If clover is important to you:
- Let the light in
- Avoid excessively long grazing rotations that allow ryegrass to dominate the canopy.
- Encourage regular light penetration throughout spring to support summer clover content.
White clover is a big part of the engine room of productive dairy pastures, supplying high-quality feed and when inoculated it is naturally fixing atmospheric nitrogen back into the soil. Many pastures lose clover over time—not because it isn’t suited to the paddock, but because it simply isn’t receiving enough light over the calendar year.
All clovers are sensitive to shading. As ryegrass grows through winter and into spring, dense pasture canopies prevent sunlight from reaching the base of the sward where clover stolons and growing points are located. Without regular light, clover struggles to spread, compete and persist.
White clover responds quickly
White clover, like Mantra Large Leaf White Clover, is extremely responsive to sunlight reaching its stolons on a regular basis. Good grazing management that maintains appropriate post-grazing residuals allows light to penetrate the pasture, encouraging new stolon growth and improving clover content heading into summer.
Small changes to grazing management during winter and spring can make a significant difference to clover persistence later in the season.
Reaper Red Clover benefits too
The same principle applies to Reaper Red Clover. While these varieties have a different growth habit to white clover, they also perform best when excessive shading is avoided. Allowing sufficient light into the pasture canopy helps maintain healthy plants capable of producing high-quality feed throughout the growing season.
Mantra and Reaper clovers are available in our VATBUSTER blends.
