Liveweight performance of cattle grazing Redlands and Wondergraze leucaena north Queensland

Abstract

Leucaena is a rapid-growing, perennial legume which has potential to intensify beef production in the northern rangelands of Australia. Adoption of leucaena in north Queensland has been limited, in-part by the prevalence of the leucaena psyllid (Heteropsylla cubana). Psyllid infestations cause yield losses (Bray and Woodroffe 1991) and all cultivars previously used by industry are susceptible. Leucaena leucocephala 'Redlands' (R) released in 2018 has genetic resistance to psyllids with potential to increase leucaena productivity in psyllid prone regions and increase adoption. However, the performance of R under commercial grazing was untested and cattle grazing a leucaena palatability trial at Whitewater Station in north Queensland, initially grazed other leucaena varieties in preference to R (Keating 2019).