If you’re interested in all the animal performance and nitrogen fixation gains of red clover, we have an exciting new option for you this autumn.

 

Morrow is a multi-stemmed red clover bred specifically for grazing.

 

This new cultivar comes from a tough family! Most red clovers would not last long under intensive rotational grazing on light, summer dry North Island soils.

 

But Morrow’s parents did. Over time, in an old pasture in the Bay of Plenty, they adapted, survived and stood out as good growers, even after drought.

 

Our plant breeders selected the best of these genetics for improved yield, persistence and flowering to create a multi-stemmed red clover for good production and very good persistence under grazing.

 

For eight years, Morrow has been a standout in field trials, with great total dry matter yield, and significantly more summer yield than other cultivars.

 

Over the warmer months, red clover has the highest animal performance of any grazing species, but historically its biggest drawback has always been limited persistence under grazing.

 

Morrow’s improved grazing tolerance means it will keep boosting production year on year.

 

It has topped our plant density trials, which measure how many red clover plants are left after two years in intensively grazed trials.

 

In addition, Morrow fixes its own nitrogen, feeding it naturally into pasture systems in a slow and continual way. This will be ever more important to provide N on farm, as fertiliser comes under increasing environmental scrutiny.

 

Morrow can fix over 200 kg N/ha per year, based on its yield (about 25 kg N/ha per tonne of DM grown).

 

Another important benefit of red clover is the increased clover root weevil tolerance over white clover, helping provide species diversity and extra legume content.

 

Use Morrow as a component of innovative pasture mixes for both short-term, high performance combinations, and longer term pastures.

 

It has an excellent fit with a wide range of other pasture cultivars, including Shogun hybrid ryegrass, Captain CSP plantain and perennial ryegrasses such as Trojan and Viscount.