REDLANDS Leucaena was hailed as a “game-changer” for northern beef production when it was commercially released six years ago, but today there are no currently licensed suppliers selling seed for the breakthrough psyllid-resistant variety.

Only relatively small volumes of seed have been sold since the cultivar’s release in 2019, and the holders of the only commercial licenses have either handed licenses back or say they are no longer selling the seed.

Despite the lack of progress, Meat & Livestock Australia has told Beef Central it is still committed to finding a new commercial partner and model to sell Redlands seed.

“Commercialisation of all research carries risk and Redlands leucaena has faced some challenging seasonal conditions,” an MLA spokesperson said in a written reply to Beef Central’s questions.

“MLA is committed to the project and selecting a new licensee remains a priority once a new commercial model which addresses some of the previous challenges has been developed.”

“No brainer”

MLA described the psyllid-resistant Redlands Leucaena as a “game changer” for the northern beef industry when the seed was commercially released in 2019.

Redlands was bred in a combined Meat & Livestock Australia and University of Queensland program using MLA Donor Company and levy investment over 15 years at the Queensland Department of Primary Industries’ Redlands research station in Brisbane (hence its name).

Leucaena is a high-protein legume that can lift growth rates and carrying capacity in Australian grazing conditions, with an estimated 150,000ha of plantings established from northern Queensland to northern NSW, with the largest area in Central Queensland.

The fodder tree has comparable nutrient value to lucerne, and once established, provides a 30-40 year crop, with some annual hedging or trimming requirements.

But its adoption in humid coastal and monsoonal zones has been long constrained by the small sap-sucking psyllid Heteropsylla cubana, which causes significant damage to leucaena trees, leading to yellowing, wilting, and defoliation.

Grazing trials have demonstrated the ability of Redlands tolerate psyllid attack while remaining palatable for cattle, creating scope for large productivity and profitability gains across coastal regions of northern Australia where leucaena developments had been previously written  off.

Speaking at its commercial launch in 2019 northern producers acclaimed Redlands as “an exciting development” and “a no brainer”.

Constraints to adoption

However, despite widespread acceptance that leucaena improves production capacity, can play an important drought-mitigation role and reduces methane emissions, there have been constraints to wider uptake.

Leucaena establishment costs have been estimated at $500/ha to $800/ha. Redlands seed has been priced at about $90/kg, which is up to double the cost of the widely-established but psyllid-susceptible variety Cunningham and half as much again as the widely used, non-psyllid resistant Wondergraze. While Redlands seed is more expensive, seed costs are not considered a major part of overall establishment costs.

Leucaena can also be fickle to establish, although planting and management techniques have advanced considerably through shared experience and knowledge, such as through the Leucaena Network and on-farm field days.

A lack of commercially available seed is now another major obstacle to its uptake.

MLA initially issued commercial licenses to sell Redlands to two leucaena growers – Peter and Jan Larsen at Leucseeds who also have the plant breeder’s rights (PBR) to sell the Wondergraze and Taramba varieties, and Bruce and Lucinda Mayne, who had well-established plantings at their property Fairview, Calliope.

After seeking expressions of interest for commercial licences in 2023, MLA selected Agrimix, which had an existing business growing and selling the pasture legume Progardes Desmanthus.

However, as of Octber 2025, Beef Central understands that none of the previously licensed Redlands suppliers are still selling Redlands seed.

The Maynes no longer hold their license. Jan Larsen told Beef Central they no longer sell the variety, preferring to focus on Wondergraze, while Agrimix has also confirmed it has handed its license back to MLA.

“We have seen a good demand for Redlands and nearly four tonnes of seed has been sold in the last two years,” Agrimix said in a statement to Beef Central.

“Due  to challenging seasonal conditions, Agrimix has been unable to secure a strong and steady supply of Redlands seed and has made the decision to return the License to MLA while we focus on the commercial roll-out of  our flagship innovation Agrimix Flux — a near real-time soil carbon quantification and pasture monitoring system that has been co-funded by MLA, Agrimix, and Industry.” (See more on Agrimix Flux towers in earlier article here). 

The potentialof Redlands to boost liveweight production and profitability in northern Australia was underlined by a large-scale grazing trial comparing the new variety to the conventional Wondergraze variety at Pinnarendi Station at Mount Surprise in North Queensland.

Cattle grazing Redlands demonstrated an average daily gain of 0.69kg – no different to those grazing the psyllid-susceptible Wondergraze. That live weight gain was double what would be expected from animals grazing native pasture only, in the same environment. “Redlands has proven both palatable and free from attack by psyllids” an MLA report on the trial said at the time.

A Queensland DPI run trial at Fairview over a 12 month period also showed very similar results.

Sterile leucaena

Beef Central also asked MLA about the progress of the seedless “sterile” varieties of leucaena which have been developed to overcome the community concerns about the potential for leucaena to become an environmental weed in parts of Australia.

An MLA/DPIRD/UQ program has been underway to create a seedless variety to cut weed risk and remove a major regulatory and community barrier to adoption, especially in WA and sensitive northern catchments.

MLA provided the following update on the progress of the sterile leucaena program:

“MLA, through MDC investment, conducted two simultaneous studies into sterile leucaena, one of which has shown promising results.

“MLA will continue to work with research partners to assess what further research is required and what commercialisation opportunities exist based on research findings to date.”