Clover150 Programme
The uptake of white clover in grass swards on commercial farms has been slow, however there has been a rapid increase in 2022 and 2023, mainly driven by increased fertiliser prices. Establishing clover on-farm can take a number of years, thus reseeding an entire farm to introduce white clover into pastures is impractical and costly. There needs be a two-pronged approach - reseeding and over-sowing.
Clover150 is an on farm clover study establised in 2021. A group of 36 farmers from across the country enrolled in the programme. They had a range of land types, geographic spread and farming enterprises. In 2021 and 2022 white clover was established on the farms by a combination of reseeding and oversowing. The overall objective was to establish clover, reduce chemical N fertiliser and farm gate N surplus while maintaining herbage production.
Clover 150 Objectives
- Maintain herbage production > 14 T DM/ha
- Reduce N fertiliser - < 150 kg N/ha
- Reduced N surplus - < 130 kg N/ha and NUE to >40%
- Increase clover content - >20%
- Maintain farm feed self-sufficiency
Establishment Blueprint
| Target area reseeded (%) | Target area over-sown (%) | Target total Area (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| Year 2 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| Year 3 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| Year 4 | 10% + any ground that clover didn’t establish on |
Group Average
| Year | Average clover % | Average area % | Annual tonnage | N - kg N/ha |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 23 | 65 | 12.9 | 156 |
| 2022 | 18 | 61 | 12.6 | 156 |
| 2021 | 12 | 45 | 13.8 | 206 |
| 2020 | <10 | 10 | 14.1 | 222 |
N surplus - Kg N/ha
| Year | NUE% | N surplus -kg/ha | Fertiliser | Concentrate | Forage | Milk sales | Annual tonnage - kg DM/ha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | 175 | 206 | 42 | 7 | 73 | 13774 |
| 2022 | 39 | 137 | 156 | 51 | 12 | 75 | 12615 |
| 2023 | 36 | 140 | 156 | 56 | 12 | 67 | 12950 |
Nitrogen strategy for clover %
| Clover content % | Feb - Kg N/ha | March - Kg N/ha | April - Kg N/ha | May - Kg N/ha | June - Kg N/ha | July - Kg N/ha | Aug - Kg N/ha | Sept - Kg N/ha | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grass Sward | 24 | 36 | 20 | 22 | 28 | 28 | 21 | 23 | 212 |
| 5 | 20 | 35 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 175 |
| 10 | 20 | 35 | 20 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 150 |
| 15 | 20 | 35 | 20 | 15 | 10 | *SW | 10 | 20 | 130 |
| 20 | 20 | 35 | 20 | 15 | *SW | *SW | *SW | 15 | 105 |
- *Soiled water used whenever zero chemical N application
- +25kg organic N applied
Get your guide to clover content below
Guide to Sward Clover content/Clover content scorecard
Observations
The Clover150 team have the following observations - up to the end of 2023
The programme is a successful blueprint on legume incorporation on farms
Fertiliser usage, N Surplus and NUE% all improved
Some concerning trends
- Dry matter production
- Concentrate usage
- Forage purchase
- Milk sales