Comparative performance of white clover and perennial ryegrass swards for finishing store lambs

Abstract

Environmental pressures on the agricultural industry to reduce the use of nitrogenous fertilizer, coupled with improvements in varieties now available, have heightened interest in the use of white clover on livestock farms in the United Kingdom. Furthermore white clover is nutritionally superior to ryegrass, particularly in its protein content. Store lambs require a high quality feed so that they grow well and achieve the desired amount of carcass finish. In this investigation the performance and subsequent carcass characteristics of store lambs finished on white clover or perennial ryegrass swards are compared.During the autumn of 1989, eighty four Texel x Welsh Mule wether lambs were divided into 4 balanced groups. Each group was penned into 0.65 ha paddocks of either white clover (C) or perennial ryegrass (PRG) swards to give two groups of twenty four lambs per sward type.The clover sward (3 ha field) was sown on 3 August 1983 with 6.85 kg/ha of an equal mixture by weight of Nesta (large leafed variety) and Menna (intermediate variety). Three silage cuts had been taken during the 1989 season totalling 7.2 tonnes DM/ha, the third cut being taken on 19 September.