Well over 1,000 dairy farmers gathered at Ballyhasie Agricultural College on Wednesday 13 July for an open day focused on managing grass and clover swards.

Groups of farmers moved around from stand to stand listening to speakers including Teagasc’s Donal Patton, Trevor Dunwoody, and Mike Egan.

One of the key messages was you need soil fertility right to have any worthwhile clover in grassland paddocks.

If you don’t have at least index three for phosphorus, then establishing and maintaining clover will be a challenge.

Mike Egan said: “For clover, sowing good soil to seed contact is essential. So rolling is very important. If oversowing, do so after cutting. All machines can do a good job but if using a fertiliser spinner to scatter seed go twice with some fertiliser to carry the seed.”

Crowds listening to researchers and advisers at the Ballyhaise open day.

Post management of clover is crucial to keep grass covers low so it doesn’t crowd out the young clover seedlings.