Red Clover Silage an attractive option for both livestock and tillage farmers in 2024

In an effort to reduce the amount of nitrogen fertiliser used on Irish farms, DAFM have announced that last years’ hugely Red Clover Measure will be available again in 2024. The measure is worth €300/ha up to a total of 20ha for each applicant. It essentially means free seed!

Red clover is best suited to silage systems and is usually used in a mixture with perennial ryegrass. Such swards are capable of producing up to 16 t DM/ha per year over 4 cuts with very little N fertiliser required. Furthermore, the quality of silage produced often exceeds grass silage with crude protein values typically between 16 and 20%. Feeding such high-quality silage leads to exceptional animal performance.

N Saver Silage from DLF is a silage mix designed to perform without N fertiliser. It contains 35% red clover and 5% white clover to produce high quality silage with no N fertiliser. Also in the mix is a blend of Intermediate and Late heading perennial ryegrass varieties to boost yield throughout the season and help with preservation in the pit or bale.

This mixture is not just for livestock farmers – when included in a tillage rotation, N Saver Silage acts as an excellent break crop and soil conditioner while producing a valuable cash crop for sale.

Benefits of Red Clover

• Can produce between 12- and 16-tons DM/ha when grown with perennial ryegrass
• Annual N fixation of 150-200kg N/ha is possible from swards with a high red clover content
• High crude protein content of 16-20%
• Highly palatable leading to increased animal intake and performance
• Deep tap root makes red clover relatively drought tolerant
• Ideal in a tillage rotation
  • Disease break
  • Feeds following crop
  • Cash Crop

For more information check out our Red Clover management guide below.