Grass-clover mixtures: benefits for arable and livestock farms and biodiversity.

Summary

Introduction: Grass-clover mixtures show many benefits for sustainable agriculture. In the Netherlands, organic arable and livestock farmers often work together in a so-called partner farm concept: the arable farms grow one-year grass-clover leys to widen their crop rotation and as fodder for a livestock farm in exchange for manure. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of different grass-clover mixtures and monocultures in a one-year ley on both aboveground and belowground parameters in light of the benefits of the ley for livestock farms, arable farms and biodiversity