Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Hejduk S.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Red clover (Trifolium pratense L) is the most important perennial legume cultivated in Central and Northern Europe. Its lack of persistence is the main limiting factor which hampers its wider use in permanent grassland. Once the plants in the 2nd or 3rd harvest year disappear, the remaining grass sward needs more nitrogen fertilizing, over-seeding or renovation. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the effect of four red clover cultivars and two cutting frequencies on dry matter (DM) yield and clover persistence in mixture with grasses. The highest DM forage yield in the 3rd harvest year and persistence index was achieved by the cultivars Astur and Amos for 3- and 4-cut management, respectively (15.7 vs 16.6 Mg ha‑1 and 0.82 vs 0.95, respectively). There was a significant interaction between cultivar and cutting frequency in the 3rd harvest year, when only cultivar Amos increased yield and persistence index under 4-cut management. The cultivar Amos, in comparison with other cultivars, demonstrated the best results under more frequent cutting management and should be recommended, in preference, for intensively harvested permanent grasslands and/or leys.
Trifolium pratense
Performance and quality of legume monocultures and grass-legume mixtures during two dry years
Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Kizeková M., Jančová Ľ., Dugátová Z., Čunderlík J., Kanianska R., Makovníková J. and Tomaškin J.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
The paper presents the effect of weather variables on performance and herbage quality of legume monocultures and grass-legume mixtures. In a field experiment, the total dry matter yield and its distribution during the growing period, content of crude protein and fibre of monocultures of Trifolium pratense and Medicago sativa and grass-legume mixtures under the climatic conditions of hilly region in Central Slovakia during two dry years was investigated. Medicago sativa cv. Kamila and Tereza grown as monocultures or as mixtures with Festulolium braunii (cv. Achilles) outperformed Trifolium pretense cv. Fresko and Veles and provided a well-balanced total and seasonal dry matter yield during both years. Across all experimental years, crude protein content was significantly higher at Medicago sativa monocultures and mixtures when compared to Trifolium pratense monocultures (P
Performance of red clover mixtures in high output dairy systems: an agro-economical comparison
Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Rietberg P., De Wit J. and Van Eekeren N.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Inclusion of red clover (Trifolium pratense) in grasslands offers important economic and environmental advantages as nitrogen (N) fertilizer is replaced with N from N2 fixation. These advantages seemed to be reduced under high fertilization rates. In a field experiment we compared perennial ryegrass swards (Lolium perenne) with grass-clover mixtures in which the artificial N fertilizer was omitted. The experiment was conducted at two locations (sandy and clay soil) at high fertilization levels (254 and 306 kg total-N ha‑1 on grass-clover and 389 and 489 kg total-N ha‑1 on the pure grass swards). Grassclover mixtures produced more dry matter (+18%), digestible energy (+12%), crude protein (+45%) and digestible protein (+27%). Economic evaluation at farm level shows that grass-clover mixtures had a surplus of €510 ha‑1 year‑1 over pure grass swards. This surplus would be reduced (to €282 ha‑1) if the higher crude protein content of grass-clover cannot be balanced in the feed ration, resulting in extra N excretion of the animals and subsequent higher costs for manure disposal if maximum allowable manure application rates per ha are exceeded. These results show that inclusion of red clover in grasslands has agro-economic benefits, also under high fertilization rates.