Red Clover

The interest in increased protein production due to the rising costs of purchased protein sources has highlighted the value of red clover- a crop which can be sown on its own or mixed with suitable grasses (eg Hybrid ryegrasses). Red Clovers are capable of much higher yields than white clovers and they have a more aggressive growth habit. However, their life expectancy is much shorter and the target is three three years of production. Red clover is suited more to a cutting system and grown on its own under a continual cutting regime will yield 10-15 tonnes DM/ha annually. When ensiled red clover can support 25-30% higher liveweight gains in beef cattle compared to perennial ryegrass with a similar digestibility.

Red clover swards can produce yields equivalent to conventional grass swards which are receiving 250kg N per hectare (100 units per acre). Protein content is particularly high in red clover (25%) and, due to a form of biochemical protection – there is a reduction of protein loss in the silo. Feed value is greater than it appears on analyses due to the composition of the protein.

Red clover varieties available from Germinal include:

AberRuby- Highest Yielding variety on NIAB list. This new IGER bred variety outperforms all other varieties on the NIAB list, achieving a record yield of 111% overall.

Merviot- Very high yielding variety with good ground cover and disease resistance.