Yield stability of single and two-clover grass-clover swards at grazing, cutting and different fertilizer regimes

Summary

Increasing plant diversity in grasslands may improve productivity and yield stability. This study investigates in a field experiment, yield and quality of two-species swards of ryegrass/white clover and three-species swards of ryegrass/white and red clover at five different managements representing cutting, grazing, combinations of cutting and grazing and different fertilizer treatments in 1 to 4-yr-old swards. Generally, the three-species mixture produced higher yields than the two-species mixture when swards were young and lower yields when swards were 3 and 4 years old. Fertilizer responses were similar in both mixtures and also rather independent of sward age. The overall mean annual yield increase by slurry application was 1.34 t DM corresponding to approximately 11 kg DM per kg NH4-N. In the three-species mixture there was a shift from red clover dominating in the first two years, to white clover dominating in years 3 and 4. The crude protein content of harvested plant material was not significantly affected by species mixture and variation in crude protein was mainly explained by cutting time.

Available Versions of this Item

• Yield stability of single and two-clover grass-clover swards at grazing, cutting and different fertilizer regimes. (deposited 26 Mar 2012 13:42) [Currently Displayed]
  • Complementary effects of red clover inclusion in ryegrass–white clover swards for grazing and cutting. (deposited 14 Mar 2022 11:54)