Santiago Spineless Burr Medic

Collected from material found in Chile, Santiago medic was introduced to Australia in 1981. Early to mid-maturing, Santiago flowers 80 days following seeding. It has a smooth burr pod and is a prolific seeder providing good persistence in a wide range of situations. Santiago tolerates a wide range of soil types and pH ranges, and is very tolerant of heavy grazing. Santiago was replaced by Cavalier, which displays superior dry matter production.

Early flowering widely adaptable polymorpha medic
Replaced by Cavalier medic

Persistent even under heavy grazing

Seed agronomy table

Flowering	80 Days
Min Rainfall (mm)	250
Hard Seed Level	9
Waterlogging Tolerance	Good
Seeding Rate	Kg/Ha
Dryland	10-15
High Rainfall / Irrigation	15-20

Hard Seed Level 1 = Least Hard 10 = Most Hard

Enterprises for this Seed

Sheep
Beef Cattle
Horse
Hay & Silage

Strengths

Annual pasture legume, palatable at all growth stages including senesced dry matter and seedpods over summer.
High nutritive value with high protein content.
Fixes atmospheric nitrogen when effectively nodulated, benefiting cereal crops grown in rotation.

More acid tolerant than barrel and strand medics. Optimal pH Ca range is 4.8-8.5 (pH water 5.6-9). Greater tolerance of acidity in loamy soils.

As a grass-free pasture in rotation with cereals it is a disease break for various cereal pathogens including cereal cyst nematode (Heterodera avenae), take-all (Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici) and crown rot (Fusarium pseudograminearum).
Provides non-selective weed control options for reducing risk of herbicide resistant weeds in cropping phases (eg grazing, green manuring, hay production, spray-topping).
Hard seeded and once established will maintain a bank of seed reserves in the soil and will self regenerate from that soil-seed bank. Some tolerance of false breaks of season as seed softening tends to occur later in the summer/autumn period.
Hard-seeded cultivars will perform well in intensive (year in, year out) cropping systems.
More productive and persistent in low rainfall areas than sub clover.
Relatively tolerant of transient waterlogging and moderate salinity compared to other medic species.
Outstanding complementary legume component for summer growing grass pastures in the subtropics.

Limitations

Relatively small seeded and so must be sown quite shallow (1-2cm) in year of establishment.
Winter production can be slow if autumn rains are late and insufficient leaf area is produced before soil and air temperatures fall.
Not productive on deep sandy soils with pHwater < 5.6 (pHCa < 4.8).
Sensitive as seedlings to redlegged earth mite (Halotydeus destructor). Sensitive as mature plants to lucerne flea (Sminthurus viridus), spotted alfalfa aphid (Therioaphis trifolii) and cowpea aphid (Aphis craccivora).
Sensitive to boron toxicity.
Herbicide options for broadleaf weed control are limited.

Plant Description

Plant: semi-prostrate annual, 15-40 cm high, with multiple lateral branching from near the base.

Stems: prostrate to ascending, hairless, mostly green, sometimes partially tinged red.

Leaflets: (trifoliate) wedge to heart-shaped, green, hairless and slightly toothed on the end margin. The central leaflet stalk is longest (a feature distinguishing medics from most Trifolium spp.)

Leaflet markings: May vary from absent; slight purple flecking to pale green basal watemarks", sometimes flushed or rimmed with purple-red. Stalks and underside mid-ribs sometimes purple-red.

Flowers: Yellow, pea-like and typically in clusters of 2-5.

Pods: Discoid to barrel shaped, 3-7 mm long, hardening at maturity, 2-5 coils, anti-clockwise, spines very short or absent in commercial varieties (nb naturalised ecotypes can have long, thin slightly hooked spines) and 4-10 seeds (typically 5-6) per pod.

Seeds: Small, kidney-shaped, glossy yellow, 250-280/g.

Pasture type and use

Used as a self-regenerating autumn-to-spring growing annual pasture, germinating after autumn rains, flowering in spring and setting seed in late spring. Typically used in dryland cereal/livestock zones in southern Australia in rotation with winter cereals, grain legumes and canola, and in association with grass in permanent pastures in the subtropical grain and pastoral zone. Once established its hard seededness allows it to regenerate from a soil-seed bank after short cropping phases of typically 1-3 years.

Where it grows

Rainfall: Adapted to Mediterranean and Temperate Zones of southern Australia to the subtropics in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. Annual rainfall of 300-700 mm (growing season rainfall 175-350 mm). Maturity of cultivar should match rainfall.

Soils: Adapted to a range of soil types from sandy loams to clays of moderate fertility. Prefers mildly acid to alkaline soils (pH water > 5.6, pHCa > 4.8). Tolerant of transient waterlogging and/or moderate salinity (ECe up to 8 dS/m).

Temperature: Medics are autumn-to-spring growing annuals suited to areas with mild growing seasons (15-25oC.) but will tolerate higher and lower temperatures.

Establishment

Companion species: Can be grown in mixtures with other annual Medicago spp. or grasses including annual ryegrass, volunteer cereals or sown cereals for grass/legume hay production, and with a range of summer growing grasses in the subtropics.

Sowing/planting rates as single species: 1015 kg/ha in southern Australia; 4-6 kg/ha in the subtropics. *ensure seed is Goldstrike treated.

Sowing/planting rates in mixtures: 3-5 kg/ha in southern Australia; 2-3 kg/ha in the subtropics (3-4 kg/ha if undersown with crops). *ensure seed is Goldstrike treated.

Sowing time: Sown April-June. Typically dry sown into the previous year's cereal stubble before the opening rains or into a moist, weed-free seedbed soon after the break. Shallow sowing (1-2 cm) is essential with press wheels, harrows or prickle chains to improve soil-seed contact and establishment. Under sowing with cereal grain or forage crops, is an excellent management option for establishing medic as a component of grass/legume pastures in the subtropics where the grass is sown after the medic sets seed. Low sowing rates of the cereal grain crop (e.g. 15 kg/ha) are essential for success with undersowing.

Inoculation: Goldstrike Treated. The use of Goldstrike XLR8 seed treatment is recommended to reduce damage from insects at seedling stages.

Fertiliser: Phosphorous is generally the single most limiting macronutrient for burr medics; sulphur and/or potassium may be required on some soils (especially sandy loams and/or in the subtropics). Some soils, particularly infertile sands, may also be deficient in important trace elements (eg Cu, Zn, Mo and Co), some of which are directly involved in nitrogen fixation.

Management

Maintenance fertiliser: Generally medics are grown in fairly close rotation with other crops which, if adequately fertilised, provide enough residual nutrients to maintain general soil fertility and medic growth. However, when medics are used in extended pasture phases on infertile soils in both southern Australia and the subtropics, they are likely to require topdressing with superphosphate and potassium. Soil testing is required to determine the need, timing and appropriate application rates. The trend towards high analysis fertilisers (eg DAP, MAP) in broadacre farming has also resulted in zinc deficiencies becoming more common on some soil types. Plant tissue testing is a more sensitive test for micro-nutrient deficiencies, some of which can be addressed in the short term with foliar sprays.

Grazing/cutting Establishment: defer grazing in the first year until plants are well established and then only graze lightly until flowering. Remove stock until medic has finished flowering and producing pods, to maximise seed-set for subsequent regeneration. Paddocks should not be "crash" grazed or cut for hay in the first year if the stand is expected to regenerate.

Regeneration: in crop/medic rotation systems, it is best to defer grazing at the break of the season until the ground is covered and/or medics are well established (approx. 4-6 leaves, 2-3cm height, > 700 kg/ha dry matter). Set stock to control upright grasses, weeds and to encourage prostrate growth, increasing grazing pressure as necessary to prevent 'bulky' pastures in early spring. Reduce grazing pressure if possible whilst medic is flowering to maximise pod and seed-set. In grass/medic pastures in the subtropics, moderate to heavy grazing in the late summer is needed to utilise the grass and minimise the competition for light by the establishing medic. This grazing management should be applied sequentially year by year as it will not be possible or desirable to graze all paddocks in this way each year. Summer grazing (southern Australia) - carefully monitor grazing of dried residues over summer, as overgrazing of pods, especially in the first year and on hard setting soils, will reduce future pasture regeneration.

Ability to spread: Colonises well from seed reserves. Some spread by seed in livestock faeces, pods adhering to sheep/wool or by movement of hay.

Weed potential: Low environmental weed potential due to its preference for moderately fertile soils, and because of its specific rhizobial requirements, high palatability and grazing preference by livestock. More prevalent in disturbed sites.As a self-regenerating plant it can be a weed of crops in crop/pasture rotations but easily controlled in cereals with a range of inexpensive broadleaf weed herbicides. Fewer options in grain legumes crops.

Major pests: Red legged earth mite, lucerne flea, blue green aphid, spotted alfalfa aphid, cowpea aphid, spotted alfalfa aphid (Therioaphis trifolii) and sitona weevil (Sitona discoideus).

Major diseases: Phoma black-stem (Phoma medicaginis), rhizoctonia bare-patch (Rhizoctonia solani) and powdery mildew (Erysiphe trifolii). Pratylenchus neglectus root lesion nematode (nb may not build up nematode numbers significantly but productivity is reduced in their presence).

Herbicide susceptibility: Tolerant of Group A grass-selective herbicides. Some herbicides available for selective control of certain broadleaf weeds. Spray-grazing and spray-topping techniques using less selective herbicides also useful. Intolerant of some herbicide residues from cropping phase, particularly sulfonylurea herbicide residues in low rainfall areas with alkaline soils.

Animal production

Feeding value: Has high levels of crude protein and digestibility. Digestibility ranges from 55-75% DMD, (equates to ME energy of 8-10 MJ/kg DM) and crude protein from 17-23% depending on growth stage.

Palatability: Readily consumed by livestock, either as green or dry feed, including mature seed pods. Production potential Excellent green feed for growing and finishing livestock. Dry residues and seed pods provide useful adjunct for maintenance of sheep grazing crop stubbles. In general animals can be expected to make better live weight gain and wool production on legumes than grasses, as a result of higher intake and more efficient utilisation of high protein, high energy feed.

Livestock disorders/toxicity: Photosensitisation in horses, occasionally red gut in sheep, bloat in cattle. Phytoestrogens/coumestrols potentially can have negative effects on the reproduction of grazing livestock but this is rarely reported (levels tend to be higher under phosphorus deficiency and Phoma Infection).

International Contact

For international enquiries please contact
Sean Coffey
International Business Manager
+61 4 2865 2226
sean.coffey@pasturegenetics.com