An economic comparison of systems of dairy production based on N‐fertilized grass and grass‐white clover grassland in a moist maritime environment

Abstract

This study compared the profitabilities of systems of dairy production based on N‐fertilized grass (FN) and grass‐white clover (WC) grassland and assessed sensitivity to changing fertilizer N and milk prices. Data were sourced from three system‐scale studies conducted in Ireland between 2001 and 2009. Ten FN stocked between 2·0 and 2·5 livestock units (LU) ha−1 with fertilizer N input between 173 and 353 kg ha−1 were compared with eight WC stocked between 1·75 and 2·2 LU ha−1 with fertilizer N input between 79 and 105 kg ha−1. Sensitivity was confined to nine combinations of high, intermediate and low fertilizer N and milk prices. Stocking density, milk and total sales from WC were approximately 0·90 of FN. In scenarios with high fertilizer N price combined with intermediate or low milk prices, WC was more (P < 0·05) profitable than FN. Based on milk and fertilizer N prices at the time, FN was clearly more profitable than WC between 1990 and 2005. However, with the steady increase in fertilizer N prices relative to milk price, the difference between FN and WC was less clear cut between 2006 and 2010. Projecting into the future and assuming similar trends in fertilizer N and milk prices to the last decade, this analysis indicates that WC will become an increasingly more profitable alternative to FN for pasture‐based dairy production.

Economic impacts of nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency on nineteen intensive grass-based dairy farms in the South of Ireland

“…This goal, corresponding to one of the most common demands now being placed on agricultural sector worldwide (Crosson et al, 2007), can be satisfied, to some extent, through the introduction of white clover in swards. This legume, common in Ireland for a number of years (DAFM (Department of Agriculture, Food and The Marine), 2007,2009,2012,2014), can help lower expenditure on chemical N fertilisers by €148/ha (Humphreys et al, 2012). This is due to the replacement of chemical fertiliser N by biologically fixed N in white clover plants ).…”

“…Sensitivity was determined as the differences in net profit between the farms across the nine scenarios of milk and fertiliser N prices (Humphreys et al, 2012). Due to the observed higher sensitivity of the net profit to milk price compared to fertiliser N price, the sensitivity of the net profit was analysed further by comparison between the six farms with the lowest milk receipts and the six farms with the highest milk receipts.…”

“…The low-input systems are considered more economically and environmentally sustainable than the highinput systems (O'Brien et al, 2012;Ridler, 2008) as they are less vulnerable to volatility in input expenditures and output prices (Humphreys et al, 2012;Moreau et al, 2012) and are associated with lower farm nutrient balances Ledgard et al, 2009).…”

“…Grazed grass-based dairy systems offer opportunities to reduce these expenditures during the grazing season (MacDonald et al, 2008;Soder and Rotz, 2001). These strategies include increasing resource use efficiency (Finneran et al, 2011;Kelly et al, 2013;Patton et al, 2012;Ridler, 2008), nutrient use efficiency , and N-eco-efficiency (the amount of milk produced per kilogram of N balance; Beukes et al, 2012), as well as accounting for chemical N fertiliser replacement value (NFRV) of organic N contained in slurry (Lalor, 2008) or fixed by white clover in pastures (Humphreys et al, 2012).…”

Forage mass, botanical composition and stocking density of bermudagrass overseeded with forage legumes

“…Similar results were verified by Aguirre et al (2016) in pastures with Coastcross-1 mixed with legumes of winter cycle fertilized with 100 kg N ha -1 year -1 . In the autumn, the value of forage mass was higher (p < 0.05) in the system without legumes due to the highest level of nitrogen fertilization, considering that the Coastcross-1 responds to nitrogen fertilization (Humphreys et al, 2012). The lowest value observed in the autumn mixed system was probably due to the decreased residual effect of forage legumes, possibly due to competition between bermudagrass and legume.…”