Influences of one-year red clover ley management on subsequent cereal crops

Abstract

A field experiment of one-year leys was established at Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, UK (NGR SP 217 323) with six combinations of red clover, perennial ryegrass and cocksfoot and two fallow control plots in May 2010 to determine the effects of ‘cut and remove’ cropping three times or ‘cut and mulch’ once annually on biomass yield and nitrogen (N) accumulation. The effect of fertility building leys on grain yield and quality were studied in two subsequent cereal crops. There was no evidence during the ley fertility building phase that red clover monoculture (RC) had a strong positive effect on grass productivity when in mixtures, irrespective of the cutting system. In cut/mulch, the red clover/ryegrass/cocksfoot (RCRGCF) mixture had least dry matter and N yields of all red clover-based leys. In the arable phase, all red clover-based leys gave subsequent winter wheat grain yields comparable to those of best conventional management. The cutting system had an effect only on red clover/ryegrass (RCRG) and ryegrass (RG). Maximum grain yield of winter wheat occurred after mulching of RCRG. For spring wheat, the preceding sown species or the cutting system had no effect on grain yield, partly due to preceding wet weather. RC consistently had greater grain protein in both subsequent winter and spring wheat. Growing short-term RC as a fertility-building forage crop could significantly improve grain protein content in both winter and spring wheat, regardless of management. RC could potentially be of economic importance, especially in low input stockless farming, where N supplementation may be limited.