Clover is commonly used as a cover crop, forage crop, and soil improvement tool.
Clover species like red clover and white clover are rich nitrogen-fixers, helping to enhance soil fertility by capturing atmospheric nitrogen and making it available to other plants. Additionally, clover provides excellent forage for livestock, contributing to sustainable and nutritious animal diets. Its ability to suppress weeds and prevent soil erosion makes it a valuable component of crop rotations and conservation farming practices.
AHDB Guidance on establishing clover
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Grass in farming is interconnected with livestock systems for their feed, in the form of grazing, haylage and silage, and is also used as 'leys' (short-term grasslands) to regenerate soil structure and quality.
Mob grazing is a form of intensive managed grazing where large numbers of animals graze a small area of land for a short period of time. There is increasing interest in this system due to perceived productivity and environmental benefits. However, there is very limited research to quantify the impact of mob grazing systems, and many farmers adopting the system have been influenced by anecdotal evidence from other farmers.
Some symbiotic or free-living microorganisms can fix inert di-nitrogen (N) from the air into reactive organic nitrogenous compounds. Most biological N fixation (BNF) in farming systems occurs in the root nodules of legumes where rhizobium bacteria take photosynthates from the plant in exchange for fixing atmospheric N and returning ammonium or amides which the plant uses to form amino acids, proteins, etc. Plants need more N than any other nutrient and N commonly limits plant growth in many ecosystems.
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An Innovative Farmers Field Lab with four sheepers farmers working with ADAS has shown that long-held fears of red clover in herbal leys affecting fertility in sheep are unfounded, with the findings that inclusion of the legume can even have a positive effect on pregnancy rates.
Legume is the commonly used name for the family of flowering plants, Fabaceae. Any plant in the Fabaceae family that has leaves, stems and pods are referred to as a Legume.
Cover crops are grown primarily to ‘protect or improve’ soils between periods of regular crop production. They can be effective at improving soil functions by increasing soil nutrient and water retention, improving soil structure/quality, reducing the risk of soil erosion, surface run-off and diffuse pollution by providing soil cover and by managing weeds or soil-borne pests.
Interest is growing in using legumes like lucerne or clover as a permanent understory to cereal crops to provide nitrogen through the season.
Concerns over the increasing cost and environmental impact of high inorganic nitrogen (N) inputs have led to a reappraisal of the role of legumes, particularly clover, in maintaining soil fertility in improved grasslands.
Four farmers, who are working with ADAS in an Innovative Farmers field lab, have found grazing ewes on herbal leys containing the legume can even have a positive effect on pregnancy rates.
