Legumes have underpinned the New Zealand pastoral-based economy for over 100 years. White clover remains the most widely sown, but specialist red clover based pastures are providing high quality feed for fattening livestock in wetter regions of the country. In the drier east coast, lucerne management has been refined based on crop physiology principles. This has allowed earlier lambing, leading to transformational change on-farm. Subterranean clover remains the dominant annual legume used. Successful integration of legumes on-farm has required understanding of the genotype by environment by management interactions.

Temperate low methane (CH₄) yielding legumes and herbs can reduce enteric methane, but greenhouse gas emissions at a system level need to be considered. This review identified several pasture species with anti-methanogenic properties, with biserrula having the most potential to reduce enteric CH₄. However, a case study demonstrated that emission intensity of biserrula was similar to that of subterranean clover but higher than that of lucerne. An opportunity exists to formulate pasture mixtures to reduce CH₄ and increase livestock production.

Strawberry clover has been suggested as an alternative perennial pasture legume for temperate regions of Australia. We review its taxonomy, morphology, native distribution and subsequent transfer to Australia. We map the suitability of strawberry clover for perennial pasture systems, with reference to future climates, and identify future research foci. Strawberry clover is unlikely to become a dominant pasture legume species in Australia but could be used in a wider range of environments.

Profitability of livestock production over summer–autumn in the temperate environment of south-eastern Australia could be improved by including legumes in pastures that are persistent, productive and of high nutritive value. Evaluation of a range of legume species and cultivars showed that lucerne remained the most reliably productive warm-season option where soil conditions support it. Talish, Caucasian and strawberry clovers were persistent and of high nutritive value, warranting further evaluation in special-purpose warm-season pastures.

Serradellas (Ornithopus spp.) are a novel legume option for the permanent pasture environments of south-eastern Australia. This paper investigated evidence of variation in flowering time characteristics within a widely used cultivar of French serradella. We recommend that new cultivars of serradellas be evaluated for flowering time characteristics in their target environment(s) to assess whether the cultivars are suitably adapted to these environments. This is essential to maximise production, feeding value and facilitate effective grazing management.

Serradellas are promising alternative legumes to subterranean clover for permanent, temperate pastures. However, many cultivars exhibit unstable flowering dates. This is a risk for seed production and persistence. Later maturity was particularly associated with need for long exposure to the vernalisation treatment to hasten flowering. Stable flowering is more likely when a cultivar has components of its vernalisation requirement that are not satisfied before autumn ends to prevent premature flowering, and a photoperiod response in spring that overrides any unmet vernalisation requirement.

The legume shrub/tree leucaena is highly regarded as a tropical cattle fodder, although it is considered an environmental weed in many parts of the world. In an Australian first, we report the successful creation of triploid leucaena germplasm through interspecific hybridisation. These give rise to sterile adults (without seeds), mitigating weed risk. Over 2000 hand-crosses between 45 different combinations of diploid and tetraploid leucaena species have created a cohort of sterile plants to evaluate for field performance.