Now is the Time for Clover Plot Maintenance
- Thread starter Mennoniteman
- Start date
KSQ2
Well-Known Member
Sounds perfect!
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Let it self terminate. Clover will do fine and you have great weed suppression and bedding area for fawns. Turkey don’t care much for it tho.
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Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
A rite of spring; March 25th, out on the tractor no-tilling 100 lb oats per acre into my existing clover plots. Last year I sprayed herbicide for grass on the clover plots in the early spring, so this year I'm skipping that step because I killed most of the early grasses last year, but I do have a bit of cattails and other late season grasses, so this year I will move my seasonal spray to late summer for these late season grasses, sometime after the oats mature. I'll probably let the oats ripen and the turkeys and deer will eat the seed heads. A little known fact is that deer love eating oat heads.
Last fall I drilled oats into this clover, which winterkilled, the remnants of those oats can be seen in the picture. The fall oats and clover combo was a huge hit with the deer, but I'm still asking myself why I didn't drill fall rye instead, because I wouldn't need to be out here drilling oats right now, because the rye would still be growing. As I recall, it had something to do with price and availability...
I also threw a bag of Regal Graze clover into the small seed box, set at 4 lb per acre, just as insurance to keep my clover plots in good population.
Notes: broadcasting these oats would take 200 lb per acre, when drilling, every seed grows, when broadcasting, half the seeds grow.
Also, as you can see by the soil on the closing wheels, it was a bit wet, to wet to plant corn, but early oats will do just fine in this moisture.
Last fall I drilled oats into this clover, which winterkilled, the remnants of those oats can be seen in the picture. The fall oats and clover combo was a huge hit with the deer, but I'm still asking myself why I didn't drill fall rye instead, because I wouldn't need to be out here drilling oats right now, because the rye would still be growing. As I recall, it had something to do with price and availability...
I also threw a bag of Regal Graze clover into the small seed box, set at 4 lb per acre, just as insurance to keep my clover plots in good population.
Notes: broadcasting these oats would take 200 lb per acre, when drilling, every seed grows, when broadcasting, half the seeds grow.
Also, as you can see by the soil on the closing wheels, it was a bit wet, to wet to plant corn, but early oats will do just fine in this moisture.
Last edited:
MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
A rite of spring; March 25th, out on the tractor no-tilling 100 lb oats per acre into my existing clover plots. Last year I sprayed herbicide for grass on the clover plots in the early spring, so this year I'm skipping that step because I killed most of the early grasses last year, but I do have a bit of cattails and other late season grasses, so this year I will move my seasonal spray to late summer for these late season grasses, sometime after the oats mature. I'll probably let the oats ripen and the turkeys and deer will eat the seed heads. A little known fact is that deer love eating oat heads.
Last fall I drilled oats into this clover, which winterkilled, the remnants of those oats can be seen in the picture. The fall oats and clover combo was a huge hit with the deer, but I'm still asking myself why I didn't drill fall rye instead, because I wouldn't need to be out here drilling oats right now, because the rye would still be growing. As I recall, it had something to do with price and availability...
I also threw a bag of Regal Graze clover into the small seed box, set at 4 lb per acre, just as insurance to keep my clover plots in good population.
Notes: broadcasting these oats would take 200 lb per acre, when drilling, every seed grows, when broadcasting, half the seeds grow.
Also, as you can see by the soil on the closing wheels, it was a bit wet, to wet to plant corn, but early oats will do just fine in this moisture.
The clover looks like it has a head start. The oats will still catch up and get some sun before the clover swallows them up?
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Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
A very astute observation, its late enough to be doing this, I have already drilled oats as early as the first week of March in zone 6b, but they will still get plenty of sunlight to grow. I predict that within three weeks they will be neck to neck with the clover. The deer will be in whitetail heaven for several weeks as the new oats provides a grazing combo.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Nice pictures, blue skies and green fields are a welcome sight to ease our spring fever. This weekend our weather has been raw, with a strong cold snap blowing through and nighttime temperatures in the twenties.
P.s. I missed the introduction to your black lab in the pics?
MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
The snow depth map shows my place has 4-12" of snow yet. I'm still holding out hope to let my cool season seeds fly this coming weekend. If I spread seed the day the last of the snow melted, it'd be right on target for me.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Thinking about your cold climate, and not to get into a political argument, but from a farmers perspective;
The entire world depends on sunshine and warm weather to grow food. It seems to me like 2 degrees warmer average is much better for the survival of humanity than 2 degrees colder would be.
It's just impossible to grow anything without sunshine.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Way to go! I see a lot of hunters who want to do their food plot work in July. The time to fix a plot is right as it starts growing, not after it's done. I'd love to see pictures of your plots.
Thats Wilbur. 7 months old and turning into a good little fella.
KSQ2
Well-Known Member
I’ll snap a few when I get out there. One plot needs the whole revamp, I’ll be spraying clethodim on all of it. It’s too valuable to let it go another year with the cool season grasses running wild. On the Massey, I’ll be only putting clethodim on a small portion that got hit by the cool season grasses really hard in late fall. And then the turnip greens of course, that will be going to buckwheat in another couple months hopefully.
MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
I'm not worried about it. We'll figure it out when we need to. We still waste a ton of the growing season (even up here) along with lots of money and inputs.
Even as far north as I am, I get a little anxious about the length of the growing season. There are plenty of outs for a short season. I can reach all the way around the growing season with a crop of winter wheat, but just barely. I can mow/harvest the current crop, and plant the next one all in the same single mowing pass, and create no fallow situation. I tip my cap to you warmer area guys that can do this with more hot months to span than I have to.
William Allis
New Member
I use Thunder, but not till I see some grass starting. It sets Yellow Sedge back. We are still getting snow showers, so no green up yet!
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
It's a good idea to alternate herbicides, I'd suggest alternating with clethodim, switching it up regularly seems to make the herbicide more potent. 24,dB is also a good one for things like thistles.
