So far 2025 has all the hallmarks of being a good year for grass and clover. While grass growth was steady in March, warmer soil temperature and excellent grass utilisation on farms have left many paddocks with clover contents looking very promising going into mid-April. It’s a very different picture to the situation farmers faced this time last season. While every year has its challenges, Teagasc researchers Michael Egan and Michael O’Donovan feel that 2025 would appear to be a year where grazing practice should be adapted to encourage the establishment of higher clover contents on farms.
So far 2025 has all the hallmarks of being a good year for grass and clover. While grass growth was steady in March, warmer soil temperature and excellent grass utilisation on farms have left many paddocks with clover contents looking very promising going into mid-April.
It’s a very different picture to the situation farmers faced this time last season. While every year has its challenges, Teagasc researchers Michael Egan and Michael O’Donovan feel that 2025 would appear to be a year where grazing practice should be adapted to encourage the establishment of higher clover contents on farms.
They say that the key focus points for clover are grazing management and nitrogen management at individual paddock level.
With further cuts to chemical nitrogen application rates for 2025, making use of clover is no longer optional for most dairy farmers. By reducing nitrogen rates on paddocks with clover, it means that additional nitrogen is available for paddocks without clover, thereby increasing the overall grass growth on the farm.
Ten tips for making clover work
1. Score the paddocks for sward clover content in April (see the picture guide opposite) and record the scores in the PastureBase Ireland app. These scores should form the basis of subsequent management for the main grazing season. 2. Adopt a nitrogen management strategy based on the sward clover content of individual paddocks. See Table 1 for advice on how much nitrogen to apply to each paddock based on clover contents.
A nitrogen reduction can be implemented even on paddocks with just 5% clover content in April, as this should increase as the season progresses. The nitrogen saved can be applied on paddocks with no clover.
3.Nitrogen should not be reduced until a sward clover content of 15-20% is achieved. At that point begin reducing nitrogen input on the higher clover paddocks. The first nitrogen reduction should be introduced at the mid-May application. 4. Nitrogen is a tool to ensure the farm is maintaining grass production in spring and in the absence of clover. It should be used as a tool when and where necessary, even on clover paddocks. 5. Use soiled water, where it is available to replace chemical nitrogen on the higher clover content paddocks (more than 20%) in the mid-season. 6. Soil fertility is critical for maintaining clover content. Aim for a pH of more than 6.5 and at least index three for P and K on the clover paddocks. Fix soil fertility problems before reseeding or trying to get clover established. 7. Use both over-sowing in April or early-May and full reseeding to maintain and increase sward clover content on the farm. Aim to reseed 10% of the farm and over-sow a further 10%. These paddocks need to be carefully managed post reseeding to ensure a good clover take. 8. Target the paddocks with adequate soil fertility for over-sowing. Correct the low soil fertility and weed infested paddocks when reseeding or at other times across the grazing year before attempting to over-sow these paddocks. 9. Select white clover cultivars from the Irish recommended list when reseeding and over-sowing. When reseeding, use a 5kg/ha (2kg/ac) seeding rate and when over-sowing, use 6kg/ha (2.5 kg/ac) seeding rate. These clover rates are significantly higher than the typical clover inclusion rates in most off-the-shelf grass seed mixtures. 10. Ensure pre-grazing yields of 1,300-1,500kg DM/ha and grazing residuals of 4cm to ensure high quality pasture and to keep light to the base of the clover plant. As clover relies on surface-creeping stolons to grow and spread out, it need light to the base of the sward for these stolons to develop. High covers shade out clover. 
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