Publication Date
1989
Description
Tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis), commonly called 'tree lucerne', is a hardy evergreen leguminous shrub or tree, native to Palma island in the Canary Islands. It was introduced into Australia from the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in 1879. In south-western Australia, it has become naturalized along roadsides and at the edges of many native forests. It will grow vigorously from seed on the most infertile deep sands, reaching 3 to 5 m in height and all parts of the stem and branches are enveloped in leaves. In summer, the edible leaf and stem are around 40 % dry matter, 15 % crude protein, and 70 % digestible (Borens and Poppi, 1986). Its potential, as a fodder tree, has been promoted by a series of scientists, since 1863 (Perez, 1863 ; Snook, 1986). However, there has never been any field scale data to support their claims and their dream of an agricultural revolution based around tagasaste has remained unfulfilled. There are millions of hectares of poorly productive deep sands in south-western Australia on which plantations of tagasaste could be grown. However, before farmers commit themselves to the high cost of establishing and managing large areas of fodder trees (Mattinson and Oldham, 1989), they need to know how best to utilize this potential new resource. Merino sheep provide the major source of income in these areas and their annual production of wool and surplus sale stock is largely constrained by the Mediterranean-type climate. The summer drought typically lasts 3 to 7 months, during which the dry annual pastures are low in crude protein (around 9 %) and digestibility (around 50 %) and this is associated with a low in crude (around 9 % and digestibility (around 50 %) and this is associated with a low rate of wool growth and poor reproductive performance. Optimum stocking rates dictate that farmers must budget to hand feed grain to their sheep in late summer/autumn to guarantee their survival and production of a good quality fleece. Merino ewes are normally mated in summer on dry subterranean clover/ryegrass pasture. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that the feeding value for reproduction of tagasaste grazed by merino ewes at joining would be greater than that of dry annual pasture.
Citation
Oldham, C M.; Wilkins, J F.; and Moore, P M., "Tagasste (Chamaecytisus palmensis), AN Evergreen Fodder Tree, in Grazing Systems of Mediterranean Type Climates 1. Feeding Value for Reproduction when Grazed by Merino Ewes at Joining." (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 68.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session10/68
Included in
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Tagasste (Chamaecytisus palmensis), AN Evergreen Fodder Tree, in Grazing Systems of Mediterranean Type Climates 1. Feeding Value for Reproduction when Grazed by Merino Ewes at Joining.
Tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis), commonly called 'tree lucerne', is a hardy evergreen leguminous shrub or tree, native to Palma island in the Canary Islands. It was introduced into Australia from the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in 1879. In south-western Australia, it has become naturalized along roadsides and at the edges of many native forests. It will grow vigorously from seed on the most infertile deep sands, reaching 3 to 5 m in height and all parts of the stem and branches are enveloped in leaves. In summer, the edible leaf and stem are around 40 % dry matter, 15 % crude protein, and 70 % digestible (Borens and Poppi, 1986). Its potential, as a fodder tree, has been promoted by a series of scientists, since 1863 (Perez, 1863 ; Snook, 1986). However, there has never been any field scale data to support their claims and their dream of an agricultural revolution based around tagasaste has remained unfulfilled. There are millions of hectares of poorly productive deep sands in south-western Australia on which plantations of tagasaste could be grown. However, before farmers commit themselves to the high cost of establishing and managing large areas of fodder trees (Mattinson and Oldham, 1989), they need to know how best to utilize this potential new resource. Merino sheep provide the major source of income in these areas and their annual production of wool and surplus sale stock is largely constrained by the Mediterranean-type climate. The summer drought typically lasts 3 to 7 months, during which the dry annual pastures are low in crude protein (around 9 %) and digestibility (around 50 %) and this is associated with a low in crude (around 9 % and digestibility (around 50 %) and this is associated with a low rate of wool growth and poor reproductive performance. Optimum stocking rates dictate that farmers must budget to hand feed grain to their sheep in late summer/autumn to guarantee their survival and production of a good quality fleece. Merino ewes are normally mated in summer on dry subterranean clover/ryegrass pasture. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that the feeding value for reproduction of tagasaste grazed by merino ewes at joining would be greater than that of dry annual pasture.
