A seasonal summary of clover establishment and grazing management on the CAFRE farms 2024

Date published: 11 November 2024

White clover establishment across the CAFRE grazing platform in 2024 has continued, with 19.1ha established between early-May to mid-June.

2024 grazing got off to a difficult start due to the poor weather conditions experienced in March and early April, resulting in livestock being turned out to unusually high pre-grazing covers. Using a range of measures including removing surplus grass as bales weekly, targeting lower covers to graze and reducing the rotation length, both the Dairy Centre and the Beef and Sheep Centre managed to get back on track by late May.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t all been plain sailing since then, due to suppressed grass growth rates throughout much of the season. Average total grass growth from the Agrisearch Grasscheck plots across the season until the end of August 2024 are 82% of the long-term average.

Reduced growth coupled with a reduction in the amount of chemical Nitrogen applied, in order establish clover in the grazing platforms, has meant a slight reduction in areas harvested for silage and it left little room for corrective action in paddocks for grass quality such as pre-mowing or mowing and removing surpluses.

Despite the reduced grass growth, quality of the grazed grass has remained consistently very good on the CAFRE Farms, apart from a few weeks of very low dry matters (DM) due to the weather conditions.

Table 1. Average weekly grass quality samples (NIR4) across the 2024 grazing season for the Dairy Centre and Beef & Sheep Centre.

All three of CAFRE’s farm centres have managed to take full advantage of the few suitable weather windows that have existed to get the silage pits filled up with good quality forage for the winter. The Dairy Centre ensiled three cuts of silage on 2 May, 12 June and 29 July. The Beef and Sheep Centre ensiled two main cuts of silage on 22 May and the 16 July, as well as several cuts of smaller areas. The Hill Farm Centre ensiled its first cut on 24 June.

Table 2 is the forage analysis from the Dairy Centre from the silos cored in early August. Forage quality values will vary once silo faces have been opened.

Table 2: CAFRE Dairy Centre initial 2024 forage quality analysis results.

Clover establishment

White clover establishment has been carried out across the CAFRE Dairy Centre and Beef and Sheep Centre grazing platforms, with 6.96ha and 12.15ha established respectively from mid-May to mid-June. The areas established on the Beef and Sheep Centre were evenly distributed across the grazing platform, as to not negatively affect one grazing group through a reduction in growth.

Following the first year of the project, one of the four overseeding methods trialed was identified as the most successful method. Therefore, this year all the overseeding has been carried out using a grassland tine seeder to broadcast the white clover seed. To generate more soil contact, two passes of the seeder’s spring tines were given first immediately after grazing, before the seed was sown on the third pass. Granulated lime was applied at sowing if required and the paddocks were flat rolled to finish.

Two paddocks (2.7ha) on the dairy platform were originally marked for a full sward reseed in May 2024. However, due to the late turnout, it was decided to overseed instead due to the length of time the sward would be out of production and a grass deficit already appearing in early June. These were oversown in mid-June and have established well but the clover seedlings are notably less mature that the previously sown paddocks. An additional two paddocks (1.5ha) on the dairy grazing platform received a full sward, min-till reseed in early September. Clover has been included in the mix, with the option of using a herbicide spray in late autumn to control weeds if required and over sow white clover again in spring 2025.

Post sowing all the swards have been grazed on a shorter grazing rotation (18 days) and at lower pre grazing covers (2,600 – 2,800 kg DM/ha), to allow more light to the base of the sward and aid white clover establishment. On the dairy grazing platform, no chemical N was applied at sowing, or after the first grazing rotation, with a half rate of N applied after each subsequent grazing (12kg N/ha). On the beef and sheep grazing platform no chemical N has been applied post sowing. Dilute slurry has been used exclusively on all established areas throughout the remainder of the season on the Beef and Sheep Centre.

A red clover silage sward (1.6ha) was established at the Beef and Sheep Centre in 2023. It has been cut and ensiled as bales three times in 2024 on 10 May, 26 Jun and 14 Aug yielding 20, 19 and 17 bales respectively at dry matters of 33%, 25% and 30%. This sward has received slurry only prior to each cut, with no chemical fertiliser applied. The sward will now be grazed by lambs in September.

Winter management

Carrying high covers on clover swards over the winter will prevent light form reaching the base of the sward, reduce tillering and cause the clover plants to rot, significantly affecting the persistency of the white clover.

All swards containing clover will be grazed tightly in short grazing periods in the autumn (mid October – late November).

Paddocks will be grazed and closed in rotation for next season based on clover content, accessibility and carrying capacity next spring.

Summary

The successful establishment of clover in your grazing swards will depend on field selection, soil fertility, timing of sowing, selecting an appropriate variety and the management of the sward after sowing. Discuss the most appropriate option for establishing clover on your farm with your local CAFRE Adviser.