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

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.