The future of sainfoin in British agriculture: an economic assessment

In view of the revived interest in sainfoin, an economic assessment of the prospects for an expansion of its area in Britain has been attempted. It is estimated that potentially it could be grown on 950 × 10³ ha of the agricultural area of England and Wales, though it is unlikely in the near future that it would exceed 20 × 10³ ha, even if economic conditions were favourable. Comparison of the energy and protein yields of sainfoin, red clover and lucerne under conservation management indicates that one of the attractions of sainfoin is its high protein content. However, an assessment of the costs of production and utilization of sainfoin indicate that, for it to be a more widely used legume, sustainable dry matter (DM) yields would need to be increased by 35% to about 11.5 × 10³ kg DM ha^?1. At the same time, although growing sainfoin as a mixture with grass appears to improve the economic attractiveness of the crop, silage production costs (kg DM)^?1 are still about 15% lower on pure grass swards. However, trials in the UK, Canada and Rumania have shown that, compared to current UK levels, sainfoin yields can be significantly increased.