Clover and Nitrogen

cathalmac

Lads,

Reseeded a few acres last year. It got fertilised in the spring time and nitrogen in early May. I've had a good run of clover and grass in it all year. Over the last couple of weeks the grass looks like it could do with some nitrogen to spruce it up.

Would I harm the clover at this stage of the year to with nitrogen?

Grecco

No it wouldn't harm the clover but it may just be that the ground needs a bit more time to recover. If your grazing down the grass too tight it takes a lot longer to come back.
I always try to leave a wedge of grass on the ground, that way they grass plant is strong and can recover quicker

Birdnuts

You need to tread carefully here since some cultivars/breeds are more tolerant then others - as Grecco said, it might simply be a matter of recovery time in any case

flatout11

put the fertilizer on it....
whats the objective to grow grass or grow clover, i know we all like to maintain it in the sward but im begining to question whether or not it can fix all the nitrogen they suggest....

49801

put it on.
but maybe cut the rate from what you would normally put out.
I've some 2007 clover reseeded ground. we cut all the silage from this ground in 1 cut. i put out 50kg/acre of CAN after the silage. now i'am regretting putting so much out as the grass/clover is too strong. I should of maybe only covered half the ground or cut my fert rate to about half of what i put out. but i'am under stocked atm at 1.6

bob charles

clover is overrated with the amount of N it can fix and then how much of it is accessible to the grass. Unless your dealing with a specific red clover/hybrid grass mix

flatout11

bob charles wrote: »

clover is overrated with the amount of N it can fix and then how much of it is accessible to the grass. Unless your dealing with a specific red clover/hybrid grass mix

have to agree with you
at estimates of 150 to 200 kg per hectare ..... if i went out with as much chemical N i would get a far higher response
it helps particularly mid season but as to its true value......

ellewood

bob charles wrote: »

clover is overrated with the amount of N it can fix and then how much of it is accessible to the grass. Unless your dealing with a specific red clover/hybrid grass mix

have to agree, ive a field reseeded in 2006 with clover in the seed and clover oversown again in 2008 whch now has a lot of clover in it it got 1 bag of can in march and i left it after that no chemical N , just grazed tight every 3 weeks by 19 july it was hungry looking and hadnt grown nearly as much grass as the rest - even old leys which only maybe 60kgs of n on it this year i just tried it to see how it got on - not good..

it got 3/4 bag of can/acre on 19 jul and already a much inproved look and grass growth

cathalmac

ellewood wrote: »

have to agree, ive a field reseeded in 2006 with clover in the seed and clover oversown again in 2008 whch now has a lot of clover in it it got 1 bag of can in march and i left it after that no chemical N , just grazed tight every 3 weeks by 19 july it was hungry looking and hadnt grown nearly as much grass as the rest - even old leys which only maybe 60kgs of n on it this year i just tried it to see how it got on - not good..

it got 3/4 bag of can/acre on 19 jul and already a much inproved look and grass growth

ellewood I'm in a similar situation, the grass looks hungry. Think I'll go with a bag of 27-2.5-5/acre. P and K on a new ley would be no harm either.

bob charles

usually put in a couple of kgs of cover per acre when reseeding, but I also give the ground up to 1 unit of N a day for the grazing season. this year I seem to have loads of clover along with grass. I think it fairly tolerant to moderate amounts of N. Fields looking hungry at the moment could be more to do with P and K than N irrespective to what your soil tests say as it being a seriously harsh year and accessability to P and K have being reduced, this conclusion is coming from very recent tissue analysis

flatout11

its worth remembering that the level of nitrogen used in seed evualation is something like 250 kg per ha...
to be honest especially on drystock farms n usage is less than 100 kg per ha per yr, only in a high input 2 cut system does it get close to 200 kg

5live

flatout11 wrote: »

have to agree with you
at estimates of 150 to 200 kg per hectare ..... if i went out with as much chemical N i would get a far higher response
it helps particularly mid season but as to its true value......

You are comparing a sward with clover in it already. Try spraying off the existing clover in half that sward and put out the same nitrogen on both. Then you will see the benefit of clover in the sward and the ammounts of nitrogen it can fix and release to the grass;)

blue5000

Hi Op
its hard to have it both ways, either manage the grass so the clover is allowed to work or spread N on it. Grass growth naturally declines a bit this time of year as it goes to seed.

If you want to get the most from clover it needs a longer rotation, 30 days instead of 21. P and K needs to be good as well. How much clover is in the sward and how tightly are you stocked?

Just my 2 cents