EUROPEAN-SEED.COM I EUROPEAN SEED I 31 Protein is crucial in meat and milk produc- tion - boosting content of protein in feed will inevitable increase your production. Legumes are becoming more common and this kind of protein production is still gaining speed. These farm-grown leg- umes saves expensive transport cost, and they will yield both on protein and min- eral supply and contribute with valuable soil-nitrogen for the following crops. For several years, soybean has been an important source of protein and com- modity in the agricultural business, but as plant breeding is gaining momentum and techniques are getting more effec- tive, soybean faces competitors in clovers and alfalfa. Clovers and alfalfa can be adapted and cultivated in almost every part of the world. The easiest way to improve forage protein content is therefore to sow grass mixtures including clover or alfalfa. Growing protein locally increases farm self-sufficiency and improves independ- ency upon fluctuating market prices for protein substitutes. TURF AND FORAGE Boost your feed with protein using clovers and alfalfa KLAUS K. NIELSEN CSO • DLF White clover and red clover The choice for either white clover (Trifolium repens) or red clover (Trifolium pratense) will depend on the growing conditions. Each of them has special characteristics and mix well with several types of grasses. They are both highly digestible and produc- tive and they will guarantee a grass sward with high protein content for several years. White clover has a good persistence and is the natural choice in mixtures for grazing due to its small leaves, its ability to spread laterally and its tolerance to close grazing. Red clover is well suited in grass mixtures for cutting and silage due to its aggressive and upright growth. Under dry conditions, red clover performs extremely well due to it’s proliferate root system. Alfalfa Like clover, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a valuable forage crop, which enables farm- ers to become self-sufficient in protein. It is reliable and efficient and, year by year, it is getting even better. We believe that many farmers could spike their economy by using more of the newest high-value varie- ties and we promote all new releases under the motto: DLF Alfalfa – start growing your return today. Most alfalfa varieties contain 18-20% protein making it easier to become self-suf- ficient in protein. With a balanced mixture of alfalfa and grass, you will inevitably grow an optimal energy-to-protein ratio and gain a more profitable feed plan for your livestock. Like red clover, alfalfa has a comprehensive root system stabilizing the yield even in periods of drought. A mixture of alfalfa and grass could yield up to four times more feed than you would get from grass alone. The superb quality of alfalfa’s plant fibres makes it highly digestible for cows and horses. The Variety App With the new DLF Seed Variety App, customers and farmers has a new tool to identify and compare varieties based on characteristics, listings, etc. thereby enable them to identify the best-suited varieties for specific purposes and locations. Your website is open for business 24-7. It doesn’t take a day off when you do and customers can access it at any time. So, what is your website saying when you’re not around? Websites are too often thought of like a fact sheet or brochure. You made the investment, wrote the con- tent for it once, it’s done and that’s it. The reality however is that your website should be thought of like a living entity. It’s is the number one place all your content marketing efforts will live, and the anchor to every social media post you share. So, when people navigate away from your latest blog post, will the rest of your site content reflect the expert per- sona you’re working so hard to build? To make sure that your website stays optimized it’s best to think about a few key points. 1. User Experience: a. What are the primary goals of your website – product awareness, lead capture, brand education? Is the content and tools you offer on your site reflecting your goals? b. Ease of use – Is the navigation clear? Are widgets and tools intuitive for users? 2. Reporting: Having good analytics set up on your site can help you unlock some very powerful information. If you don’t know where your leads are coming from, how can you tell what content or marketing initiatives are moving the needle? Newer tools like heat maps can also be a power- ful way to help you decide what changes should be made to your website. 3. What are Your Competitors Doing?: By picking three to five competitors and reviewing their websites you should be able to get a sense of what they are doing differently from you. Sometimes there will be things you do better, and some- times there will be things they do better – spending this time reviewing can help create internal benchmarks and deter- mine future website goals. 4. Behind the Scenes: If your site isn’t up to spec from a technical perspective, you might be getting a bad rap before your customers even finds your page. Things like having a mobile friendly site, good site speed (think page load times) and search engine optimization can have an impact on where your site appears in searches and the amount of time users will spend on your site. With an optimized site as the solid foundation of your communications efforts, you need to ensure your site con- tent is current, compelling and in line with your brand persona. This will make it easy for consumers of your content to not only connect with you, but feel right at home exploring your website. CONTENT MARKETING Consider Your Constant Content SHAWN BROOK President • Issues Ink