A couple of years ago I started on a journey with clover, with an aim to introduce the plant into swards and also encourage any existing white clover that I had to yield more.

I have found it a hard and frustrating journey and one with plenty of obstacles and difficulties along the way.

I am fully convinced about the benefits of having clover in my swards. There is the big advantage of fixing atmospheric nitrogen and therefore reducing the amount of artificial nitrogen required to grow grass. This gives you a reduced carbon footprint and a substantial financial benefit. There are also perceived advantages in animal performance and biodiversity.

I was hoping to reap the rewards when I got the clover established, but I knew that it would not be straightforward. I was very aware of the difficulty in managing clovers.

System

I had got into a very simple system where I sowed artificial fertiliser to grow grass to feed the animals. If I needed more grass then I applied more fertiliser and if I did not need as much, then I sowed less. It was extremely easy to manage and plan.

By switching to clover, I had to get out of that habit and leave it up to the clover to fix the atmospheric nitrogen. I had to be brave and hope that the clover would do its job or else I would not have anything for my cattle to eat.

Last year went reasonably well and I grew a fair bit of forage while using a lot less artificial fertiliser. There were difficulties. Sometimes the grass got too strong and shaded out the clover and there were times that the ground got wet, and the cattle damaged the plant.

2024 growth

But all in all, I was satisfied and even felt a little smug. I thought to myself that this clover management was not as hard as was suggested.

Roll on to 2024 and as usual there was no sign of the clover in the spring. I thought to myself that the clover will soon appear, so I kept holding off on the artificial nitrogen.

The spring came and went and then we were into summer and still little sign of the plant. There were little bits here and there, but no large amount and certainly not enough to give any benefit from nitrogen fixing.

Through the whole month of June, I kept hoping that the clover would soon take off, but it did not. I was rapidly running out of grass. Eventually I gave in and went out and sowed artificial nitrogen and sure enough the grass took off again.

Turned around

I convinced myself it was a combination of my poor management and bad weather that had completely wiped out the clover. I was disgusted with myself and did not know whether to give up on the plant or try again.

Into July and the weather has improved slightly in that it has got a lot warmer, although we are still getting lots of rain. However, in the matter of a few weeks the look of the farm has completely turned around.

The clover has appeared again and as if by magic it is everywhere.

Swards are now full of the plant with white blossom everywhere.

You would think that I had stitched in more clover, but that is not the case.

It seems to have been sleeping and when the warm weather came it suddenly woke up and decided to make up for lost time. It is great to see, but also very frustrating.

It will mean that I can now reduce the artificial fertiliser for the rest of the year, but it also leaves some very big question marks.

I can fully understand why a lot of farmers have no time for clover or no interest in having it in their swards.

It offers a lot, but it can be very unreliable.

If you are heavily stocked and need a regular supply of forage for your livestock, it is going to be difficult to manage with clover.