Teagasc Moorepark Grass - Clover Research programme - update

The grass - white clover research programme at Teagasc Moorepark is comparing herbage and milk production from three pasture-based systems, all stocked at a whole farm stocking rate of 2.74 cows/ha. Researcher Dr. Deirdre Hennessy & Ellen Fitzpatrick (PhD student) give an update on the programme.
The three experimental treatments are:
- grass-white clover receiving 150 kg N/ha
- grass-white clover receiving 100 kg N/ha
- grass-only receiving 250 kg N/ha.
Current pre-grazing herbage mass is 1750 - 1900 kg DM/ha and post-grazing sward height is 4.2 cm. Herbage production to the 12 October 2020 is 12.7 t DM/ha on the grass-only treatment, 12.5 t DM/ha on the grass-white clover 150 kg N treatment and 12.3 t DM/ha on the grass-white clover 100 kg N treatment.
Current sward clover content for is 29% on the grass-clover 150 kg N/ha and 30% on the grass-clover 100 kg N/ha. Cows on the grass-only 250 kg N/ha treatment are producing 16.43 kg milk and 1.45 kg milk solids, while the cows on the grass-white clover 150 kg N/ha treatment are producing 16.23 kg milk and 1.58 kg milk solids and the cows on the grass-white clover 100 kg N/ha treatment are producing 15.60 kg milk and 1.46 kg milk solids.
Grass 250 | Grass-clover 150 | Grass-clover 100 | |
---|---|---|---|
Milk yield (kg/cow/day) | 16.43 | 16.23 | 15.60 |
Milk solids yield (kg/cow/day) | 1.45 | 1.58 | 1.46 |
Pre-grazing herbage mass (kg DM/ha) | 1900 | 1850 | 1750 |
Post-grazing sward height (cm) | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.1 |
Current sward clover content (%) | - | 29 | 30 |
Herbage grown to 12 Oct 2020 (t DM/ha) | 12.7 | 12.5 | 12.3 |