Irish farmers make the move to clover

Volatility in fertiliser markets over recent years has seen more Irish farmers turn to clover to reduce the reliance on chemical nitrogen on their grassland farms.

That was one of the many key messages shared by Dr. Michael O’Donovan, Head of the Teagasc Grassland Science Department, when joining the recent ‘Clover: The Move Is On’ webinar.

“The direction we are taking is very much a forward direction,” commented Dr. O’Donovan, noting that the inclusion of white clover in grazing swards not only allows farms to achieve higher levels of animal performance but – when managed appropriately – can facilitate lower levels of chemical nitrogen usage at farm level.

“Part of the animal performance improvement is coming through improved grass quality and intake,” Dr. O’Donovan noted, before pointing to research from Teagasc dairy, beef and sheep research farms which has proven the benefits of clover inclusion in terms of additional milk solids production, beef carcass weight gains and earlier finishing for mid-season lamb production systems.

On its role in reducing chemical nitrogen at farm level, Dr. O’Donovan said: “The price of nitrogen is now even more volatile, so we have to reduce our dependence on imported nitrogen. Clover is definitely one of the ways to mitigate that.”

On the changes witnessed at farm level, he added: “Chemical nitrogen usage over the last three years has reduced by about 17% and white clover usage in that period has increased by 40%. The adaptation is really happening now at farm level,” Dr O’Donovan noted.

For full insights, a recording on the Clover: The Move Is On webinar is available to view below. Chaired by Dr Emer Kennedy, Dairy Enterprise Leader at Teagasc, it featured contributions from Dr. Michael O’Donovan, Dr. Michael Egan and dairy farmer, Jim White.

For more information, view the Teagasc publication: Management and establishment of grass-white clover swards (PDF).