Although they do both suffer from some of the same diseases there is greater resistence in white clover than in red clover due to many years of plant breeding and selection. White clover is also able to 'grow away' from disease sa it's stoloniferous and creeps along the ground. Red clover is an upright plant that depends on keeping the integrity of the crown to stay healthy and strong under disease pressure and is therefore more susceptible.

However, the good news is that the pest and diseases are generally specific to red clover and to white clover which means that white clover can be a break from red clover in rotation. It is important to leave at least five years between subsequent red clover crops.

This crop is a very high protein crop with chicory and red clover both recording CP of above 20%. But they are fairly low in DM. Therefore it is essential that a grass run back is provided or access to a source of fibre such as haylage bales. Stocking density is about 20 lambs per acre and they will block graze the crop. They will graze each block for about a week. The area will be split into four blocks therefore a 28 day rotation will be created.

Ideally sward height should be at least 10cm to minimise emissions when using a band spreader or trailing shoe (Misselbrook et al., 2002; User Guide, 2011). To make the most of nutrients in slurry it should be applied to moist soils when grass is actively growing and when soil temperatures reach 5°C at 10cm for five consecutive days. As a minimum for grazing the sward height should be 4cm (golf ball height) so the grass has a healthy root system and at least one live leaf to allow it to capture sunlight energy and utilise the nutrients in the slurry for growth. Some regrowth is preferable after cutting.

Where slurry is to be used on grazing ground and the whole farm is grazed in the spring the best option is to keep livestock off grazing fields to achieve a sward height of 4cm before spreading slurry. This can be achieved by rotationally grazing pastures.

When injecting slurry into moist soil it will be quickly incorporated into the soil and can usually be grazed after approximately one week providing there has been some rain. If a dribble bar or trailing shoe is used to place slurry at the base of the sward it takes longer to be incorporated particularly when there is little rain. Work in Northern Ireland (Dale and Mayne, 2011) suggest a two week gap between application and grazing.

Slurry should be targeted at land areas where its' full nutrient content (including nitrogen, phosphate, and potash) is most needed. This is usually silage fields on a livestock farm. Within grazing systems 'recycling' of these nutrients occurs via faeces and urine deposited by the grazing animal.

Where slurry is applied it is important to balance crop needs with crop off take to prevent nutrient surpluses building up. Soil sampling and nutrient planning are the best way to do this.

A number of reasons really. You should be thinking about it as an option where you have a need to keep grass in production; open swards - to prevent weed ingression and increase tiller density; sward damage - e.g. on poached swards, land conditions that prevent ploughing or other cultivation; where you want to introduce clover or increase clover content; or introduce new varieties to gain benefits of extra yield or early season growth.

Hybrid ryegrasses and tetraploid perennial ryegrasses have bigger seeds and will tend to germinate faster and be more aggressive than diploid varieties. However, the seed mixture appropriate to the type of livestock grazing or silage ley should also be considered particularly if looking at a long term ley.

Spring - there is plenty of moisture in the soil and a long growing season ahead. This will not be an ideal time if there is high pressure on early season grazing. Low soil temperatures can mean slow establishment and it can then be difficult to keep on top of competing grass during peak growing times. The increased competition from the existing sward at this time of year means that managing this is key to successful establishment of the emerging seedlings.

After silage - swards are open and require less harrowing to create the right conditions. The risk of prolonged dry conditions is lower after later cuts (July / August). This is often the best time but remember clover seed needs to be sown by early August to ensure adequate plant development before the winter.

Use renovation techniques strategically to correct swards before you lose production.

If weather conditions force a long, late silage cut - introduce some seed as tiller densities will be low and aftermath recovery will be slow.

If a wet spring has meant stock damaging ground - renovate as soon as possible rather than allowing weeds and weed grasses to move in and fill the gaps.

A large percentage of beef and sheep farmers will put in a long term permanent pasture ley when reseeding and be looking for upwards of ten years of production from it. The ley, well managed, will remain productive for ten years but during that time will gradually suffer the ingress of weeds and weed grasses with much lower digestibility, feed value and response to nitrogen.

So, when do I plough it up? Generally speaking, a complete reseed would be advisable once the percentage of sown species drops below 25% - this means that you walk the ley and evaluate how much ryegrass is still present. Know your grasses and more importantly, be able to identify reygrass amongst other grasses like the fescues, meadow grasses, Yorkshire fogs, cocksfoot etc.

Oversowing on the other hand would be advisable .in order to boost production once the percentage of ryegrass drops much below 70%. White or red clover can be oversown at any time when a need for improved quality forage (increased crude protein) and the ability to fix nitrogen and supply it to the sward is identified.

Ideally sward height should be at least 10cm to minimise emissions when using a band spreader or trailing shoe (Misselbrook et al., 2002; User Guide, 2011). To make the most of nutrients in slurry it should be applied to moist soils when grass is actively growing and when soil temperatures reach 5°C at 10cm for five consecutive days. As a minimum for grazing the sward height should be 4cm (golf ball height) so the grass has a healthy root system and at least one live leaf to allow it to capture sunlight energy and utilise the nutrients in the slurry for growth. Some regrowth is preferable after cutting.

Where slurry is to be used on grazing ground and the whole farm is grazed in the spring the best option is to keep livestock off grazing fields to achieve a sward height of 4cm before spreading slurry. This can be achieved by rotationally grazing pastures.

When injecting slurry into moist soil it will be quickly incorporated into the soil and can usually be grazed after approximately one week providing there has been some rain. If a dribble bar or trailing shoe is used to place slurry at the base of the sward it takes longer to be incorporated particularly when there is little rain. Work in Northern Ireland (Dale and Mayne, 2011) suggest a two week gap between application and grazing.

Slurry should be targeted at land areas where its' full nutrient content (including nitrogen, phosphate, and potash) is most needed. This is usually silage fields on a livestock farm. Within grazing systems 'recycling' of these nutrients occurs via faeces and urine deposited by the grazing animal.

Where slurry is applied it is important to balance crop needs with crop off take to prevent nutrient surpluses building up. Soil sampling and nutrient planning are the best way to do this.

Cereals like oats or barley, forage crops like fodder beet or maize and good quality grass silage can meet the energy requirements of stock but good quality red clover leys grazed or ensiled are the key to meeting the protein requirements of your stock. It's the heifers and calves that will require the extra protein compared to bulls and cows - really the growing animal rather than stock maintaining growth or finishing.

In addition, the quality of the protein is important and its here that red clover fits in. If silage from red clover leys is cut, ensiled and made well then protein needs can be met. Aftermaths will also be available for finishing lambs and will potentially be able to support 250 g plus of daily liveweight gain. Those looking for alternatives have used mixtures of clover, chicory and high sugar hybrid ryegrasses to achieve the growth they need from high quality forage. Dry matter intake is obviously important: forage crops like hybrid kale contain high levels of protein (up to 22%) but intakes tend to be lower because dry matter content is around 7 - 10%. Red clover silage on the other hand with 18 - 22% protein, has an average dry matter content between 30 - 35%. However, it has to be said there may be years when making high quality red clover silage is difficult and the farmer may have to rely on purchased concentrates in the form of balancers or straights in the ration.

You need to grow what's cost effective and fits in with your system, e.g. a simple system of grass, silage and purchased concentrates or mixed diets with home grown forage? What proportion of the winter are you housing for? Do you extend the grazing into late autumn / early winter? How are you going to utilise the crop: in situ; cut, lift, store; ensile; crimp?

Choice depends on the type of farm, e.g. soil type, ability to carry stock outside, area available, the stock being fed and method of feeding.

Last but not least, compare the cost of production on a kg / dry matter basis compared to the cost of concentrates or alternatives bought in.

When grown as a catch crop after cereals lower nitrogen rates than recommended (RB209) can be used where soil indexes are at 0 and 1 with futher reductions at index 2 and 3. If soil is moist and has been cultivated additional reductions may be made.

At index 3 in these conditions 1cwt/acre of nitram would be sufficient with no P and K.

Under these conditions at index 2, 2cwt of 20-10-10 an acre would be sufficient.

Forage rape has a lower requirement for fertiliser in general than turnips, kale or swedes.

It all depends on the liveweight of the cattle / sheep, the yield of the crop and the percentage of rape in the diet.

Make an assessment of how much dry matter / m2 the crop is yielding by weighing the rape from a metre square of the crop, e.g. 6kg, and multiplying by 12% (crop dry matter) to give you kgDM/m2.

Starting with a total intake requirement (kgDM/day) based on being 3% of the liveweight, rape would be about 70% of this, say 10kgDM/d for a store weighing 480kg. Hence, if DM yield was 0.7 kg/m2, each animal would need 14m2 a day. If the fence line is 100 metres each animal needs 0.14m a day; therefore 50 animals would need 7 metres per day.

Stubble turnips are rapid growing brassicas and after approximately 8 - 12 weeks the bulb will not increase in size, but the plant may 'bolt' if not grazed. To increase the size of the bulb (the main energy source) decrease the seed rate slightly so the plants are less dense. The leaf however is high in protein and together with the bulb gives a good energy and protein crop.

Swedes will give a higher energy crop than stubble turnips but are a main crop and would need to be in the ground for most of the season.

The answer depends on whether you aim to lift or graze. Varieties have low (10 - 14%), medium (14 - 17%) or high ((17 - 20%) dry matter. Lower dry matter varieties sit higher in the soil and are more suitable for grazing; higher dry matter varieties sit lower in the soil and are more suitable for lifting.

This crop is a very high protein crop with chicory and red clover both recording CP of above 20%. But they are fairly low in DM. Therefore it is essential that a grass run back is provided or access to a source of fibre such as haylage bales. Stocking density is about 20 lambs per acre and they will block graze the crop. They will graze each block for about a week. The area will be split into four blocks therefore a 28 day rotation will be created.

Run back is always recommended, but in order to attain a utilisation of 80% of the brassica crop the animals need to be at the face of the feed and another form of fibre can be used. Bales of haylage positioned within, or close to, the crop can provide the essential fibre source without having a run back which on an area of 17 acres wuld be getting increasingly further away from the feed face..

No more than 70% of the diet should be brassica for beef or sheep.

Working with the animal scientists at IBERS the plant breeders are looking at developing further improvements in digestibility through high sugars in the grass varieties. In a mixed sward these varieties will build on achievements to date to improve the utilisation of N in the rumen to efficiently produce microbial protein for use by the animal. There is work in progress that suggests this can result in good reductions in methance produced by sheep.

The breeders are also developing varieties of both grass and clover that are better able to both take up and use nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil. This will mean reduced losses to the water courses via leaching. In future, less fertiliser will be needed for the same level of production and with reduced levels of pollution to the air and to the water.

Further research is focusing on the use of Festuloliums which combine the forage quality of a ryegrass with the deeper rooting characteristics of a Fescue to develop grasslands that are more resilient to extremes of rainfall. For further information see www.sureroot.uk

It is not just grass and clover breeding that is done at IBERS, the oat breeding programme is also looking at improving the efficiency of digestion in the rumen and also in pigs and poultry.

However, plant breeding is a time consuming process and efficient farming with careful use of inputs be it feed, seed or fertilisers by farmers will enable emissions to begin to be reduced from agriculture.

Very important. Phosphate is linked to root growth; it promotes early season grass; improves response to nitrogen; promotes rapid establishment of new seedlings and is the key to the survival of clover.

Potash and nitrogen are linked in terms of uptake and conversion of N to grass yield; if potash is limited the uptake and use grass makes of N will be restricted. It also affects the conversion of nitrate N to protein so total protein yield will be limiting if potash is deficient. Sufficient potash also aids earlier spring growth, makes for denser more vigorous swards, quicker aftermath growth is essential if the full potential of clover to the sward is to be realised.

There are a few - some are considering going organic, others are buying less fertiliser (but you will grow less grass by doing this). Buying cheaper fertiliser is another but you have to look out for poor quality which reduces the efficiency it spreads and works at.

It's really important to think not just about fertiliser but about improving nutrient use efficiency overall and that means checking your soils, sward quality, how you apply the product you're using as well as your product choice.

It goes without saying that growing more clover to provide the nitrogen grass needs and making better use of the muck and slurry you have available through targeted application to the right fields at the right time of year are also important nutrient management strateges that will help reduce overall fertiliser costs.

Basis slag has a liming neutralising value of around 50% - similar to ag-lime. It's coarser and takes longer to break down than ag-lime. It's got about 2% phosphate though (approximately 40 units per tonne) and trace elements like sulphur (7 units per tonne).and manganese which are plus points. It also  has magnesium (up to 200 units per tonne) and up to 390 units per tonne of iron oxide. The iron and magnesium are said to be very slowly available.

It has the advantage of being easily spread. It is suggested that it corrects and adjusts pH very quickly because it's made from micronised powder that's been compressed into a prill and this breaks down very quickly in the soil.

Once applied however there's nothing that breaks down over time so you'll have to use it more regularly than ordinary limestone which makes it a much more expensive way of maintaining soil pH at the target level of 6 - 6.5.

If you know what P and K is in your soil to begin with and you get a good what's in your muck you can start planning fertiliser inputs tailored to individual fields (soil type_ and according to crop type e.g. grazing or silage. So you need to analyse your soil and muck and start from there with a little bit of help from a FACTS registered advisor.

You should then be able to draw up a fertiliser policy that meets soil and crop needs and makes nutrient management and inputs more efficient. You'll be applying no more than the crop needs and wasting less through more timely applications of muck and / or other inputs. Get a plan!

You can apply lime any time of the year but it's probably more sensible to put it on in the autumn. This will give it time to work its way down through the soil and change the pH so that the grass can make more efficient use of nutrients in the spring. You don't have to wait until you cultivate for a new reseed or sowing to apply lime although it makes sense to correct pH ahead of a new reseeding.

Testing the soil helps you make accurate informed decisions that enable you to correct soil deficiencies and apply the right amount of nutrients to the right crop at the right time. This means that growth conditions for the crop can be improved e.g. liming to target pH which optimises nutrient availability, and other nutrient inputs such as the nitrogen available from clover or the phosphate and potash from muck or slurry for example can be accounted for when assessing crop needs.

As a result of achieving the right soil conditions for crop growth you should be able to grow more grass for example over a longer growing season, achieve improved health status of stock, waste less nutrients and avoid environmental pollution and increase the efficiency of production.

Slurry contains lots of nitrogen (N) up to 3kg/m3 - half of this is available immediately for uptake by grass. In summer up to 90% of this available N is lost to the atmosphere as ammonia if it is surface spread. Injecting slurry into the soil ensures that the nitrogen is used by grass and not wasted.

In addition to this there are benefits in terms of less risk of contaminating grass -a quicker return to grazing paddocks and less concerns about poor silage. Also, injector systems put the slurry out with an even spread with no risk of surface run-off. Using an injector can help in breaking up soil compaction caused by heavy machinery traffic and poaching. Injection also eliminates the damage to soils and worm populations that can be caused by slurry puddling at the soil surface.

Areas on farms with low soil pH and temporary waterlogging create anaerobic conditions that worms are unable to live, grow and multiply in. They will move from these areas where possible to soils with free flowing air and water and where soil is more alkaline.

When grown as a catch crop after cereals lower nitrogen rates than recommended (RB209) can be used where soil indexes are at 0 and 1 with futher reductions at index 2 and 3. If soil is moist and has been cultivated additional reductions may be made.

At index 3 in these conditions 1cwt/acre of nitram would be sufficient with no P and K.

Under these conditions at index 2, 2cwt of 20-10-10 an acre would be sufficient.

Forage rape has a lower requirement for fertiliser in general than turnips, kale or swedes.

Ideally sward height should be at least 10cm to minimise emissions when using a band spreader or trailing shoe (Misselbrook et al., 2002; User Guide, 2011). To make the most of nutrients in slurry it should be applied to moist soils when grass is actively growing and when soil temperatures reach 5°C at 10cm for five consecutive days. As a minimum for grazing the sward height should be 4cm (golf ball height) so the grass has a healthy root system and at least one live leaf to allow it to capture sunlight energy and utilise the nutrients in the slurry for growth. Some regrowth is preferable after cutting.

Where slurry is to be used on grazing ground and the whole farm is grazed in the spring the best option is to keep livestock off grazing fields to achieve a sward height of 4cm before spreading slurry. This can be achieved by rotationally grazing pastures.

When injecting slurry into moist soil it will be quickly incorporated into the soil and can usually be grazed after approximately one week providing there has been some rain. If a dribble bar or trailing shoe is used to place slurry at the base of the sward it takes longer to be incorporated particularly when there is little rain. Work in Northern Ireland (Dale and Mayne, 2011) suggest a two week gap between application and grazing.

Slurry should be targeted at land areas where its' full nutrient content (including nitrogen, phosphate, and potash) is most needed. This is usually silage fields on a livestock farm. Within grazing systems 'recycling' of these nutrients occurs via faeces and urine deposited by the grazing animal.

Where slurry is applied it is important to balance crop needs with crop off take to prevent nutrient surpluses building up. Soil sampling and nutrient planning are the best way to do this.

Although they do both suffer from some of the same diseases there is greater resistence in white clover than in red clover due to many years of plant breeding and selection. White clover is also able to 'grow away' from disease sa it's stoloniferous and creeps along the ground. Red clover is an upright plant that depends on keeping the integrity of the crown to stay healthy and strong under disease pressure and is therefore more susceptible.

However, the good news is that the pest and diseases are generally specific to red clover and to white clover which means that white clover can be a break from red clover in rotation. It is important to leave at least five years between subsequent red clover crops.

First of all take a look at the surface - how is the grass performing? Is there surface waterlogging? Are there scorched patches from cattle urine?

Next take a look below the surface - use a spade. Is it difficult to push a spade into the soil? Dig a cube of soil out and see if the soil breaks up easily. Compaction is indicated by soil which doesn't crack easily, a lack of horizontal cracks, poor rooting depth, lack of worm activity, brown ferrous deposits, grey soils and a sour smell.

It can arise as a result of over-trafficking with machinery, poaching or untimely cultivation and overworked soils.

Testing the soil helps you make accurate informed decisions that enable you to correct soil deficiencies and apply the right amount of nutrients to the right crop at the right time. This means that growth conditions for the crop can be improved e.g. liming to target pH which optimises nutrient availability, and other nutrient inputs such as the nitrogen available from clover or the phosphate and potash from muck or slurry for example can be accounted for when assessing crop needs.

As a result of achieving the right soil conditions for crop growth you should be able to grow more grass for example over a longer growing season, achieve improved health status of stock, waste less nutrients and avoid environmental pollution and increase the efficiency of production.

Mild compaction can easily result in a reduction in yield of 10 - 20% through a range of mechanisms (poor root growth, reduced fertiliser recovery, increased denitrification). If we assume a productive ryegrass ley can produce 10t dry matter (DM/ha/yr) and a moderately compacted ley only 8t DM/ha/yr (with the same input costs). With current input costs, 1t DM is currently 'worth' around £100 as ensiled grass (10p / kg / DM) or around £55 (5.5p / kg / DM) as grazed grass. So soil compaction can cost between £100 and £200 per hectare per year in terms of reduced yields.

Areas on farms with low soil pH and temporary waterlogging create anaerobic conditions that worms are unable to live, grow and multiply in. They will move from these areas where possible to soils with free flowing air and water and where soil is more alkaline.

While soil management techniques like slitters and lifers can be valuable tools it is vital that soil conditions are right. Soils need to be dry to prevent smearing and promote cracking and also operations should be carried out ideally after peak grass growth to limit damage to the growing grass sward.

For this reason if the weather is dry, September or October are ideal months for this activity.

If conditions allow, March can be an option provided clover is well established and has over wintered well.

Working with the animal scientists at IBERS the plant breeders are looking at developing further improvements in digestibility through high sugars in the grass varieties. In a mixed sward these varieties will build on achievements to date to improve the utilisation of N in the rumen to efficiently produce microbial protein for use by the animal. There is work in progress that suggests this can result in good reductions in methance produced by sheep.

The breeders are also developing varieties of both grass and clover that are better able to both take up and use nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil. This will mean reduced losses to the water courses via leaching. In future, less fertiliser will be needed for the same level of production and with reduced levels of pollution to the air and to the water.

Further research is focusing on the use of Festuloliums which combine the forage quality of a ryegrass with the deeper rooting characteristics of a Fescue to develop grasslands that are more resilient to extremes of rainfall. For further information see www.sureroot.uk

It is not just grass and clover breeding that is done at IBERS, the oat breeding programme is also looking at improving the efficiency of digestion in the rumen and also in pigs and poultry.

However, plant breeding is a time consuming process and efficient farming with careful use of inputs be it feed, seed or fertilisers by farmers will enable emissions to begin to be reduced from agriculture.

It depends slightly on what type of thistle is found on the farm, such as spear thistle or creeping thistle. The main effect is loss of grazing, we know that sward height is affected up to 30cm away from the thistle thus preventing grazing; a 5% infestation equates to about 0.5t / ha dry matter loss per year. More thistles, therefore, means less available grass.

Other problems are forage rejection in hay for example; livestock health, e.g. in sheep, orf infection and spread, less stocking flexibility and ultimately the viability of a livestock enterprise.

Effective control can be achieved over two seasons through weed control using a weedwiper and grazing management using lenient cattle grazing (8 - 10 cm) + sheep grazing (6 - 8 cm) to maintain a competitive sward in the spring and the autumn.

Try to avoid the creation of large patches of bare ground which may trigger the initial colonisation by wind dispersed thistle seedling; livestock poaching - disturbance around water troughs, winter feeding adn reseeding; increase fertiliser input in the spring which increases the ability of grass to compete with the thistle; don't leave grass swards open and uncompetitive at the time of thistle emergence.

The most effective means of controlling creeping thistle is a combination of lenient autumn grazing to maintain a relatively competitive sward with week wiping for two consecutive growing seasons. Lenient autumn grazing in combination with topping also gives an acceptable level of control.

In contrast tight autumn and overwinter grazing by sheep significantly increases the number of creeping thistle shoots emerging in the following spring compared with lenient autumn grazing.

Cattle grazing reduces thistle numbers more than sheep grazing.

Tight grazing in the spring is desirable in achieving a large differential between elongating thistle stems and surrounding grass prior to weed-wiping.

The best combination of machinery control is topping in June and weed-wiping in September when translocation of herbicide to roots is greater.

There are 5.5million hectares of productive grassland in the UK, 40% of which is affected by more than one thistle per square metre, resulting in a loss of 1 million tonnes of dry matter per year.  Sixty percent of the area is affected by moderate infestation resulting in a loss of 732,000 tonnes of dry matter per year. That's 1.7 million tonnes of dry matter that the livestock industry can ill afford to lose. Thistle roots can spread up to 5 metres in the first year.

Answer to question one

Answer to question two

Answer to question three

Answer to question four