The Clover Reporter with Peter Doyle
The Clover Reporter is the newest addition to the Grass10 newsletter. This section will give weekly reports and videos from farmers who have a lot of clover established on their farms. This week Peter Doyle, Researcher at the Derrypatrick Herd, Teagasc Grange reports on clover on the farm
The Grass10 team would like to introduce you to a new section of the newsletter, The Clover Reporter. This section will give weekly reports and videos from farmers who have a lot of clover established on their farms. These farms are continuing to establish more clover into their grass-clover swards for animal performance and nitrogen reduction gains. We will keep you updated on the challenges and opportunities they face on their journey.
Name: Peter Doyle
Location: Derrypatrick Herd, Teagasc Grange, Co. Meath
Enterprise: Suckler calf-to-beef
Soil Type: Brown earth
% Farm In Clover: 50% grass-clover (32 ha) (other 50 % is grass only for trial purposes)
% From Reseeding: 53% (17 ha)
% From Oversowing: 47% (15 ha)
Clover content 2021: 10%
Clover varieties: Crusader and Chieftain (medium leaf size)
Seeding Rate/Ac: 2.5 kg/ac - oversown, 1.5 kg/ac - reseed
Methods Used: Reseed - Onepass, Oversow - Einbock
Why Clover?: This year a grass-only vs. grass-clover system experiment is being set up to quantify the benefits of red and white clover in suckler-to-beef systems.
1st Rotation Management: Identifying suitable paddocks, seed mixtures and soil nutrient requirements to reseed and oversow with clover this April.
Peter's Top Tip For Clover: The farm’s aim this year is to build-up clover content on the farm. Huge emphasis will be placed on optimising soil fertility and grazing out tightly to ensure optimal establishment of the stitched in clover.
Find out more from Teagasc here about Clover
Find out about all the previous farmers who took part in The Clover Reporter here