The roles of legumes in achieving sustainable farming on Longslip Station, Omarama - past, present, and future

The role of legumes for increasing pasture production and quality to ensure the long-term sustainability prospects for a high country sheep and cattle farm, with reference to options, impediments and future directions. The currently available pasture legumes have serious shortcomings in the face of drought, low soil fertility, aluminium toxicity and competition from Hieracium species. I describe a vegetation study in the Caucasian mountains in the search for more persistent, diverse, aluminium-tolerant and fertiliser-efficient pasture species.