Best clover plot

[Smokinbenelli]

Would like some input on what is the best clover plot to establish. I have about a 2 acre plot that I would like to dedicate to clover. What do your deer like?

 

[Fish]

From what i can tell, if its clover they like it. I plant mostly white varieties because i can mow it tight and it does a great job suppressing weeds come late summer. Ive had great attraction with ladino, alice, and white dutch.

 

[JohnL48]

Great success with regal graze ladino clover mixed with chicory

 

[MNbirddog]

Ive had great attraction with ladino, alice, and white dutch.

+1

 

[BuckNasty]

I'm going to go with Durana and red clovers, plus chicory. Do your research on Durana

 

[dogdoc]

I like all clovers but my current field is just a mix of ladino and medium red. Hard to beat that combo.

 

[JDunham]

I like all clovers but my current field is just a mix of ladino and medium red. Hard to beat that combo.

This is where I have ended up after years of toying with all kinds of blends. The ladino and medium red is easy and works well. Hard to go wrong really with any combo you want as long as your seeding rates are good.

 

[massey]

I'm done with whites. I know they last longer than reds or annuals, but you can't beat the tonnage/attraction combo of medium red along with the hardiness in winter of crimson. The crimson reseeds itself also, so its not REALLY an annual in terms of plotting..

 

[Ozarks-Bowhunter]

You may have more tonnage with the red but I have never had a problem with the white being overtaken by deer. I think I may try to use some red in a few places though.

 

[Triple C]

Another fan of Regal Graze ladino but I still consider myself a novice on this stuff. Been producing like a work horse for 2 years now and the deer love it. Gonna plant durana in a plot we've designated for clover this fall and use abruzzi rye as a nurse crop. Looking forward to comparing ladino and durana. Prolly end up liking them both.

 

[Native Hunter]

My deer will eat any clover, but they prefer medium red over white. It's best to mix clovers IMHO. I will also never plant clover again without also adding some chicory.

 

[farmhunter]

I prefer ladino varieties, especially giant if I can find it - I usually mix it with a proven red like medium red -like others, I find that when the red eventually runs its course, the ladinos still come back with enough vigor and give me time to decide what to do next and when

 

[Mennoniteman]

My deer will eat any clover, but they prefer medium red over white. It's best to mix clovers IMHO. I will also never plant clover again without also adding some chicory.

Do you have a lb per acre mix ratio that you like on the above three that you mentioned?

 

[Elkaddict]

My deer will eat any clover, but they prefer medium red over white. It's best to mix clovers IMHO. I will also never plant clover again without also adding some chicory.

I’m a greater fan of medium red every year, with some chicory thrown in. This is based on strips of both in the same plots. However, I’ve noticed there is an attraction to white in the middle of the winter (when they have to dig for it) even though there are brassicas, medium red and corn/beans nearb that they don’t have to work as hard for. My guess is there is a specific nutrient that’s causing the attraction. I’ll continue to plant white mixes (ladino, Dutch, alsyke, and Kura II). I’ve looked to Durana but I can’t justify the $ just for nutrition. I do have one plot I could use it as ground cover to help fight grasses and broad leafs I’ve struggled to control despite numerous concoctions.

 

[Native Hunter]

Do you have a lb per acre mix ratio that you like on the above three that you mentioned?

I mix it per the ratios in the Quality Food Plots Manual that the QDMA sells on their web site. I ain't much for QDMA anymore, but that manual is a good one. I'm away from home right now, but if you look in that book under Medium Red Clover, I mix it with the ratios of white, red and grains that it gives there.

I plant this in the fall and the grains do a great job shortly after planting on into winter. Then the next spring the white and red clover takes off. The red really shines through the hot part of the summer, and the white seems to gain ground in the fall into the next winter. It really works great for me....

 

[Chainsaw]

Noticed this is an older thread but it is a subject that deserves more discussion and exchange of experiences. Here are some miscellaneous observations and conclusions noticed about clover here and deer here;
1.The clover the deer here like the best judging by what they hit the hardest and spend the most amount of time in is the kind that grows in fields that are close to cover and are seldom disturbed by people.

2.Here wherever one mows a path thru a fallow field over and over again the growth will change over from many types of weeds to clover and timothy. There are times when the deer are seen more in those paths than they are on planted fields of the latest and greatest clover varieties and vice versa.

3.Some clovers grow better in zone 3 or 4 while some grow better in zone 6, 7 or 8 or whatever. To grow the very best clovers possible I have noticed it pays to grow the kinds known to grow in your area. The guys in the feed stores know which varieties they are.

4.The old saying that every dog has it's day certainly applies to clover. Keep in mind that every one of the new types of clover were created and kept because someone saw something special in their growth rate/taste/ nutrition/reproduction/takes heat, cold, wet or dry well or has great attraction to certain animals.. Thus one could say at some point in the year they are all good some days and on some days they are all bad somewhere but not necessarily in your plot or mine.

5. Every clover variety is unique to one or more attributes. Within a variety and especially after a few years the clover plants in a plot can be very different from the clover plants originally planted. The pollen from one variety lands on another and bingo we have a stronger or weaker variety but not the same variety. Thus if you plant any poor performers in your plot (garden) the poor performers become part of your breeding pool for future clovers in that garden. So to plant the best clover field it pays to avoid those plants that will be weak performers in your garden. Staying away from those is just as or more important than which ones are best.

6.Some of the quality food plot seed companies like Whitetail Institute and Real World package varieties according to where in the country they will be planted. These people study all the characteristics of clover and have even developed some of their own varieties. They really know their clover. There are other companies that I'd bet do the same and I don't mean to omit them but am just not familiar with them.

7. A small amount of chicory has shown to add to the overall attraction of our clover fields so it is planted in each.

So what I do is pay attention to observation number 1 first. And then I purchase great clovers of different varieties for my area. Each year I buy a fifty pound bag or two of a variety that works in this area. I usually have five or so different varieties which get mixed together and planted. Having the different varieties makes up for each one having various peak times and differing growth characteristics. Some years I will buy a Whitetail institute bag for northern plots or Real Tree bag for northern plots and use it as variety to mix in with my other known varieties. And as mentioned a little chicory is mixed in as well. Yes some of my seed will get older by the time I use it and may not germinate at as high a rate as when it was first purchased but I haven't noticed that to be a serious problem.
What I do not do is plant something that is known to grow well in another area but just isn't known to grow in our weather zone. If someone gave me a bag of clover seeds and the variety was unknown I would not plant it. I want to know that what I put in my garden will likely improve the clovers' long term effectiveness and not eventually diminish it.
Clover is expensive and getting a new plot started is a lot of work. Here the end of summer/early fall is the optimum time to plant clover and that is now the only time we would. And as Native mentioned annual grains are planted with the clover seeds. It's OK to throw in winter peas to spice it up for the first season.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Wow Chainsaw, that's some good clover advice! One thing I'd like to add, you pointed out that it works best to start new clover plantings in the fall, I agree, however that schedule might not work for everyone's rotation. I do very well with starting clover in the spring if I seed it with oats, I drill the oats 1" deep, then plant the clover on top of the soil and roll or pack. The clover establishes much better with the oats to protect it, and I just let the oats mature and go to seed, the deer and turkeys eat the seed heads when ripe, and the clover will be released and by midsummer it'll be a great clover patch. I especially like the oats because I often see whole flocks of half-grown turkeys in them in July and August eating oat seeds.

 

[Chainsaw]

Wow Chainsaw, that's some good clover advice! One thing I'd like to add, you pointed out that it works best to start new clover plantings in the fall, I agree, however that schedule might not work for everyone's rotation. I do very well with starting clover in the spring if I seed it with oats, I drill the oats 1" deep, then plant the clover on top of the soil and roll or pack. The clover establishes much better with the oats to protect it, and I just let the oats mature and go to seed, the deer and turkeys eat the seed heads when ripe, and the clover will be released and by midsummer it'll be a great clover patch. I especially like the oats because I often see whole flocks of half-grown turkeys in them in July and August eating oat seeds.

Thanks Mennonite man. My poorer experience with spring planted clover could be this area as compared to yours or due to me planting via broadcast spreader versus your planting using a drill.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Thanks Mennonite man. My poorer experience with spring planted clover could be this area as compared to yours or due to me planting via broadcast spreader versus your planting using a drill.

Clover can definitely be hard to start in the spring, as many farmers and food plot guys, myself included, have learned the hard way by wasting some expensive seed, you can't just broadcast clover seed on hard ground or into an existing expired crop in the spring and expect it to grow (and trying to start clover in late spring and summer gets even more difficult) Tilled soil that's rolled, broadcast seed, cluti-pack again, should produce good results when just seeding clover/chicory alone, although I would still consider a nurse crop with this method. Frost seeding into an existing overwintered grain crop such as rye or wheat works well. But my favorite spring clover seeding is still no-till drilled bin-run oats in large seed box and clover in the small seed box, I run this combination over practically any existing field conditions in late March to early April (zone 6B) with no prior soil preparations, with good results. I like experimenting, and I think this spring I'm going to try a premium clover mix; 50% Freedom Red Clover, 25% Alice White Clover and 25% Regalgraze Ladino Clover just to see what it does compared to the ladino/white mix I usually do.

 

[MK111]

Thanks for the great clover info. Clover has been my go to crop for the last 6 yrs of planting food plots. Started out with WTI clover and it's the best. Just frost seed my 3 clover plots with WTI clover.