spring clover mgt. in the south
- Thread starter Baker
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Triple C
Well-Known Member
Thx for taking the time to share! And, your videos are getting better. Each year, more of our plotting acreage gets planted in clover. For folks down south, it's about as close to year-round food as anything you can plant. Looks like you're about 10 to 15 days ahead of us on green up. I was at the farm this past weekend and the grains were bout 10" tall and really starting to shoot up. Clover doing great as well. We put an exclusion cage on one of our clover plots and will be posting pics in the coming weeks as growth kicks in to high gear.
Question....When you crimp that field to plant your dove plot, will you spray with gly first or just crimp and the drill?
Question....When you crimp that field to plant your dove plot, will you spray with gly first or just crimp and the drill?
Great video. I am shifting more and more towards clover.
Next time you are mowing a field higher up off the ground, will you please take a pic of your bush hog from the side? I want to see what height you are at. The first field in your video is what I’m most interested in.
Next time you are mowing a field higher up off the ground, will you please take a pic of your bush hog from the side? I want to see what height you are at. The first field in your video is what I’m most interested in.
Thanks, the video's are a work in progress for me. Lot of moving parts trying to keep dialogue concise yet cover the story I'm trying to convey, training my wife as videographer, and coordinating it all. Fun though.
I'm thinking I may not spray the field being planted to a dove field . It is quite thick with clover, wheat ,rye and radishes and very few weeds. I will know after I crimp it though which is when I decide if gly is necessary. One of my goals is to get thatch thick enough where gly isn't necessary but I'm not there yet.
I am going to experiment with a couple of the deer plots not using gly this spring. The difference is the deer plots will be planted with more aggressive legumes including cowpeas and sunn hemp that can out compete most weeds anyway...I think.
Will do, good tip.Thanks. Going from memory I can tell you the chains were about 3-5" off the ground for that field. My goal was to knock the radishes back just barely topping the crimson and red clover. That input helps me better figure out what the video needs to show to be helpful and tell a better story.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
When people talk food plots, the first thing I say is "tell me about your clover" In my opinion clover is the #1 food plot for deer, with soybeans, corn, brassica, rye, and oats tied for a distant 2nd. With soybeans and corn you need big fields and equipment, brassica is mostly a fall crop, rye is a cover crop and winter grazing planting, oats are only grazed for a month, alfalfa is harder to grow and needs more attention. Clover, on the other hand, is disease resistant and has none of these limitations, I only had a bad infestation of leaf hoppers one time, which was relatively easy to deal with. Also, Ladino clover is higher in protein than most of these. What's not to like about that.
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
Good video Rusty, always interesting to see how other folks are handling their plots. It's so much better to see it as you hear about it. Especially when one knows that the presenter is successful !
I broadcast lime and fertilizer on my WW/MRC plot yesterday. The deer are eating less and less of the wheat and I'm anxious to see what the MRC is gonna do, how thick, how high, etc. I'm gonna put a cage in it tomorrow I think.
I broadcast lime and fertilizer on my WW/MRC plot yesterday. The deer are eating less and less of the wheat and I'm anxious to see what the MRC is gonna do, how thick, how high, etc. I'm gonna put a cage in it tomorrow I think.
Thanks,
As you know we have been in full blown green up for several weeks now. Everything has burst to life. All the trees have fully leafed out and everything is growing like crazy . { I say all that for the northern boys who are still cold possibly with snow }
I've noticed that plot use has ground to a minimum including the clover though it is harder to see grazing pressure now. It is a good time of year for deer with much new growth everywhere to eat. I expect by May they will be back on the clover full force. Interestingly the deer are still hitting the feeders hard especially does. As mentioned I'm feeding 2/3 soybeans 1/3 corn now since January. My belief is the does are heavy pregnant and an easy meal is a luxury plus that combo provides much nutritional value for them even on top of everything else.
If you got the rain we got today [3" ] it should light a fire with that fertilizer. Good timing
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
I found the same to be true, mine are still hitting what's left of the corn in my feeders. Interesting to me, I bought a small 30 gallon feeder (that straps to a tree) and set it and a bow blind in a small opening between a young pine plantation and some mostly mature hardwoods and the does are at it every time it throws. I pulled sd cards last week and the little feeder in the woods had almost 1900 pics, compared to the 600+ in the wheat plot for the same time frame. The little opening is too small to get any kind of a plot in, but I'm gonna at least try some kind of no-plow something in there and see what happens this fall.
We didn't get the rain I hoped for, but the weather liars say we will this weekend. I hope so, I put out 15 bags of the finest ground lime I've ever used and it was a pain in the keester. It wanted to bridge in my three point spreader and I finally resorted to stopping and starting to jar it down to the spinner plate. I won't buy ag lime at TSC anymore, I would rather pay a $1.50 more per bag and be able to spread it well.
We didn't get the rain I hoped for, but the weather liars say we will this weekend. I hope so, I put out 15 bags of the finest ground lime I've ever used and it was a pain in the keester. It wanted to bridge in my three point spreader and I finally resorted to stopping and starting to jar it down to the spinner plate. I won't buy ag lime at TSC anymore, I would rather pay a $1.50 more per bag and be able to spread it well.
I found the same to be true, mine are still hitting what's left of the corn in my feeders. Interesting to me, I bought a small 30 gallon feeder (that straps to a tree) and set it and a bow blind in a small opening between a young pine plantation and some mostly mature hardwoods and the does are at it every time it throws. I pulled sd cards last week and the little feeder in the woods had almost 1900 pics, compared to the 600+ in the wheat plot for the same time frame. The little opening is too small to get any kind of a plot in, but I'm gonna at least try some kind of no-plow something in there and see what happens this fall.
We didn't get the rain I hoped for, but the weather liars say we will this weekend. I hope so, I put out 15 bags of the finest ground lime I've ever used and it was a pain in the keester. It wanted to bridge in my three point spreader and I finally resorted to stopping and starting to jar it down to the spinner plate. I won't buy ag lime at TSC anymore, I would rather pay a $1.50 more per bag and be able to spread it well.
Hey Drycreek - if your plot is small enough that you only need 15 bags of pelletized Lime, look into a product called Solu-Cal. We've been using it for about 4 years on clients lawns (& my own) and just started using it on my food plots last year. It's a good bit more expensive, but you don't need nearly as much, which helps make up for the price but it's very fast acting! I run it out of one of my commercial Lesco 80 lb. hopper push spreaders on my small (1/4 acre) micro-plots & it's great stuff. If you're planting a big area, might not be worth it...
Creek chub
Active Member
Is there a conversion for solu cal rates? Say my soil needs 1 ton of lime per acre. Wonder what that’d be for solu cal?
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
The reason I only needed 15 bags is because the plot was limed with ag lime with a lime buggy two years ago. PH was 6 and I just wanted to boost it up a little trying to get to 6.5. I've heard of the solu-cal before but I've not used it, in fact I don't even know who might have it around here. Thanks !
weekender21
Well-Known Member
Cool video, fields are looking great!
FarmerD
Active Member
I think (finely ground) Solu-Cal, broadcast on top, is great for some instant ph change very near the soil surface where most lawn grasses are. Below is the label for Solu-Cal. 1980 pounds = 1 ton standard lime
http://www.solu-cal.com/media/pdf/product-labels/11010 Solu-Cal 50lb label 2014 OMRI.pdf
Creek chub
Active Member
Awesome. I’ll give it a try on a small plot and see how it goes. I seen a liquid lime option too. Wonder how effective that is?
weekender21
Well-Known Member
Is Solu-Cal more expensive than lime? Does the "instant PH change" come at a cost? Will the change last as long as lime?
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
I understand from my farmer friends that farmers use mostly real lime because these alternative products on the market all cost more on the longterm. What most of these products have to offer is a quick ph fix, and that's of little value on established farm fields.
FarmerD
Active Member
That "instant ph change" does come at a cost and I am not suggesting it's worth the money in a food plotting situation. Per the bag, 1980 pounds of Solu-Cal, equals 1 ton (2000 pounds) of standard lime. It probably has a few more bells and whistles added to it, but ...... I am sure it does have it's place, but probably not in a large scale agricultural setting. Even in line 2, it suggests 3 applications of 520 pounds per acre (1560 pounds or $1560) in adverse conditions. So, for small food plots, it can get expensive. The finely ground limestone, will react quickly, close to the surface and make a quick change, but for me, I want the ph change, down where my plants roots will be .... in the top 4-6" of soil.
I am getting 9 tons of AG lime spread for around $53/ton, on new plotting soil, which I will work into the top 4-6". It usually lasts me 3 years, but may take 6 months to make a significant ph change, due to it's particle size and then in 3 years, I will just broadcast more over top, on a perennial clover plot, not worrying about getting it down into the soil. A "maintenance" application.
It looks like a 50 pound bag costs $50, so roughly a dollar a pound. If you need one ton of lime added to your plot, it might cost you $2000 vs my $53, spread.
I am getting 9 tons of AG lime spread for around $53/ton, on new plotting soil, which I will work into the top 4-6". It usually lasts me 3 years, but may take 6 months to make a significant ph change, due to it's particle size and then in 3 years, I will just broadcast more over top, on a perennial clover plot, not worrying about getting it down into the soil. A "maintenance" application.
It looks like a 50 pound bag costs $50, so roughly a dollar a pound. If you need one ton of lime added to your plot, it might cost you $2000 vs my $53, spread.
