SARDI Persian Clover

Product Description

• Seed Agronomy Table

  Seeding Rate - Dryland (kg/ha)

  5 - 8

  Seeding Rate - High Rainfall/Irrigation (kg/ha)

  10 - 15

  Hard Seed Level Description

  High

  Waterlogging Tolerance

  Excellent

  Maturity

  Early-Mid

• Seed Treatment

  Goldstrike®

• Enterprises For This Seed

  Beef and Sheep

  Dairy

  Silage and Hay

  Viticulture and Horticulture

• Strengths

  High nutritive value Extremely high production potential Multi cut forage crop Tolerant of seasonal flooding Some tolerance of salinity Free of oestrogen risks

• Limitations

  Poor regeneration

• Plant Description
  Plant

  Erect, annual. Up to 750 millimetres in height.

  Stems

  Up to 35 millimetre diameter, hollow, soft.

  Leaves

  Trifoliate, up to 25 millimetres long, plain, strongly veined, oval-shaped leaflets with serrated margins.

  Flowers

  Pink-violet flowers. Many-flowered cluster and mature in axillary, white, spherical, woolly seed heads to 15 millimetre diameter on long stalks.

  Pods

  Membranous, dehiscing at thickened sutures; one seeded.

  Seeds

  Approximately equal to 1 millimetre long, ovoid, various colours (brown, olive, purple); Approximately equal to 1.5 million per kilogram.

• Pasture Type And Use

  A winter-growing, annual capable of excellent winter and spring growth. Suited to seasonal irrigation. A valuable fodder crop.

• Rainfall

  Greater than 300 millimetre in winter/spring rainfall zone for dryland use. Also used with irrigation. Tolerates water with up to 1500 siemens per centimetre on low salinity soils with adequate drainage.

• Soils

  Suited to clay soils, pH 5.5-8.5 (CaCl2). Tolerant of severe waterlogging and mildly saline soil.

• Temperature

  Good heat tolerance. Quite tolerant of frost and cold but slow growing at low temperatures.

• Establishment
  Grasses

  Italian ryegrass.

  Legumes

  Balansa clover, arrowleaf clover.

  Sowing/Planting Rates In Mixtures

  3 to 7 kilograms per hectare. Ensure seed is Goldstrike® treated

  Sowing/Planting Rates as Single Species

  5 to 15 kilograms per hectare; broadcast onto a finely worked, weed free seed bed and cover lightly by a roller or drill seed at 5 millimetre depth into a clean, finely worked seed bed. High seed rate boosts winter yield and reduces weed invasion. Ensure seed is Goldstrike® treated

  Sowing Time

  February (if irrigating) to April.

  Inoculation

  Goldstrike® treated. The use of Goldstrike® XLR8™ is recommended to reduce damage from insects at seedling stages.

  Fertiliser

  Apply approximately equal to 20 to 30 kilograms per hectare annually and correct any nutrient deficiencies, especially K, Mo, Cu, S.

• Management
  Maintenance Fertiliser

  For optimum growth Olsen soil P (0-10 cm depth) less than 15.

  Grazing/Cutting

  Suited to winter grazing. Set residues at 2 to 3 centimetres (winter) and 4 to 5 centimetres (spring) to avoid over grazing. Rotationally graze during the cool season when 15 to 20 centimetres tall; this stimulates tillering. If sown with grass must graze late winter/early spring to allow clover to contribute later. Suited to hay/silage production; most valuable aftermath. Stems are nutritious but slow to dry; use conditioner to speed up drying. Fast regrowth facilitates second cut; remove bales promptly, hay quite susceptible to rain damage.

  Major Pests

  Red legged earth mite and lucerne flea need to be identified and controlled rapidly during establishment.

  Major Diseases

  Some cultivars susceptible to leaf and stem rust (Uromyces trifolii-repentis) and clover rot (Sclerotinia trifoliorum).

  Herbicide Susceptibility

  Glyphosate. Damaged by many broad-leaf herbicides.

• Animal Production
  Feeding Value

  High (high soluble carbohydrate, high protein content & low NDF content). Retains excellent feeding value as dry standing hay during dry weather.

  Palatability

  Highly palatable.

  Production Potential

  Good winter, spring, summer

  Livestock Disorders/Toxicity

  Low isoflavone content - no risk to breeding livestock. Low risk of bloat. Can be associated with photosensitization

• Establishment Guarantee

  At S&W Seed Company Australia we're so confident about our seed genetics and seed quality, we will replace seed at half the original purchase price if it fails to establish satisfactorily in the first thirty days* Read more