08 September 2024

New high yielding white clover varieties

As high yielding and persistent varieties of white clover are needed, Grass, Legume and Herb Breeder at Teagasc, Dr Patrick Conaghan tells us more on the latest generation of Teagasc white clover varieties.

The use of white clover on Irish farms has more than tripled over the last three years. Farmers are increasingly using white clover to reduce costs and reliance on chemical nitrogen (N) fertiliser and increase animal output. Hence a need for new, high-yielding and persistent varieties of white clover.

The latest generation of Teagasc white clover varieties was developed from 286 crosses. From these crosses, 25,200 plants were evaluated in 1,260 plots at Oak Park over three years under cutting and sheep grazing. The new varieties have been submitted to the official Recommended List trials in Ireland, England/Wales and Scotland for independent evaluation. Two new large leaf size varieties, named Clodagh and Dungloe, have to date completed the official trials.

Clodagh and Dungloe are the highest-yielding white clover varieties on the Recommended Lists. In Ireland, this equates to over 1t DM/ha more clover than the average Recommended List variety. Large leaf varieties tend to have fewer and shorter stolons than small leaf varieties, resulting in lower ground cover and persistency. Through judicious selection under sheep grazing, Clodagh and Dungloe have been bred to suppress this trend. In the England/Wales Recommended List trials, Clodagh and Dungloe had the highest ground cover of all varieties under cutting or rotational cattle grazing.

Clodagh and Dungloe are the most productive white clover varieties for farmers in Ireland and UK. The two varieties will be released in spring 2025 by Goldcrop, an Irish seeds and inputs company that has worldwide propagation and marketing rights on all new varieties. Teagasc and Goldcrop entered into a new long-term forage breeding partnership in 2023, titled ‘Pasture Innovations’.

For more information, visit the Pasture Innovations website here

Also read: New grass and clover genetic improvement programme launched

The above article was adapted for use on Teagasc Daily from the Teagasc Research Impact Highlights in 2023.