Bryan Daniels

Bryan Daniels, Dairy Farmer, Kilkenny

Bryan Daniels, is a dairy farmer from outside Kilmoganny, County Kilkenny. A graduate of Kildalton Agricultural College, Bryan returned home to farm in 1999 where he converted the dairy and beef farm to a fully dairy enterprise. He has received several accolades in the last 20 years including Teagasc Student of the Year, 2001; FBD Young Farmer of the Year, 2007; and Teagasc Overall & Sustainable Farming Grassland Farmer of the Year, 2019.

Bryan’s Nuffield report is ‘Clover in Irish grassland agriculture’

Executive Summary:

Clover has just always seemed to have been part of grassland farming. It is a simple three leafed plant that is known for its ability to fix nitrogen, increase production in both yield from the land and in the livestock it is fed to. It is also seen as a way of possibly helping to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture. Despite Ireland being so well known for its pasture farming, clover use has fallen in and out of favour with Irish farmers over the last half century. Clover has been seen as being complex to manage and more associated with organic or extensive farming rather than productive profitable agriculture. In the last number of years, we have seen huge increases in the price of chemical fertilizers, issues in supplies and increasing pressure from the UN, EU and our own government to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture. To address these issues there is now a new wave of interest in clover as a possible solution to overcome these obstacles.

The aim of this study was to examine the reason why clover has had limited use in the past when research has shown the benefits on numerous occasions. The objectives were to find simple and workable solutions that would allow for greater incorporation of clovers across Irish grassland agriculture and examine the role of our farmer owed co-operatives in knowledge transfer of methods to reduce GHG emissions. The objectives were met by visits and meetings with farmers that have been using clover for a number of years and earlier adopters of more recent research to identify what was working for them. I visited advisors, research farms and co-operatives to understand the current situation and what future advice was being developed. These meetings and visits were throughout Ireland, The UK, Denmark, Germany, Singapore, Borneo, Brazil and Australia.

The main findings from my studies showed that there are many farmers using different levels of clover across their farms and are achieving respectable results when benchmarked against the top farmers in performance and profitably. These farmers have found simple workable ways around the concerns that restrict other farmers from adopting clover and low nitrogen systems. These included; changes to turn out dates, incorporation of other plants into the swards and changes in management. Bloat had been an issue on some farms, but I found that farmers that rear their young stock on clover swards reported lower incidences and in some cases no incidences at all. Weed control was not an issue that farmers were concerned about and felt they could control them without effecting clover on a farm level. On the research side there are mixed messages with the advice offered to farmers, this is obvious here in Ireland with the advice to nitrogen applications at establishment and through the growing season. The importance of the correct levels of soil fertility is still not being fully understood at ground level, in particular the value of soil pH. The availability of the right blends of fertilizers to maintain soil fertility needs to be addressed. Plant breeding can offer a solution to overcome a level of the restrictions that are limiting clover uptake, but it will take time to see a full role out of these at farm level. Our co-operatives on the milk processing side have implemented various sustainability programs that include environmentally friendly farming methods. These programs seem to be more for proving the sustainability of the milk for marketing.

From my studies and research, it is evident that there is a growing role for clover incorporation across all areas of grassland agriculture in Ireland.

• Where stocking rates are below a stocking rate of 2.2lu/Ha the use of chemical nitrogen has to be questioned when all other elements of soil fertility and farm management are in place.
• The use of small leafed clover, other legumes and plants should be considered to address issues of low spring growth, bloat prevention and protection of soil health.
• To maintain soil fertility, fertilizer companies need to look at different blends to best compliment the management of clover swards.
• Advisors need clear and precise advice for farmers that want to maximize clovers potential.
• Co-operatives have a good mechanism in the form of their sustainability programs for the marketing of milk, these programs could in time be used to increase the uptake of beneficial methods like clover usage to reduce farm produce GHG emissions.

Clover in Irish grassland agriculture