Red Clover

We recommend our Red Clover. It is a late-flowering, summer-active perennial legume with high feed value and good summer growth. Its strong tap root gives it some drought tolerance. It suits 600mm+ rainfall areas on loam to heavy soils, and it is often sown as part of a permanent pasture mix.

Red Clover is a good choice for hay and silage as well as grazing. It is highly productive, late flowering and has high feed value, and it keeps growing into summer. It is best suited to 600mm+ rainfall areas on loam to heavy soils. Talk to us about mixing it with a ryegrass for extra bulk.

We recommend sowing Red Clover at 6 to 10 kg/ha. Inoculate the seed with Group B rhizobia before sowing, as it needs a different inoculant from white and sub clovers. Sow into a fine, firm seedbed with good moisture. If you are adding it to a mix, talk to us about adjusting the rate.

Our Red Clover tolerates both low pH and waterlogging and grows best on loam to heavy soils in 600mm+ rainfall areas. It is a perennial with good summer growth. For lighter, wet, acidic soils with lower rainfall, a waterlogging-tolerant sub clover such as our Riverina may suit better.

Red clover can contain plant oestrogens that may reduce ewe fertility, so we suggest caution with ewes around joining. Keep Red Clover as one part of a mixed pasture rather than a pure stand, and move ewes to other feed before and during joining. Talk to your vet or adviser about the risk for your flock.

Yes, red clover can cause bloat in cattle, especially when the pasture is lush and legume-dominant. We suggest sowing our Red Clover in a mix with grasses, introducing stock gradually when they are not hungry, and talking to your vet about bloat prevention products.

Our 2026 guide gives Red Clover about 140 days to flowering in the Perth area, which makes it a late-flowering legume. That late flowering and summer activity mean it keeps producing high-quality feed after many annual clovers have finished. Timing will vary with sowing date and district.

We suggest our Red Clover. It has a strong tap root that gives it some drought tolerance and good summer growth in 600mm+ rainfall areas. For lower rainfall or lighter soils, lucerne such as our L70 or Sceptre is usually the better deep-rooted choice. Talk to us about your soil and rainfall.

Adding our Red Clover to a perennial pasture lifts summer production and feed value, as it is summer active and late flowering. It complements winter-active white clovers such as Haifa. Our IH Dairy Select Mix and Irrigation Mix are also worth a look, and we can build a Custom Mix to suit your farm.

Choose our Red Clover for 600mm+ rainfall areas on loam to heavy soils that may be acidic or waterlogged. Choose lucerne for drier, well-drained country, as it is less suited to waterlogging. Both give summer feed and can be cut for hay. Red clover uses Group B inoculant and lucerne uses Group AL.