AgriSearch to hold Augher Farm Walk on Red Clover Establishment

The farm walk will take place on the farm of David Clarke on Wednesday 5th June. David farms 80 spring calving dairy cows alongside a broiler-breeder poultry unit near Augher in partnership with his father.

Dr David Patterson (Grassland Agronomist from AFBI) and Robert Patterson (Grassland Technologist at CAFRE) will outline the key steps needed to successfully establish red clover swards (including soil fertility, nutrient management, seed selection and reseeding methods).

David Clarke will discuss his experiences of establishing and harvesting red clover silage swards on his farm as part of the ZeroNsile Project.

Conail Keown (CAFRE) will discuss how to make best use of red clover within dairy cow diets, as well as the benefits that red clover can bring in terms of lowering fertiliser use, having higher protein forage and the potential to lower your carbon footprint.

Registrations are now open for the farm walk and places can be booked via the AgriSearch website.

The ZeroNsile project was established in 2023 to examine the feasibility and practicalities of producing silage without the use of manufactured N fertiliser, focusing primarily on red clover swards. Twelve farmers from the Beacon Farm Network and GrassCheck programmes were selected from right across Northern Ireland to establish red clover swards on their farms. There is also a smaller Lucerne component in the study which will investigate the feasibility of growing and utilizing Lucerne on three farms in Country Down.

To register for the farm walk visit the AgriSearch website www.agrisearch.org .