The effect of grass selective herbicides and grazing management on the growth and clover content of high rainfall perennial pastures.

Grass-selective herbicides were applied to perennial pastures either once only or once per year over 3 years. The pastures were either frequently grazed or infrequently grazed by dairy cows. Herbage growth and botanical composition were measured. The use of a single application of grass-selective herbicide to increase the clover content of pastures resulted in higher dry matter yields than those from unsprayed pasture or pastures that received repeated herbicide applications. Over the 3 years of this experiment dry matter yield of pastures was not significantly affected by the grazing managements imposed. Infrequent grazing resulted in higher white clover content in pastures than frequent grazing. A combination of grass-selective herbicide application and infrequent grazing increased the white clover content of perennial pastures and resulted in improved pasture production.