AgriSearch seminar to focus on ‘capitalising on clover’

The seminar will take place in the Glenavon House Hotel, Cookstown on Thursday, December 1 at 7.30pm.

The first speaker will be Dr James Humphreys from Teagasc. James leads research at Teagasc’s Solohead (Dairy) Research Farm. The soils on the Solohead farm are heavy and comparable to those found in much of Northern Ireland.

The research on the farm is focused on using white and red clovers.

A total of 50 of the 52 ha on the farm are clover-based swards with an average clover content of 20 to 25%, receiving annual fertiliser N input of between 0 and 100 kg N/ha.

The second speaker is Dr Liz Genever. Liz is a leading independent beef and sheep consultant specialising in breeding and grass and forage management. Liz was a senior beef and sheep scientist at AHDB for 13 years before moving into private practice.

In addition to examining the role of legumes in beef and sheep systems, Liz (who farms in the East of England) will also speak on options for farmers who experience restricted growth in the summer due to dry weather.

There will be a panel discussion at the end of the evening, at which Liz and James will be joined by Dr David Patterson (Grassland agronomist at AFBI), who will bring his valuable local knowledge to the discussion.

Speaking about the event AgriSearch’s general manager Jason Rankin said: “Given the rapidly increasing cost of fertiliser there is considerable interest from farmers in establishing clover based swards.

"In the recent ‘Rising Costs’ autumn survey over 60% of farmers indicated an interest in stitching in clover.

"Not only does clover have the potential to bring financial savings to farmers, it also has the potential to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of farms.

"However, successfully establishing and managing clover requires a different set of skills from managing grass only swards. If farmers wish to establish clover next year they need to start planning now. The aim of this seminar is to inform farmers of the key steps needed to successfully establish and manage a clover sward.”

All are welcome to attend this event.

To ensure sufficient refreshments are available, registration is encouraged but not essential.

For further information and to register for the event, please visit the AgriSearch website.