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The use of white clover on grazing farms will be the focus of a series of 12 farm walks launched by Teagasc on Wednesday.
The Teagasc Grass10 team, along with the grassland research team at Teagasc Moorepark and local Teagasc advisers, has put together a programme that provides the “latest practical advice” on white clover establishment, nitrogen fertiliser usage, grazing management and achieving fodder security in 2022.
The 12 farm walks will take place across the country in next month, commencing on 5 April at 11am on the farm of William Dennehy, Ballybeg, Currow, Co Kerry, and on the farm of Kevin Moran, Ballinvoher, Caherlistrane, Co Galway.
Further farm walks will take place throughout April, across each region of the country and interested farmers can find out more here.
Fertiliser costs
Teagasc says that farmers are “increasingly conscious” of improving nitrogen (N) fertiliser efficiency for their grassland due to the “sharp increase” in fertiliser prices since the fourth quarter of 2021.
It said this has put a “renewed focus on the ability of white clover to fix atmospheric nitrogen for grazing swards on farms”.
The body says using white clover is an opportunity for farmers to save money.
The farm walks are expected to demonstrate that the optimum amount of white clover in a field across the grazing season is 20% to 25% of total herbage mass.
Teagasc says that at this level, white clover can fix up to 150kg N/ha/year, improving both animal and sward production, as well as allowing a reduction in artificial N fertiliser use. It advises farmers to adjust fertiliser application rates in summer with this in mind.
“Where sward white clover content is increasing to greater than 20%, reduce artificial N fertiliser application rates to approximately 9kg N/ha per grazing rotation,” said Teagasc.
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