White Clover- its role and advantages in your livestock enterprise

This protein rich legume not only has the potential to increase feed intakes but also offer livestock farmers a whole host of other benefits including nitrogen fixation and an enhanced soil structure. With the Nitrates Regulations in place putting limits on the amounts of artificial nitrogen and a move towards more sustainable farming, white clover will play an increasingly important role in Ireland¡¦s livestock industry in the years ahead.
White clover has a great deal to offer dairy, beef and sheep farmers and below are some of the main features and benefits:

• Free Nitrogen- White clover will “fix” a valuable quantity of free nitrogen throughout the grazing season. Some of this will be made available to the companion grass and the rest will be released to the following crop when the field is ploughed. A healthy population of white clover will fix up to 250 kgs N/ha/year (100 units/acre/year). This will help reduce fertiliser costs and build up soil fertility
• Increased Feed Intakes- The presence of a healthy clover population in your sward will encourage livestock to eat more herbage which, in turn, means more milk and liveweight gain at a lower cost.
• Mid Season Growth- White clover has the ability to thrive in mid season- just at the stage when the companion grasses are not at their optimum. This helps to ensure that the herbage remains more palatable to stock during this critical period of the growing season.


• Mineral Bonus- White clover enhances the level of several important minerals including calcium, magnesium, cobalt and selenium and this is beneficial to the health of your livestock.

Cut your N Fertiliser cost in Half

Multicote Overseed Clover TM- This Teagasc Approved method of introducing white clover seed into existing swards is an excellent way to boost herbage production from your swards and reduce fertiliser costs. Research at Teagasc Solohead into over seeding clover into pastures has shown that savings of Eur50 per acre are possible by maximising white clover content in productive swards. This is a saving of Eur 5000 for a 100 acre farm!!!