Comparison of white clover varieties under cutting and grazing

Seven varieties of white clover ( Trifolium repens L.), of varying leaf size from large to small, were sown with perennial ryegrass ( Lolium perenne L.) in 1985, at an upland site, and compared over three harvest years under a cutting management (5-6 cuts), and under continuous grazing by sheep. Fertilizer N input totalled 80 kg ha⁻¹ in both the cutting and the grazing trial. The same varieties were included in two official National List (NL) trials sown the same year at a nearby site; these comprised a yield trial with 6-7 cuts and a persistency trial mown very frequently (17 cuts) to simulate intensive grazing.
At the upland site the large-leaved varieties, Milkanova and Blanca, were the highest yielding under cutting (mean 3·3 t DM ha⁻¹), and the small-leaved S184 and Kent the lowest yielding (mean 2·3 t DM ha⁻¹). The rankings were reversed under grazing (corresponding yields 1·1 and 2·1 t DM ha⁻¹). The medium-leaved varieties Donna, Menna and Grasslands Huia behaved similarly to the large-leaved varieties. Ranking order in the cutting trial was similar to that in the NL trial.
Ground covers after three harvest years differed significantly only under grazing, when the small-leaved varieties had a 2-3 times greater cover than the larger-leaved varieties. A poor separation of the varieties in the NL persistency trial suggests that defoliation was not sufficiently severe to simulate intensive grazing.
These comparisons indicate that the performance of clover varieties under the cutting regimes used should not be extrapolated to continuous sheep grazing.