Why Use Red Clover?
• High yielding silage crop (13t DM/ha/annum – equivalent to Italian/hybrid ryegrass with 250 units of nitrogen/acre). • Less fibrous than grass & highly digestible. • Twice as much protein as grass. • Up to 20% higher intake. • Requires little or no nitrogen fertiliser. • Offers affordable home-grown protein (14 – 20 % crude protein). • Proven to increase animal performance – both milk and meat. • Good for aerating soils and improving soil structure. • Offers a wider harvesting window than grass. • Significant cost savings over grass silage Establishment of Red Clover Crops • Sow mid-July to end of August in a fine, firm, level seed bed. • No nitrogen required and only moderate applications of phosphate and Potassium (K). • Correct soil indexes = pH 6 Phosphorus (P) and K soil indices of 2. • Can be direct drilled 1.5 cm deep or broadcast, over-sown into existing sward or under-sown in a cereal crop in the spring. Optimizing Productivity • Fits into a rotation with a 5 – 8 year gap be
