Selecting Lucerne Cultivars for Commercial Crop Processing and Fractionation in New South Wales, Australia

The study was undertaken in the Lachlari River irrigation basin located in the central west region of New South Wales to obtain the fractionation characteristics of 23 varieties of lucerne (Medicago sativa) grown as pure crop stands on a commercial lucerne establishment and select for further study those varieties that showed potential for crop fractionation purposes. The results indicate that of the 23 varieties tested, 9 showed potential for commercial-scale fractionation. These were the Aurora, Trifecta, WL605, Hunterfield, GT58, Sequel, Validor, CUFlOI and Pioneer 5929 with the first three giving the highest yields of crop dry matter, crude protein and extractable protein. The Aurora was chosen for further study as the most appropriate variety for the large-scale lucerne processing and extraction operation which was being considered for the region.