
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Riffkin, Penny A. 
A1  - Quigley, Paul E. 
A1  - Cameron, Fiona J. 
A1  - Peoples, Mark B. 
A1  - Thies, Janice E. 
T1  - Annual nitrogen fixation in grazed dairy pastures in south-western Victoria
JF  - Australian Journal of Agricultural Research
JO  - Aust. J.  Agric. Res.
Y1  - 1999
VL  - 50
IS  - 2
SP  - 273
EP  - 282
KW  - 
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/A98034 
N2  - Amounts of biologically fixed nitrogen (kg N/ha) were determined in grazed dairy pastures in 3 different areas of south-western Victoria over 12 months between October 1995 and 1996 using measurements of pasture growth, botanical composition, and the 15N natural abundance of white clover (Trifolium repens) and non-legume components. Estimates of the amounts of N fixed, based on N in clover shoots, were similar in each pasture (11, 16, and 18 kg N/ha.year), despite different environmental and management conditions. These on-farm determinations were low compared with experimental studies on N fixation by white clover undertaken in New Zealand (224&#8211;291 kg N/ha.year) and elsewhere in Australia (44&#8211;135 kg N/ha). Low fixation levels were attributed to low pasture yields (average 8.2 t dry matter (DM)/ha.year) and poor legume content in the swards (average 8%). Despite this, most of the white clover N was derived from atmospheric N2 (65%), and therefore, N fixation could potentially be playing an important role in the N economy of milk production on these farms. 
ER  -

