With autumn not far away now, it is a good time to start thinking about some simple steps you can take to improve the persistence of your lucerne stand.

- Allow at least 50% of the lucerne stems to have an open flower at some point between mid-summer and autumn, to encourage root recharge

- Graze if drought stops plant growth, then allow recovery after rainfall until growth stops

- Long rotation (40+ days) a couple of times between January and the end of May builds up root reserves for spring growth and increased stand persistence