What Is It?  The Clifton Park System is a type of English Ley Farming where long periods of pasture are rotated with short periods of cereal and row crops. Deep rooted pasture plants rejuvenate the soil so that cash crops can be grown without need for manure or purchased fertilizers. In the Clifton Park System, 4 years of mixed species pasture are rotated with 2 years of turnips and cereals: Pasture + Pasture + Pasture + Pasture + Spring Turnips & Fall Grain + Spring Turnips & Fall Grain = 6 year total rotation cycle. Pasture time may be increased to 6 years if soils are thin or poor. The Clifton System works especially well with no-till agronomy and rotational grazing.

Agronomy Note:  There are 3 basic principles of ley farming: (1) Wide species diversity, (2) Deep rooted plants, and (3) intensive rotational grazing or mob grazing. Zero tillage improves agronomic performance.

How To Do It:  Following is a typical Clifton Park pasture mix. Note the wide biological diversity including 9 grasses + 4 legumes + 4 forbs = 17 total species.

Orchard Grass = Cocksfoot = Dactylus glomerata. 10 pounds per acre.

Meadow Fescue = Festuca pratensis. 5 pounds per acre.

Tall Fescue = Festuca elatior. 4 pounds per acre.

Oat Grass (tall) = Avena elatior. 3 pounds per acre.

Hard Fescue = Festuca trachyphylla. 1 pound per acre.

Rough Stalked Meadow Grass = Poa trivialis. 1/2 pound per acre.

Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass = Poa pratensis. 1 pound per acre.

Oat Grass (golden) = Celtica gigantea. 1/2 pound per acre.

Italian Rye Grass = Lolium italicum. 3 pounds per acre.

Dutch White Clover = Trifolium repens. 2 pounds per acre.

Alsike Clover = Trifolium hybridum. 1 pound per acre.

Red Clover = Trifolium pratense. 2 pounds per acre.

Kidney Vetch = Anthyllis vulneraria. 2 1/2 pounds per acre.

Chicory = Cichorium intybus. 3 pounds per acre.

Burnet = Sanguisorba minor. 8 pounds per acre.

Sheep Parsley = Petroselenium crispum. 1 pound per acre.

Yarrow = Achillea millefolium. 1/2 pound per acre.

TOTAL: 48 pounds Clifton Park Pasture Seed Mixture.

Pasture Management:  Clifton Park was a sheep ranch in England at the turn of the 20th century (1900). Your farm and herd will be different. Do not be afraid to change or add species to the base mixture. For best results, choose a wide variety of deep-rooted perennials. Remember to rotate livestock daily so pastures have time to regrow. Adjust grazing cycles so plants can flower and reseed.

Related Publications:  Biblical Agronomy; Biological Agriculture in Temperate Climates; Crop Rotation Primer; Earthworm Primer; The Edge Effect; Intensive Rotational Grazing Primer; Strip Cropping Primer; The Twelve Apostles (12 species cover crop mix).

Other Articles of Interest:  Building Soils with Multiple Species Cover Crops, Butler, Pennsylvania 1956 – 1996.

Would You Like to Know More?  For more information on ley farming and intensive rotational grazing, please visit: www.worldagriculturesolutions.com – or – Send an e-mail to: worldagriculturesolutions@gmail.com – or – send your questions to: Eric Koperek, Editor, World Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania 15108 United States of America.

About the Author:  Mr. Koperek is a plant breeder who farms in Pennsylvania during summer and Florida over winter. Growing 2 generations yearly speeds development of new crop varieties.

Index Terms:  Alsike Clover (Trifolium hybridum); Burnet (Sanguisorba minor); Chicory (Cichorium intybus); Clifton Park (ley farming system); Crop Rotation; Dutch White Clover (Trifolium repens); Golden Oat Grass (Celtica gigantea); Hard Fescue (Festuca trachyphylla); Italian Rye Grass (Lolium italicum); Kidney Vetch Anthyllis vulneraria); Ley Farming; Meadow Fescue (Festuca pratensis); Multiple Species Forage Crops; Oat Grass (Avena elatior); Orchard Grass (Dactylus glomerata); Pasture Management; Polycultures; Red Clover (Trifolium pratense); Rough Meadow Grass (Poa trivialis); Sheep Parsley (Petroselenium crispum); Sheep Ranching; Smooth Meadow Grass (Poa pratensis); Tall Fescue (Festuca elatior); Yarrow (Achillea millefolium).

Original Publication Date:  February 1963, Florida, Uruguay.

Update:  October 2023, Evans City, Pennsylvania.