Fear preventing clover's uptake

A FORAGE legumes day, organised by the British Grassland Society at IBERS, Aberystwyth, West Wales, tried to wean farmers off their addiction to bagged nitrogen. the Farmers Guardian reports.

A £150 investment in a 25kg sack of clover seed could generate an annual return of 233-383 per cent on capital by cutting the need for artificial N – and yet farmers are more likely to invest money in fixed notice saving schemes offering 4.35%.

So said independent consultant Mike Gillingham of the Courtyard Partnership, speaking at the Institute of Biological and Environmental Rural Sciences (IBERS).

“What stops most producers making use of clover is the fear – that if we stop using artificial N, and a crop fails, then we’ll have nothing to feed cows next winter.”

Read the full article on the Farmers Guardian website

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