Where Did I Go Wrong?

[Mennoniteman]

I'll just add that in the spring, cereal rye will take off early, grow quickly, and get tall, possibly before your clover thought about waking up. Winter wheat wakes up slower in the spring, doesn't get as tall and might be a better companion crop, if your goal is to have clover feed your deer the next summer.

My favorite companion crop by far is oats, I drill oats, chicory and clover in early spring, let the field go with no further action on my part. If the mature oats reseed some volunteer oats by fall it's a bonus! And a year or two later I'll get a random impulse and go drill more cheap oats into the clover. Or brassica. I might give it a shot of clethodim in between, if I see grass, but a few weeds are ok. Very little fertilizer needed because I'm not harvesting anything, and the deer are working manure back into the soil. Cheap, very little time invested, tons of deer feed, go shoot deer. Food plotting at it's finest.

 

[Osceola]

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. I won't make the same mistake next year. I could swear I've read from some authoritative source you can kill off your rye with a spring mowing to release your clover. Luckily I've gotten a lot of rain in August and my applications of seed and fertilizer have been timely, so hopefully I'll still have decent plots this fall.

 

[shawn cox]

It doesn't get much better than this! (Shawn & Mennoiteman) You've planted an almost year round crop with various seed ..... good for the deer. You've kept something growing in there ...... great for the soil. If we plant a "diverse cover crop" that feeds the deer, mines nutrients from below, breaks up the soil and increases organic matter ...... just doesn't get much better than that.

You've almost gone back in time, to 1950 or before, when "all" farmers were organic farmers! You grew your own fertilizer, had diversity to limit pest damage and gave some weed control. The only thing, lacking, to back then, is manure being worked in to the soil!

yes my food plots have been feeding all year and still going strong right now. It is my favorite way to plant. Not a lot of work involved except for some weeds to deal with but clethodim takes care of the grass. Very low maintenance and what a time saver lol

 

[shawn cox]

I am actually going to use a 3 way mix of oats, rye and wheat this year on a few of my plots just to see how it does with it. See if it works just as good as just rye. I hope the oats and wheat provide a little better draw than just the rye alone.

 

[SURGICAL GRADE]

I used ladino clover at about 7.5 lbs/ac.

Ladino is great, but usually takes 2 years or so before it comes on really strong. Perhaps (as Dogghr suggested) using a nurse clover crop that establishes more quickly would help it come along. My climate is much different than yours, but I am a big fan of Red Clover and Arrowleaf. Crimson really thrives here into May so that be an option for you as well since your summer gears up a little later than it does here (April)

 

[FarmerD]

I agree with surgical grade! I use 3 different clovers, that preform at different times of the year, to help ensure I have a "clover" to feed deer almost year round. My medium red clover is still producing right now.

 

[Chainsaw]

I'll just add that in the spring, cereal rye will take off early, grow quickly, and get tall, possibly before your clover thought about waking up. Winter wheat wakes up slower in the spring, doesn't get as tall and might be a better companion crop, if your goal is to have clover feed your deer the next summer.

Very true FarmerD but keep in mind for us zone 4 and 5 properties that an early rye green up or lack of it can possibly mean life or death to the younger deer after a winter of deep, heavy packed snow. Fall planting rye at around 60 lbs mixed with 60 lbs of oats and a 6 lb. mix of white clover has so far for us over most of the last 28 years resulted in great clover crops for the following summer. In recent years we have added Austrian Winter peas and Groundhog Forage radish per the LC mix with the same results. Some years we mow the rye after July 15 and some years we have just left it. Either way led us to excellent clover crops. And we do fertilize at planting time--more if growing conditions are good and less if not.

One year the clover looked a little thin in the fall it was planted(actually it usually does then anyhow) so we frost seeded more clover seeds into the field the following early March. Clover in that field came out great but don't really know if the additional seeds frost seeded were needed or not; it was very easy to do however.
Some years we have just used rye and clover and that has produced excellent clover fields the following summer as well. Some years we have also added chicory to the mix (small amount) and that has worked well also. Sometimes I have added red clover into the mix also. I'm really partial to the white though for my property. As Farmer D said, "it is trial and error for most of us"; and eventually you will develop a planting/fertilizing program that is best for your property and its growing zone.

What I have experienced with throw and mow is that it works excellent SOMETIMES and not at all other times. So for me I continue to use it but don't bet the season on it;in other words it is used regularly in some of our plots but not as the main planting method. That way I am learning the ins and outs of it without hurting the overall food plot program here.

 

[FarmerD]

My Father, who started with horses, was known to ask some up and coming young farmers .... "What's the best fertilizer?" They'd hem and haw and name a few and explained their reasoning behind it and my Father would nod and smile and share a few thoughts, then he'd tell them that they were wrong.

He'd say "A Farmers Shadow, is the best fertilizer!". Meaning, you have to get out there and see what works for you, what doesn't, and don't stop doing it!

 

[Mennoniteman]

Very true FarmerD but keep in mind for us zone 4 and 5 properties that an early rye green up or lack of it can possibly mean life or death to the younger deer after a winter of deep, heavy packed snow. Fall planting rye at around 60 lbs mixed with 60 lbs of oats and a 6 lb. mix of white clover has so far for us over most of the last 28 years resulted in great clover crops for the following summer. In recent years we have added Austrian Winter peas and Groundhog Forage radish per the LC mix with the same results. Some years we mow the rye after July 15 and some years we have just left it. Either way led us to excellent clover crops. And we do fertilize at planting time--more if growing conditions are good and less if not.

One year the clover looked a little thin in the fall it was planted(actually it usually does then anyhow) so we frost seeded more clover seeds into the field the following early March. Clover in that field came out great but don't really know if the additional seeds frost seeded were needed or not; it was very easy to do however.
Some years we have just used rye and clover and that has produced excellent clover fields the following summer as well. Some years we have also added chicory to the mix (small amount) and that has worked well also. Sometimes I have added red clover into the mix also. I'm really partial to the white though for my property. As Farmer D said, "it is trial and error for most of us"; and eventually you will develop a planting/fertilizing program that is best for your property and its growing zone.

What I have experienced with throw and mow is that it works excellent SOMETIMES and not at all other times. So for me I continue to use it but don't bet the season on it;in other words it is used regularly in some of our plots but not as the main planting method. That way I am learning the ins and outs of it without hurting the overall food plot program here.

Does it seem like the southern guys plant more red clover and the northern guys plant more white?

 

[Chainsaw]

Does it seem like the southern guys plant more red clover and the northern guys plant more white?

Yes it definitely does seem that way.

 

[dogghr]

Does it seem like the southern guys plant more red clover and the northern guys plant more white?

And usins in the middle plant a little of both!

 

[shawn cox]

I am more white than red. I will plant more white than red in a few weeks also. However I hope to get some free seed out of my dried out crimson and med red this fall after I plant. I am going to run my drag over some after I add some rye, wheat and oats to see what kind of germination I get on one of my plots that has some white growing in it now but I also had some crimson and medium red that headed out. I hope to have a good bit of it come up but this will be my test plot for it because I have never tried to just use the seed that grew there. I will over seed my other plots. If that plot works out I will do more of them the same way next fall which will help me start some new plots that I am getting ready now. I am going to try to do that plot this weekend because we have a good rain forecast for it.

 

[IkemanTx]

I am actually going to use a 3 way mix of oats, rye and wheat this year on a few of my plots just to see how it does with it. See if it works just as good as just rye. I hope the oats and wheat provide a little better draw than just the rye alone.

I just planted the same 3-way blend (plus a little winter pea and radish) on a 1/3 acre TnM plot. The seed mill didn't have the exact percentages yet, but I did a little shy of a 50lb bag for the plot. Plus, I put 3lbs of crimson clover as well. It's a little heavy, but it is a first year plot, and almost sugar sand.


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[Jason Broom]

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. I won't make the same mistake next year. I could swear I've read from some authoritative source you can kill off your rye with a spring mowing to release your clover. Luckily I've gotten a lot of rain in August and my applications of seed and fertilizer have been timely, so hopefully I'll still have decent plots this fall.

The key to success with throw-n-mow plantings is "timing", in several different ways. You don't always get it right and nature doesn't always cooperate. For example: To get the most OM out of buckwheat, you want to terminate it when about 25% of the plants are flowering. If rain keeps you from doing so, you might have too much volunteer BW in your next plot, but is that really such a bad thing?

I've found winter rye takes two mowings to keep the majority of it from setting seed. My fall mixes almost always include rye (sometimes replaced with triticale), oats, radish, chicory, a white clover and a red clover. By including two cereal grains, I feel the clovers have a good nurse crop to help them get established, but the rye is rarely too thick the following year and the oats are totally gone. This makes mowing optional, so we don't do it, unless it's a plot we want to manage for perennial growth for a few years.

I suspect your fall planting, with the benefit of timely rains and fertilization, will do very well. I think it would be very enlightening to see you post your results, including some pictures, two weeks from now. Something tells me you'll be happy with what you have, by then.

 

[Osceola]

This is one of the thicker areas, but it looks like I'll have good plots this year in spite of myself.
This is 50# oats/50# rye/7# ladino clover/5# radish:
This is a little more typical:

 

[FarmerD]

Looks good! This will be a real test for you. You may find, that next spring, your "more typical" area, might give you a better clover plot. Just one of those things you will use for your own reference and to build upon!