Vetch is the one for wetter country. It is a later-maturing purple vetch (Vicia benghalensis, 130+ days) best suited to higher rainfall areas, with waterlogging tolerance, and gives valuable late-season feed for grazing, hay, silage or green manure.
Popany needs 450 mm or more of rainfall and suits loams through to heavy soils. Sow 30–35 kg/ha after a reliable opening rain, alone or at a reduced rate with oats or triticale for silage. Common vetch and Benatas suit drier areas but don't tolerate waterlogging.
What legume can I graze early in a low-rainfall wheatbelt paddock?
Common vetch is the go-to for early grazing in drier areas. It establishes fast, suits areas from 300 mm of rainfall and soils of pH 5 (CaCl2) and above, and is extremely palatable at all growth stages. We offer Common Vetch and the named variety Benatas Vetch.
Sow 40–45 kg/ha from mid-April to the end of June, 4–6 cm deep, with Group E inoculant. Once plants won't pull out, graze lightly at about 6–8 weeks, then rotate or strip graze. Both prefer loams to heavy soils that don't waterlog.
My vetch has rust on it. Is it still safe to graze?
No. Don't graze a vetch crop once rust appears, because rust-infected plants can cause abortion in pregnant ruminants. Keep stock off and talk to your vet and agronomist about options for the crop.
Check vetch regularly through the season. Redlegged earth mite and lucerne flea are the main threats in early growth, while cowpea and bluegreen aphids and native budworm (Heliothis) attack later, at flowering and podding. Ascochyta blight and chocolate spot are the other diseases to watch for.
Why did my vetch fail after a cropping phase? Could herbicide residues be to blame?
Quite possibly. Vetch is intolerant of herbicide residues carried over from the cropping phase, particularly sulfonylurea herbicides, so check the plant-back periods for every product used in the paddock before you sow.
Vetch is also susceptible to most broadleaf herbicides used in cereal crops and to spray-topping products such as glyphosate, paraquat and diquat, but it tolerates most grass-selective herbicides. That means grass weeds can be controlled in the crop, while broadleaf weeds are best dealt with before sowing.
What legume can I sow with millet or forage sorghum to lift the protein in summer feed?
Cowpeas are the classic summer companion for millet and forage sorghum. Ebony Cowpea and Buff Cowpea both lift the protein of grazing, hay and silage, fix nitrogen for the next crop and tolerate drought.
Sow 3–5 cm deep with Group I inoculant once soil reaches 16°C and rising, at 15–20 kg/ha alone; in a mix, adjust to soil moisture. They need 500 mm or more of rainfall or irrigation, are frost-susceptible and dislike waterlogging. Ebony resists Phytophthora stem rot races 3 and 4, but late-sown crops can be hit by bean fly.
Cowpea or lablab: which summer legume should I sow?
Choose on how long you need feed and your frost risk. Dash Lablab is a fast-growing, quick-flowering lablab that recovers quickly after grazing, tolerates light frosts and can carry feed into late autumn. Cowpeas such as Ebony and Buff are drought tolerant and easy to establish, but susceptible to frost.
Both need soil at 16°C or warmer. Sow Dash at 10–30 kg/ha; its large seed can go down to 10 cm. Sow cowpeas at 15–20 kg/ha, 3–5 cm deep. Lablab needs Group J inoculant and cowpeas Group I.
How do I use field peas as a brown manure to tackle herbicide-resistant ryegrass?
Grow the peas as normal, then spray the whole crop out at flowering instead of harvesting it, timing the spray to stop ryegrass and other weeds setting seed. The residue stays on the surface, conserving soil moisture and leaving nitrogen for a following canola or cereal crop.
VNS Field Peas are a general-purpose choice for brown manuring, sown in autumn to early winter after a reliable break, deep enough for the large seed to reach moisture. Coogee Field Peas, at 80–100 kg/ha, also suit green or brown manure.
