Publication Date
1989
Description
Clover development in long term mixed swards is variable due to, among other factors, the complex interaction between grass and clover. A previous study has shown that grazing grass/clover swards with sheep for a short period during winter/spring may result in higher clover content and clover drymatter yield in summer than in swards ungrazed during winter/spring, while nitrogen fertilizer has the reverse effect (Laidlaw and Steward 1987). It was concluded that these treatments, by varying the amount of herbage accumulated in spring, controlled the amount of light passing to the base of the sward and so determined the rate of clover stolon branching. While there appeared to be a general inverse relationship between the amount of accumulated herbage in spring, and the clover content of the swards in summer (Kilpatrick and Laidlaw 1988), the treatment involving grazing by sheep in November had a higher stolon density than the amount of herbage accumulating in spring would suggest. The following experiment was carried out to investigate this.
Citation
Laidlaw, A S. and Withers, J A., "The Effect of Accumulated Herbage Mass in Winter and Spring on White Clover Development" (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 17.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session9/17
Included in
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The Effect of Accumulated Herbage Mass in Winter and Spring on White Clover Development
Clover development in long term mixed swards is variable due to, among other factors, the complex interaction between grass and clover. A previous study has shown that grazing grass/clover swards with sheep for a short period during winter/spring may result in higher clover content and clover drymatter yield in summer than in swards ungrazed during winter/spring, while nitrogen fertilizer has the reverse effect (Laidlaw and Steward 1987). It was concluded that these treatments, by varying the amount of herbage accumulated in spring, controlled the amount of light passing to the base of the sward and so determined the rate of clover stolon branching. While there appeared to be a general inverse relationship between the amount of accumulated herbage in spring, and the clover content of the swards in summer (Kilpatrick and Laidlaw 1988), the treatment involving grazing by sheep in November had a higher stolon density than the amount of herbage accumulating in spring would suggest. The following experiment was carried out to investigate this.
