For such a small country, Northern Ireland can certainly produce an amazing mixture of grazing conditions during a single season.

While parts were (quite literally) under water, other areas escaped with little more than average amounts of rainfall. In north Down, we have had near-perfect growing conditions, and the biggest problem has been trying to utilise heavy covers across many farms.

Recent rainfall has changed things slightly, but has been more of a nuisance factor than anything more serious.

Nevertheless, even ideal years bring their own challenges, and some questions will always remain unanswered.

The most vexing question on this farm continues to poke me in the ribs, and is probably set to nag me for evermore. Why am I not able to consistently grow clover?

Despite reseeding individual fields, often with added percentages of this potentially wonderful plant, I only have one 9ac hill that is a genuinely clover-rich sward.

It was converted from cereals to grassland three years ago, and has been a huge success. Since then, I reseeded three more fields and one thing is for certain – I won’t have to worry about animals bloating when grazing them. One of them (reseeded in August 2016) has a respectable amount of clover showing among the grass, but any thoughts of it contributing nitrogen to the sward are fanciful. As for this spring’s conversion of spring barley stubble back to grass, let’s just say it appears to be taking a clover holiday.

I think I can rule out pH, phosphorus and potassium as limiting factors, since these are generally adjusted in the right direction prior to establishing grass and clover seeds.

And after germination, there are always plenty of young clover plants, so my conclusion points to subsequent activity having some sort of negative effect.

Sheep and lambs are probably culpable to varying degrees, although the field with a high clover content has had the same grazing pressure as all the rest.

The only difference between that field and others was the lack of available nitrogen during the first season (cereal converted to grass), whereas direct reseeds tend to release nutrients as the old lea breaks down.

Therefore, if I had to draw up a blueprint for establishing clover, I’d guess that severely limiting any form of nitrogen during the first year might be a step in the right direction. I also suspect that some parts of the country are just better suited than others, although I haven’t a clue why.

Weeds

My father used to say that sheep and poultry dung was the best possible combination for growing nettles, with the manure supplying plenty of phosphate to feed the root system, and the ewes helping spread the plants.

I reckon he was correct, but I also seem to have an unenviable talent for growing creeping thistle too. In my unending quest to retain clover, I sometimes allow thistles to remain unchallenged, since any herbicide worth using seems to have a detrimental effect on clover.

The clover-safe herbicides nowadays are generally a bit on the lazy side, and tend to be expensive too.

During the course of the summer, I used several of these sprays (2,4-DB, Tribenuron-Methyl, and Thifensulfuron-Methyl) for thistles, general weeds, and docks.

They seem to work well on young weeds with no root reserve, but for the more deep-rooted problems like docks and thistles, the old favourites (Doxstar and Thistlex) will provide much longer relief in the overall war.

In these instances, it’s best to let the clover take a roasting and hope it makes some sort of recovery.

Value of reseeding

At present, I do not operate a high stocking density, although with almost half the farm depending on rented land, this situation could easily change.

Then I’d be singing from an entirely different hymn sheet, but for now I’m questioning the value of reseeding. If I don’t need the increased yield of new swards, and am unable to consistently retain a high clover content, then perhaps I should concentrate on nutrient correction to best utilise the existing sward.

The weighbridges are vital tools on this farm, and I’ve yet to see any hard evidence that links new swards to increased animal performance. Therefore, I find myself (once again) standing at a metaphorical crossroads, and I’m not sure which way to turn.