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Doing the simple things right on the road to clover

Doing the simple things right on the road to clover

The recently crowned Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year, Patrick O’Neill first commenced establishing white clover on his dairy farm in Co. Longford in 2018 – long before high fertiliser prices brought this legume’s nitrogen fixation benefits back into vogue.

Joining host James Dunne and John Maher, Teagasc Grass10 Manager, on a recent episode of the Dairy Edge podcast, Patrick detailed the management of white clover swards on his farm - both in terms of establishment and grazing - and how reading an article on the milk solids production benefits of incorporating white clover into grazing swards galvanised his decision to experiment back in 2018.

Since first dipping his toe into white clover incorporation, the area of the milking platform to which white clover is present has increased to ~60%, something John Maher, a judge on the Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition, said was impressive.

“What really impressed us [as judges] was half of that clover came from reseeding and the other half came from over sowing.

“When we visit the farms in the competition, most people want to go the reseeding road, which we can understand, but it takes time. Patrick was able to get a lot of clover onto the farm by using more than one approach,” John said.

The Overall Winner of the Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year award for 2023 is Patrick O’Neill from Co. Longford. He is pictured receiving the award in Teagasc, Ballyhaise from Charlie McConalogue T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The Overall Winner of the Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year award for 2023 is Patrick O’Neill from Co. Longford. He is pictured receiving the award in Teagasc, Ballyhaise from Charlie McConalogue T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Along with clover inclusion, Patrick’s grazing performance, infrastructure and soil fertility improvements were all commended by the judges. In 2023, the farm grew ~12t DM/ha of grass, achieved 290 days at grass and grazed each paddock 9-10 times throughout the year. But being modest, Patrick is the first to admit that he has made mistakes along the way.

“Not every paddock is going to take clover and you learn a lot from what you do wrong. In my case, there is lots of paddocks that have failed along the way and you’ll try them again and they’ll grow,” Patrick said.

The clover journey

Patrick’s stating point for clover incorporation was soil fertility, targeting fields that were optimum for soil P and K indexes and pH. Corrections have been ongoing in this regard over recent years, with compound fertilisers such as 18-6-12 used after grazing, while ~160t of lime has been applied over the past two years to improve soil pH.

“That’s where you have to start when you are thinking about clover. There is no point in putting clover in if you don’t know what’s in the soil to grow the clover,” Patrick explained.

Patrick also detailed how he manages paddocks where clover has been stitched/sown. During the establishment phase, paddocks are grazed a 700kg DM/ha covers twice to encourage clover plant establishment. Attention is also placed on the covers carried over the winter months. Where strong covers of clover are present, the paddocks will be allowed carry a grass cover over the winter months, while paddocks where clover is establishing or low will be grazed last to allow light into the base of the sward to aid clover establishment.

For more insights from Patrick’s farm, including more on clover, how he managed during the difficult spring just gone and current performance, listen to the Dairy Edge podcast below: