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.
Journal articles from the Grassland Society of Southern Africa (GSSA) African Journal of Range and Forage Science as well as related articles and reports from throughout the southern African region.