Farmers recently attended a farm walk in the Clogher Valley to learn more about growing red clover.
Augher dairy farmer, David Clarke discussed his experience of establishing red clover swards at an AgriSearch farm walk which took place earlier this month.
The red clover has potential to increase yields.
David farms 80 spring calving dairy cows alongside a broiler-breeder poultry unit near Augher in partnership with his father, Philip.
He established red clover silage swards last year as part of AgriSearch’s ZeroNsile project.
At the event, Dr. David Patterson, Grassland Agronomist from AFBI, and Robert Patterson, Grassland Technologist at CAFRE, outlined the steps needed to successfully establish red clover swards including soil fertility, nutrient management, seed selection and reseeding methods.
Conail Keown from CAFRE discussed how to make best use of red clover within dairy cow diets, as well as the benefits that red clover can bring in terms of lowering fertiliser use, having higher protein forage and the potential to lower your carbon footprint.
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