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Trees and shrubs as sources of fodder in Australia

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Book cover The Role of Trees in Sustainable Agriculture

Part of the book series: Forestry Sciences ((FOSC,volume 43))

Abstract

Experience with browse plants in Australia is briefly reviewed in terms of their forage value to animals, their economic value to the landholder and their ecological contribution to landscape stability. Of the cultivated species only two have achieved any degree of commercial acceptance (Leucaena leucocephala and Chamaecytisus palmensis). Both of these are of sufficiently high forage value to be used as the sole source of feed during seasonal periods of nutritional shortage. Both are also leguminous shrubs that establish readily from seed. It is suggested that a limitation in their present use is the reliance on stands of single species which leaves these grazing systems vulnerable to disease and insects. Grazing systems so far developed for high production and persistence of cultivated species involve short periods of intense grazing followed by long periods of recovery. Similar management may be necessary in the arid and semi-arid rangelands where palatable browse species are in decline.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Australian Department of Agriculture, Perth, Australia

    E. C. Lefroy

  2. CSIRO, Canberra, Australia

    P. R. Dann

  3. Department of Primary Industries, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia

    J. H. Wildin

  4. Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Berrimah, Northern Territory, Australia

    R. N. Wesley-Smith

  5. Victorian Department of Agriculture, Ellinbank, Australia

    A. A. McGowan

Authors
  1. E. C. Lefroy
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  2. P. R. Dann
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  3. J. H. Wildin
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  4. R. N. Wesley-Smith
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  5. A. A. McGowan
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research and Strategy, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Canberra, Australia

    Roslyn Tamara Prinsley (Manager) (Manager)

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Lefroy, E.C., Dann, P.R., Wildin, J.H., Wesley-Smith, R.N., McGowan, A.A. (1992). Trees and shrubs as sources of fodder in Australia. In: Prinsley, R.T. (eds) The Role of Trees in Sustainable Agriculture. Forestry Sciences, vol 43. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1832-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1832-3_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4809-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-1832-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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