A farm based comparion of grass/white clover with nitrogen based system for dairy cattle

Abstract

There is increasing interest in the use of white clover rich swards in dairy cattle systems in response to evironmental pressures and the introduction of milk quotas. White clover (Trifolium repens) in association with Rhizobium bacteria in a mixed sward receiving no fertilizer nitrogen can produce yields equivalent to a grass sward receiving approximately 200 kg N/ha/annum. Field scale cutting experiments (Roberts et al, 1989) have deomstrated that under an intensive 3-cut silage regime a grass/white clover sward receiving no nitrogenous fertilizer can yield 0.71 of the DM herbage output of a grass sward receiving between 320 and 340 kg N/ha/annum. Feeding experiments have demonstrated the ability of white clover to improve milk yield and composition (Castle et al, 1983, Thomson, 1984). To further investigate the potential of white clover for dairy cattle a systems study is being conducted. This paper summarises the performance of the two herds in the first year.