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Presenter Information

R.J M. Hay, DSIR
G S. Baxter, DSIR

Publication Date

1989

Location

Nice France

Description

In Southland, New Zealand, a wide range of grazing systems are practised, from continuous set-stocking to year round rot­ational grazing. A problem is the apparent decline in contri­bution of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) to total sward pro­duction in older pastures. Cereal and brassica crops, which depleted soil N, were traditionally sown each year and used to ensure that about 20 % of any farm consisted of clover-domi­nant two and three year old pastures. Carran (pers. comm.) suggests that all-grass-farming has removed the N-deficit incentive for clover growth. Farmlet tri­als at the Gore Regional Station, DSIR, have shown that 3 years after sowing, the clover contribution to sward DM yield is often in the 10-13 % range, a level too low for optimal animal performance (Hook 1978). Various winter management treatments had no effect on subsequent white clover production in pastures at Gore (Har­ris, Turner and Hickey) (pers. comm.). It was therefore decided to impose various grazing treatments during spring, a time when manipulation of sward morphology may influence later growth of pasture (Hay and Baxter, 1984).

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Manipulating the Plastic Response of White Clover Through Grazing, in a cool, Temperate Climate in New Zealand

Nice France

In Southland, New Zealand, a wide range of grazing systems are practised, from continuous set-stocking to year round rot­ational grazing. A problem is the apparent decline in contri­bution of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) to total sward pro­duction in older pastures. Cereal and brassica crops, which depleted soil N, were traditionally sown each year and used to ensure that about 20 % of any farm consisted of clover-domi­nant two and three year old pastures. Carran (pers. comm.) suggests that all-grass-farming has removed the N-deficit incentive for clover growth. Farmlet tri­als at the Gore Regional Station, DSIR, have shown that 3 years after sowing, the clover contribution to sward DM yield is often in the 10-13 % range, a level too low for optimal animal performance (Hook 1978). Various winter management treatments had no effect on subsequent white clover production in pastures at Gore (Har­ris, Turner and Hickey) (pers. comm.). It was therefore decided to impose various grazing treatments during spring, a time when manipulation of sward morphology may influence later growth of pasture (Hay and Baxter, 1984).