imperial clover vs clover from co-op?

I've never planted it, but I have heard good things about it. It really is a mix of multiple perennial clovers, that preform well, in multiple locations, with good protein content. If I was planting a couple acres of clover, I think I would use it. For me, I'm buying more than 250 lbs of clover seed/year, so I just end up making a mix of my own. That works for me.

Every deer that complains, we ban them from our property.
 
My local co-op told me that he couldn't get me anything smaller than a 50lb bag of clover. Since I only have two acres and mixing clover with wheat, there would be 40 lbs wasted.
I got 9.25 lbs of Imperial Fusion (clover and Chicory) on Amazon for $75 and free shipping. That is the amount I need.
I planted 1/2 acre of imperial clover last year and it did really well despite a historic drought.
 
I'm thinking about using buck forage oats this fall and top sew with the clover and then maintain the clover starting in the spring. Thoughts?
 
I use to use a lot of W.I. clover when I started. I really do like it and have had great success with it. I planted a plot years ago divided into thirds, with three different varieties. The W.I. clover was easily the favorite of the deer, for some reason. I know it's not a scientific test, but I was convinced. Now I am plotting many more acres and don't buy it as often, but I definitely think it's a good product. Yes, a big portion is berseem, but the deer like it and the longevity was always great for me.

I've also used BFO. They were fine, but not all that convinced they were any better than bin oats, even north of you where I grow them.
 
I am not much of a name brand seed purchaser. I would not buy buck forage oats as a cover crop to plant clover - I would just plant co-op run wheat or oats. I would buy Imperial Whitetail for a permanent food plot. I have one plot that is 8 years old and has been inundated for 60 days once in may and june and came back fine. I plant co-op run white clover/ladino when I overseed wheat and replant very year. I have planted straight Durana and not have had as good of luck as with IW. Everything from rabbits, to coons, to hogs, to deer and turkeys use it well. Do not plant on dry, south facing sites. I either plant co-op ladino every year on those sites or arrowleaf clover. The only other name brand seed I consider worth the extra money is Eagle Seed Forage beans.
 
Lots of people use Buck Forage Oats and swear by them. If you're planting a couple of acres or less, buy one bag and one bag of plain Jane oats and do a comparison on your property. Every property is different, in particular with soil quality, fertility and ph, so you might find that BFO are the way to go for you. The again, maybe not. I tried a couple acres on mine and I saw no difference in usage, but there could be lots of good reasons why, like the location and access to cover.

Or you could buy the Plain Jane Oats, and with the $ savings a few pounds of radishes, or turnips or Dwarf Essex Rape (or a little of everything) and make a little buffet, then you can really asses what your deer like and help you formulate a plan for the fall of 2018. In 2018, with your perennial clover established, you might choose to over seed with wheat and a brassica the deer preferred. Just some options.
 
I'm thinking about using buck forage oats this fall and top sew with the clover and then maintain the clover starting in the spring. Thoughts?

That's basically what I did a couple of years back, except with durana and it worked great. Whether or not BFO is better than co-op oats, not sure. I'm planning to test that out this year on my site. Good way to get a clover plot started though.


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