A Closer Look at Red Clover
A Closer Look at Red Clover
Published on June 12, 2025
The importance of clover, another nitrogen-fixing legume, was well known to UKREC’s early agronomists and grazers. The earliest trials at Princeton included clover varieties, but red clover did not always perform as well as others. Fergus, instrumental in tall fescue production, worked with several others to improve red clover adaptability to Kentucky conditions.
UK agronomist Norman Taylor, who also worked to improve red clover varieties from 1953 to 2001, reported that Kenland was the first red clover variety developed and released by the University of Kentucky in 1947.
“The Kenland variety proved to be very well adapted and became the most widely used red clover variety in the United States,” he wrote in 2008.
UKREC’s current Extension forage specialist, Chris Teutsch, who arrived in Princeton in 2017, said Kenland is still seeded yearly due to its hardiness and is a perfect pasture companion to tall fescue, thanks to discoveries.
“Red clover has been known to dilute the effects of the tall fescue endophyte, but it is now known to reverse it,” he said, referring to the high levels of isoflavones in the legume.
Teutsch said they are upscaling production and looking at the impact of drying temperatures and seeding dates on isoflavone levels in red clover. They are also investigating pelletizing red clover for integration into grazing systems.
“Although we tend to focus on major discoveries when talking about research, it is important to realize that those 'big' discoveries are a cumulative result of smaller projects that have added to the knowledge base over many years," Teutsch says.
90 Year of Clover Breeding - Norman Taylor, University of Kentucky
