Jaguar Strand Medic

Jaguar is a new pod and leaf holding early maturing strand medic with moderate hard seed. It is an outstanding performer on the drought prone sands and loams. The Leaf Holding trait allows Jaguar to retain higher levels of forage for a longer period. This enables graziers to maintain higher quality pastures even once the plant has pod formation. Typically most strand medics drop their leaf at this stage which in turn leads to lower total dry matter production. Jaguar’s excellent plant vigour makes it a better competitor with incrop weeds. In many situations the following crop phase has seen a significant reduction in weed plant numbers (in comparison to other medics) due to its competitive nature. Jaguar has tolerance to the major aphid pests and good tolerance to diseases.

• New leaf holding gene to allow for longer levels of forage holding ability
• Higher dry matter production than conventional strand medics that are prone to leaf drop nearing seed formation
• Excellent plant vigour that allows for additional weed suppression and rebound from insect damage
• Outstanding performer on light sand and loam soils
• Jaguar offers excellent weed suppression helping with long term reduction in weed numbers in following crops

Seed agronomy table

Flowering	89 Days
Min Rainfall (mm)	275
Hard Seed Level	7
Waterlogging Tolerance	Fair
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
Viti & Horti

Strengths

• Good adaptation to alkaline sandy loams in low rainfall (AAR >275mm) temperate cropping zones.
• Annual pasture legume, palatable at all growth stages including senesced dry matter and seedpods for grazing over summer.
• High nutritive value with high protein content.
• Fixes atmospheric nitrogen when effectively nodulated, benefiting cereal crops grown in rotation.
• As a grass-free pasture in rotation with cereals it is a disease break for various cereal pathogens including cereal cyst nematode (Heterodera avenae), root lesion nematode (Pratylenchus neglectus and P. thornei), 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).
• Hardseeded and once established will maintain a bank of seed reserves in the soil and will self-regenerate.

Limitations

• Relatively small seeded and so must be shown shallow (1-2 cm) 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 well adapted to soils with pH water < 6.5 (pH CaCl <5.8) deep sands, waterlogged or moderately saline areas.
• Sensitive as seedlings to redlegged earth mite (Halotydeus destructor); as mature plants to lucerne flea (Sminthurus viridus) and pasture aphids (depending on cultivar).
• Herbicide options for broadleaf weed control are limited.
• Harvest of seed generally requires specialist vacuum harvesting machinery.

Plant Description

Plant: semi-prostrate annual, 10-25 cm high, with multiple lateral branching from near the base.
Stems: prostrate to ascending, green and hairy; stipules toothed.
Leaflets: trifoliate, diamond-to-rounded wedge shaped, light green, hairy on both sides and toothed on the end margin. The central leaflet stalk is longest (a feature distinguishing medics from most Trifolium spp.).
Leaflet markings : varies between cultivars from absent to prominent dark brown blotches of variable dimensions on each leaflet.
Flowers: small, yellow, pea-like and in small clusters of 3-4.
Pods: small, short barrel-shaped, 3-5mm long, hardening at maturity, 3-4 coils, without spines or with short spines with no hooks and 4-7 seeds per pod.
Seeds : pale yellow to light brown, kidney shaped, 400-500/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 mid spring. Typically used in dryland cereal/livestock zones in southern Australia in rotation with winter cereals, grain legumes and canola, and may be used with other medics in association with grass in permanent pastures in the subtropical grain and pastoral zone. Once established, its hardseededness 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 250-650 mm (growing season rainfall 175-300mm).
Soils : Adapted to a range of soil types from loamy sands to clay loams of moderate fertility.Prefers neutral to alkaline soils (pH water > 6.5, pH CaCl > 5.8), which are not prone to waterlogging or salinity.
Temperature : Strand medics are autumn-to-spring growing annuals suited to areas with mild growing seasons (15-250C) 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 : 6-10 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. Undersowing with cereal grain or forage crops, is an excellent management option for establishing strand 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 annual 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 Zn, Cu, Mo and Co), some of which are directly involved in nitrogen fixation.

Management

Maintenance fertiliser : Generally annual 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 at least. 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 resulted in zinc deficiencies becoming more common on some soil types. Plant tissue testing is a more sensitive test for micronutrient 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. 6 leaves, 2-3cm height, >1000 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 over-grazing 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. 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 : Redlegged earth mite, lucerne flea, bluegreen aphid, spotted alfalfa aphid and sitona weevil.
Major diseases : Phoma black-stem (Phoma medicaginis), rhizoctonia bare-patch (Rhizoctonia solani) and powdery mildew (Erysiphe trifolii). Pratylenchus neglectus root lesion nematode (nb should not build up nematode numbers but productivity is reduced in their presence, i.e. they are intolerant).
Herbicide susceptibility : Tolerant of grass-selective herbicides. Some herbicides available for selective control of certain broadleaf weeds. Spray-grazing and spray-topping techniques using sub-lethal doses of less-selective herbicides also available.Intolerant of some herbicide residues from cropping phase, particularly sulfonylurea herbicide residues in low rainfall areas with alkaline soils (except cv. Angel).

Animal production

Feeding value : Has high levels of crude protein and digestibility. Digestibility ranges from 55-75% DMD, metabolisable energy from 8-10 MJ/kg 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 feed for growing and finishing livestock when in growing phase. 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 in annual medics.