Research project Grass(-clover) advice for cattle farmers

General introduction

The GRASADVIES project has provided Flemish cattle farmers with the latest insights into the (protein) benefits of grass-clover. Current cultivation sheets and a handy brochure are now available. Grass and grass-clover are the largest protein crops in Europe. Many cattle farms do not yet fully exploit the potential of grass-clover because it is often considered more difficult to grow than corn for example. The aim of this project was to increase the protein autonomy of our cattle farms by providing targeted advice to farmers in connection with the cultivation of grass and grass-clover.

Research approach

Four consultants were trained to offer personalized guidance to a group of 60 or so beef farmers on how to grow and feed grass-clover to their herds. Based on the most common questions and bottlenecks experienced by this group, technical sheets were drawn up that can help the entire cattle farming sector with the cultivation and exploitation of grass-clover.

Relevance/Valorization

There is now a freely available brochure and also a number of technical sheets that highlight the technical aspects of growing grass-clover. On several study days that took place in 2024 (dairy café, grassland study day), (dairy) farmers listened to explanations about the grass-clover trials that were laid out on the ILVO experimental fields.

On several events that were oraganised at ILVO in the last year of the project (2024), groups of farmers were guided along our grass-clover experiments and informed about our latest findings.

Financing

Vlaamse Overheid - L&V