Subterranean clover's ability to bury its seed supports pasture persistence but makes commercial seed harvesting difficult. The industry relies on aging Horwood-Bagshaw (HB) suction harvesters, which collect seed from fully dry crops after repeated tillage and raking.
Two experimental studies investigated a very different approach: cutting and lifting plants with modified peanut-harvesting equipment while they are still green, then drying them in windrows for later collection and threshing.
The research demonstrates that viable seed can be recovered well before complete crop desiccation, creating a potential pathway toward harvesting with fewer machinery passes and less soil disturbance.
Testing a different harvest system
A commercial-scale trial at Capel, Western Australia, compared swathing a subterranean clover seed crop on Nov. 25 and Dec. 1, 2022, with conventional HB harvesting in February 2023.
