Substituting Medic, an Annual Legume, in Place of Summer Fallow for Winter Wheat Production

An Australian “ley†farming type of system, which integrates medic pasture with livestock in place of conventional summer fallow, is a promising technology having the potential to provide important benefits for improving winter wheat production in the Central High Plains of the United States. Medic is an annual legume that regenerates yearly from a soil seed bank, and in the pasture phase of the cropping sequence, it provides hay or grazing for livestock. Farming systems with medics form the foundation for flexible and sustainable semiarid wheat farming systems in Australia. This article reports the performance of a specific medic specie (Medicago rigidula), which can replace fallow for more profitable winter wheat production in the U.S. Central High Plains.