Sweet Clover: Rewards as well as Potential Risks

Jul 04, 2023

Sweet clover blooms are strong this year, spreading across various landscapes due to timely rainfall. This biennial plant plays a crucial role in improving soil health and providing wildlife habitat. However, sweet clover possesses certain characteristics that require careful management to mitigate potential risks and optimize its benefits.

Sweet clover's two-year life cycle allows it to self-seed, with viable seeds remaining in the soil for decades. Second-year plants are currently in bloom, set to produce seeds and complete their life cycle. These plants give rise to new seedlings, which remain vegetative during their first year, establishing a deep taproot and developing multiple branches in the second year.

As a legume, sweet clover contributes to nitrogen fixation and boasts a deep taproot that aids water infiltration and aeration. Its tolerance for alkaline soils makes it an attractive choice for land reclamation. However, caution must be exercised, as the plant is unsuitable for close grazing or haying during its first year. It can also cause bloat and contains coumarin, which imparts a sweet odor when crushed but can reduce palatability in livestock.

Improper drying of sweet clover during haymaking can lead to overheating and the growth of fungi that convert coumarin to dicoumarol. This substance hampers blood clotting ability and poses a risk to animals, potentially causing internal hemorrhaging. Detecting these issues can be challenging, as symptoms may take days to manifest.

To minimize risks, hay containing sweet clover should be thoroughly cured, stored properly, and tested for dicoumarol concentration. Feeding management techniques, such as blending sweet clover hay with other types or adopting an alternating feeding schedule, can also mitigate potential issues.

While sweet clover presents challenges, proper understanding, curing, testing, and feeding management can help farmers harness its benefits without compromising livestock health. Vigilance and informed practices will ensure that sweet clover continues to enhance our pastures and ranges while offering valuable forage opportunities.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.