You will prepare and submit a term paper on Importance of Ley Pastures in Farming Systems in Australia. Your paper should be a minimum of 1500 words in length.

You will prepare and submit a term paper on Importance of Ley Pastures in Farming Systems in Australia. Your paper should be a minimum of 1500 words in length. This practice has been conducted in many parts of the world for centuries now especially in Australia. This concept of farming has considerable application especially in the Top End (Cocks & Crawford, 1980)

Ley farming practices and procedures are most important in the Top End due to the N (Nitrogen) which comes from legume pastures. Legume pastures are believed to supply varying amounts of nitrogen depending on the existing levels of N in the soil, the growth rate of the legume, seasonal conditions as well as the effectiveness of nodulation in the pastures (Grierson & Graham, 1991).

Legumes and grass pastures tend to increase organic matter, which helps improve the structure of the soil as well as helping in suppressing various broadleaf weeds. Pangola, Buffel and Tully are said to the best permanent pastures. Sabi grass is considered compatible with various legumes and thus it is suitable for rotation with annual crops. With improved pastures and stubbles of crops, the stock usually maintain and even gain weight throughout the dry season until when the dry feeds deteriorate at the onset of rains (Cocks & Crawford, 1980)

Pastures are a critical component of most of the sustainable cropping systems. Pastures that are well-managed help improve chemical and physical soil fertility which reduces the input of nitrogen fertilizer and also increases yields of grain in various crops. Pastures, which are legume-based, are necessary for maintaining soil organic nitrogen and carbon levels. Highly improved pastures form a valuable source of livestock fodder. Well-managed mixed grass and legume pastures provide similar and greater annual dry matter (DM) production than other forage crops. The financial returns from beef cattle on improved pastures tend to compare favorably to dryland cropping. Producers gain the maximum benefits from pastures in cropping rotation by the use of the best management practices, which include: (Grierson & Graham, 1991).