A preliminary cost-benefit analysis for inclusion of caucasian clover in new dairy pasture

Abstract

In a coastal Bay of Plenty trial, ryegrass pasture containing the rhizomatous legume caucasian clover (CC), provided advantages from late spring to autumn in total herbage yield and legume content in the 2nd to 4th years, compared with a ryegrass- white clover pasture. Sub-optimal pasture supply and quality, in summer and autumn especially, can limit seasonal milk production potential. Thus, greater milk yield from pasture which includes CC can be derived from greater dry matter on offer to cows, and also through improved forage quality afforded by increased legume content. CC is slower to establish than white clover (WC) and may be favoured by spring rather than autumn sowing. The extra costs for successfully establishing CC in pasture and the milk yield potential from greater herbage yields and legume content were used to determine the level and rate of economic benefit from its inclusion in dairy pasture. Depending on the assumptions made, CC was calculated to recover net establishment costs in the 4th year, with a net present value over 10 years of $789, or a 35% internal rate of return. At this level of return use of CC in pasture renewal would be an attractive longerterm option. A number of considerations, which need to be taken into account, include as yet unestablished benefits for CC on heavier or moister soils which are less compromising to WC persistence, the slow establishment of CC, the effects of different methods of establishment and longer-term effects of pasture pests on its performance potential. Keywords: caucasian clover, cost-benefit, coastal Bay of Plenty, dairy pasture, Lolium perenne, Trifolium ambiguum, Trifolium repens