Clover
- Thread starter dbltree
- Start date
dbltree
Super Moderator
May 11th, 2012
With enough cameras on enough fields over many farms I have come to realize that white clover consistently beats almost any other food source including beans and corn...and believe me, in Iowa we have corn and deans a plenty! Cams reveal that not only do whitetails spend a large portion of their time feeding in clover but they spend time there every day from very early spring to mid winter and time after time turn down soybeans even when planted side by side with the clover....something to think about if you have grown weary of spending 80 bucks a bag for soybean seed...
I don't rely solely on clover but it makes up a part of every single feeding area on every farm...not in some other field or the back 40 but EVERY feeding area contains white clover and that has proved to be very very effective at holding and adapting whitetails and makes them very predictable.
White clover is inexpensive and easy to establish and with a little maintenance will lats for years. I keep ours sprayed with clethodim and a bit of glyphosate every spring and then clip it once or twice a summer.
My sprayer puts on 20 gallons per acre of water so because the grasses where a little taller then usual (due to a early spring) I used 10-12 ounces of clethodim, 6 ounces of 53% glyphosate and 1 quart of crop oil per acre.
Taller perennial cool season grasses can be a tough nut to crack so where possible...don't spare the horses and get em killed!
My favored method of establishing both white and red clovers is in the fall with the winter rye combo...simple, easy, effective...no weeds nor wet weather to contend with and in the spring they reach full potential right when deer need it most...
Red clovers planted with rye for a plowdown to rotate to brassicas provide awesome nutrition and tons of biomass when tilled under to plant brassicas in July.
It's easy to see that deer are feeding on the clovers heavily
No expensive "buck on a bag" clover seed...just inexpensive white and red clovers that are extremely effective
Planted in feeding areas along with other easy to grown and equally effective food sources, clovers complete our feeding program and insure whitetails don't leave for greener pastures regardless of the time of year.
With enough cameras on enough fields over many farms I have come to realize that white clover consistently beats almost any other food source including beans and corn...and believe me, in Iowa we have corn and deans a plenty! Cams reveal that not only do whitetails spend a large portion of their time feeding in clover but they spend time there every day from very early spring to mid winter and time after time turn down soybeans even when planted side by side with the clover....something to think about if you have grown weary of spending 80 bucks a bag for soybean seed...
I don't rely solely on clover but it makes up a part of every single feeding area on every farm...not in some other field or the back 40 but EVERY feeding area contains white clover and that has proved to be very very effective at holding and adapting whitetails and makes them very predictable.
White clover is inexpensive and easy to establish and with a little maintenance will lats for years. I keep ours sprayed with clethodim and a bit of glyphosate every spring and then clip it once or twice a summer.
My sprayer puts on 20 gallons per acre of water so because the grasses where a little taller then usual (due to a early spring) I used 10-12 ounces of clethodim, 6 ounces of 53% glyphosate and 1 quart of crop oil per acre.
Taller perennial cool season grasses can be a tough nut to crack so where possible...don't spare the horses and get em killed!
My favored method of establishing both white and red clovers is in the fall with the winter rye combo...simple, easy, effective...no weeds nor wet weather to contend with and in the spring they reach full potential right when deer need it most...
Red clovers planted with rye for a plowdown to rotate to brassicas provide awesome nutrition and tons of biomass when tilled under to plant brassicas in July.
It's easy to see that deer are feeding on the clovers heavily
No expensive "buck on a bag" clover seed...just inexpensive white and red clovers that are extremely effective
Planted in feeding areas along with other easy to grown and equally effective food sources, clovers complete our feeding program and insure whitetails don't leave for greener pastures regardless of the time of year.
tommyls1313
Member
dbltree
Super Moderator
Mowing is optional but does help control broadleaf weeds and keeps clover lush and growing rather then going to seed.
I like to mow 1-3 times a growing season...just clipping the tops off the clover (so the flowers are clipped). May, June and late August are good times to mow but avoid clipping during dry spells when clover is under duress...
Don't know why not. We are just 1 day past the average last frost date here in Iowa. You will still get a lot of food out of the plot before turning under. The way the weather has been it seems like it is mid June! We have to remember it is just mid May! Good luck on your plot.
dbltree
Super Moderator
Absolutely! :way:
skyleralan
PMA Member
I am worried about my young clover! This stretch of no rain is not a good thing, just more and more grass competing with my clover! Will wait until mid June then I will spray and might try and broadcast some more red clover into my clover plots in the fall.
dbltree
Super Moderator
All of our oats are bright, healthy green despite no rain for quite awhile so I doubt it is soil moisture. Any chance they could have been sprayed by accident? That happens frequently this time of year when applicators are spraying herbicides on corn and beans.
Beyond that I don't know but something is definitely wrong...
dbltree
Super Moderator
I suspect it may just be stress related to the dry weather...
Oats and annual clovers
I really like using oats and annual clovers in the spring as a cover crop to follow brassicas, as a first crop on freshly killed sod or to establish white clover in the spring. Great combination of spring cereal grain and fast growing annual clovers like berseem and crimson!
Remember any oats will do including bin run feed grade oats although I use Jerry oats partly because deer love them.
It's been terribly dry here and some folks have noticed some leaf browning from stress that may look something like this...
We can easily identify the two clover species now...berseem is the clover in the left at the base of the oats and crimson with the rounder leaf to the right
Both clovers grow quickly, fix 80-120#'s of nitrogen and are very palatable and attractive clovers to deer and combined with oats that deer also love, go together like a PB&J! :way:
dbltree
Super Moderator
May 27th, 2012
A short time back I sprayed clover that had grasses looking like this...with 10 ounces of clethodim, 8 ounces of 53% glyphosate and 1 quart of crop oil per acre.
and this is the result
dead and dying grasses and broadleaf weeds
while clovers remain healthy with some minor burning where I turned several times applying 2-3 X's as much product
Do not use gly (Roundup) on new seedling clovers and be sure you can apply a known amount per acre by calibrating your sprayer so you know how much water per acre is being applied. My sprayer applies 20 gallons per acre but yours may apply 5 to 50 depending on ground speed, nozzles, pressure etc. so determine water applied before applying gly to your clover. Clethodim can be applied at 6-32 ounces per acre without harm to the clover so better to start with that first if unsure about how much your sprayer is putting on. Be sure to add one quart of crop oil per acre to make the clethodim effective...
Source for clethodim
Rural King - clethodim
Source for crop oil
Crop Oil
Check price and availability at your local co-op where clethodim is sold as Select Max, Arrow EC and many others but also may be sold only in 2 1/2 gal containers and crop oil in 5 gal buckets.
You can also experiment with using gly alone by doing a small area first and noting the reaction of both clovers and weeds but do not use gly on new seedings or drought stressed clovers....
A short time back I sprayed clover that had grasses looking like this...with 10 ounces of clethodim, 8 ounces of 53% glyphosate and 1 quart of crop oil per acre.
and this is the result
dead and dying grasses and broadleaf weeds
while clovers remain healthy with some minor burning where I turned several times applying 2-3 X's as much product
Do not use gly (Roundup) on new seedling clovers and be sure you can apply a known amount per acre by calibrating your sprayer so you know how much water per acre is being applied. My sprayer applies 20 gallons per acre but yours may apply 5 to 50 depending on ground speed, nozzles, pressure etc. so determine water applied before applying gly to your clover. Clethodim can be applied at 6-32 ounces per acre without harm to the clover so better to start with that first if unsure about how much your sprayer is putting on. Be sure to add one quart of crop oil per acre to make the clethodim effective...
Source for clethodim
Rural King - clethodim
Source for crop oil
Crop Oil
Check price and availability at your local co-op where clethodim is sold as Select Max, Arrow EC and many others but also may be sold only in 2 1/2 gal containers and crop oil in 5 gal buckets.
You can also experiment with using gly alone by doing a small area first and noting the reaction of both clovers and weeds but do not use gly on new seedings or drought stressed clovers....
dbltree
Super Moderator
June 2nd, 2012
White clover is bar none the most versatile and yet least expensive component we have available in our habitat tool chest and regardless of what crop types you choose to plant...I encourage you to plant a 20-40' wide strip around your feeding area or strips within the field, odd corners that are difficult to work, along the edge of a lane etc. White clover can feed deer for the longest period of time and having observed deer via cams on many farms in a number of counties now I can say white clover gets more attention then any other crop!
This is an example of where we established white clover for the first time around the perimeter of the field by planting it with the rye combo in late August...I clipped it in early May before fawns were being born...
the mix of white and red clovers are doing outstandingly well!
The lush clovers are the first thing deer step into when the enter the field
and using clovers insures we can have year around food sources and thereby adapt deer to always, always coming to this field
While spraying herbicide with a BP sprayer yesterday I noticed a fawn in the shadows along the field edge
It's the first of June and I have been seeing fawns for 10 days now so late may thru mid June is a time when I avoid mowing/clipping if at all possible. The little fawns will not budge even for the roar of a tractor and brush cutter and leads to an early demise...so either spray or leave things alone from mid May to mid June.
Deer continue to hammer our white clovers even though in full bloom!
White clovers can average 20-25% crude protein which is 5-10% more then any whitetail on the planet can utilize, it's very palatable and highly digestible and deer will feed on it from early April to mid winter!
I sprayed the clover with the following mix per acre
Some are impervious to the light gly application so in this case I will clip them off before they go to seed
herbicides like Raptor will work on tough weeds in clovers but they are very expensive!
Raptor Herbicide
Butyrac 200 Herbicide (24DB Herbicide) is less expensive but also less effective on a smaller range of broadleaf weeds that usually need to be fairly small to get a good kill.
I have gotten along well for years using grass selective herbicides and mowing to control anything that survives that, along with crop rotations this has worked well for me...
White clover is bar none the most versatile and yet least expensive component we have available in our habitat tool chest and regardless of what crop types you choose to plant...I encourage you to plant a 20-40' wide strip around your feeding area or strips within the field, odd corners that are difficult to work, along the edge of a lane etc. White clover can feed deer for the longest period of time and having observed deer via cams on many farms in a number of counties now I can say white clover gets more attention then any other crop!
This is an example of where we established white clover for the first time around the perimeter of the field by planting it with the rye combo in late August...I clipped it in early May before fawns were being born...
the mix of white and red clovers are doing outstandingly well!
The lush clovers are the first thing deer step into when the enter the field
and using clovers insures we can have year around food sources and thereby adapt deer to always, always coming to this field
While spraying herbicide with a BP sprayer yesterday I noticed a fawn in the shadows along the field edge
It's the first of June and I have been seeing fawns for 10 days now so late may thru mid June is a time when I avoid mowing/clipping if at all possible. The little fawns will not budge even for the roar of a tractor and brush cutter and leads to an early demise...so either spray or leave things alone from mid May to mid June.
You bet!
Deer continue to hammer our white clovers even though in full bloom!
White clovers can average 20-25% crude protein which is 5-10% more then any whitetail on the planet can utilize, it's very palatable and highly digestible and deer will feed on it from early April to mid winter!
I sprayed the clover with the following mix per acre
which smoked all the grasses and most weeds
Some are impervious to the light gly application so in this case I will clip them off before they go to seed
herbicides like Raptor will work on tough weeds in clovers but they are very expensive!
Raptor Herbicide
Butyrac 200 Herbicide (24DB Herbicide) is less expensive but also less effective on a smaller range of broadleaf weeds that usually need to be fairly small to get a good kill.
I have gotten along well for years using grass selective herbicides and mowing to control anything that survives that, along with crop rotations this has worked well for me...
tommyls1313
Member
Paul my last falls planting of WR and WC was looking great my last trip out a couple weeks ago after I had mowed it. I didn't do a soil test last fall but I used your 400# 6-24-24 and 400# pellet lime. My question is should I be adding any fertilize or lime now or wait to a later date?
Thanks for all your advice
Thanks for all your advice
North Clover Plot
I trying to rejuvenate a plot on the north east east end of the property. I broadcast alice and jumbo ladino last fall and March. I have some new growth under the canopy of grass.It might have been easier to start all over , but I wanted to see if I could get ahead of the grass with clethodim. I'll keep you all posted.
Mike
I trying to rejuvenate a plot on the north east east end of the property. I broadcast alice and jumbo ladino last fall and March. I have some new growth under the canopy of grass.It might have been easier to start all over , but I wanted to see if I could get ahead of the grass with clethodim. I'll keep you all posted.
Mike
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