Autumn grazing and establishing grass clover swards

Tipperary Grass10 farmers John and Brendan Walsh have incorporated clover into 63% of their grassland. They are planning to increase this to 80% by 2025. At the farm walk on this farm on October 4th they shared information on what they have done to date and their experience with clover.

Establishing Clover

Walshes began incorporating clover in 2018. The vast majority of this - 94%, was done by reseeding. The fields needed reseeding so it was an opportune time to incorporate clover. The remainder 6% was oversown. Reseeding is the ideal but oversown can work well also. 

When establishing clover-grass sward preparation is key. The first thing to get right is soil fertility. Soil pH needs to be in the region off 6.5 and P and K needs to be index 3 or 4. Walshes have a long term focus on soil fertility and soil sample every year. 

Advice on establishing grass-white clover sward is available by downloading this boolket Management and establishment of grass-white clover swards. 

Managing Clover Swards

Reseeded and oversown swards are managed similarly. 

• Post emergence spray - at approx 5 weeks
• First grazing should be at 800kg DM/ha
• Graze at 1100kg DM/ha for 3 rotations
• Avoid silage cuts for 12 months

On Walshes grass-clover swards no artificial N is required after the first grazing. After the third grazing paddocks get dairy washings and at two stages during the year half a bag of potash is applied. 

Animal management issues

Walshes are very positive about the advantages of grass-clover swards and see the incorporation of clover as essential for future sustainability. A few weeks before the farm walk they had a problem with bloat in the cows. This was mainly attributed to the spell of dry weather followed by plentiful rain resulting in a big increase in growth. The bloat resulted in the loss of one cow and a number of others needing traetment. 

To manage the issue with bloat Walshes have put some management measures in place. They use bloat oil in the water but if cows do no need water this is of little use. When  cows enter a paddock for the first time to prevent gorging they have access to only a small portion of the paddock. After a few hours they are given access to the entire paddock. 

They are also given access to straw entering and exiting the milking parlour. Walshes consider that lack of fibre in the sward is a contributing factor to bloat. They also continuously monitor the cows. 

Get more information on Grazing management to prevent bloat here

Autumn grazing management

Grainne Hurley Teagasc advisor with the Dairygold programme gave some very valuable advice on managing autumn grazing. 

The main objectives in managing autumn grass is to:

• Feed cows off grazed grass as much as possible
• Close up the farm properly
• Set up pastures for early spring grass. 

Each additional day at pasture is worth over €2/animal/day

Closing up the farm

• Close the farm up to have grass available next spring
• Start closing October 5th to 15th on dry farms and a week earlier for heavy farms
• Close in rotation - every day delay in closing reduces spring grass supply
• Have 60 - 65% closed by November 1st
• Close 'Rainy day spring paddocks' in late October. These are the paddocks that are square, dry and near the farmyard and have good access and road network. 
• Close clover paddocks/reseeds in late October. 

 Clover targets are better than date targets - dates are a reasonable guide

Remember - grazed grass is a more valuable feed in spring than autumn grass