Deer don’t seem to like brassicas for me. I had three plots in different places and the deer never really ate it much. I think I’ll just plant cereal rye this fall. I did one plot with rye and clover last fall but planted the rye too heavy and it smothered the clover but the deer really tore it up.They buried there heads in the snow digging for it. I never hear to much about why clover plots come to an end. If you keep up with the lime and fertilizer what changes. I did my first clover plots six years ago and the were really nice for about four years.Some five.Then weeds became a problem I couldn’t keep up with. Is it the nitrogen build up that causes the problem? I read where someone said they broadcast rye into their clover plot every fall to help use the nitrogen. Is it possible to keep a clover plot going for much over 5 years.
Clover
- Thread starter dbltree
- Start date
Hard to beat fall planted clover with rye. LUSH carpet in there. Planted around labor day last fall.
Bassattackr
Well-Known Member
If you want a CLEAN clover field, use Rye!
Do you just leave the rye or terminate at some point? I threw some rye into some grazing alfalfa that didn’t do much for a year. With the rye and more fertilizer it REALLY took off…interesting…
Do you broadcast into an existing clover field every fall?
Snail3496
Well-Known Member
Mow it high. Absolutely the best rye establishment method shown by rob
Bassattackr
Well-Known Member
You can leave, mow or spray. The longer you keep alive (don't spray), the better the weed suppression..
May - It gets 5'+ tall, but the clover is partially shaded, and protected the entire time. Inside, it stays clean as a whistle.
Interesting to see where the rye stops (foreground), you can see the weeds taking off..
June - It dries down, but you're left with a pretty lush clover stand. Again, very clean.
IF you let go to June+, and don't mow until it dries down, you'll be left with quite a bit of rye straw, and lodging if using a rotary mower.
Anymore, I prefer to mow a touch more often in the spring, and more frequently. This keeps the annual grain growing, weed suppression working, but you don't have massive piles of straw in the end. Trick is to time before rains so the sun doesn't get to the clover too badly..
Because there is nothing left to protect or shade it in a sunny field, after you mow..
Bassattackr
Well-Known Member
ridgeview72
New Member
I will be planting 10 lbs/acre of Majestic Crimson Clover this fall (late July / early August) along with Cereal Rye. I am locate in extreme NE Iowa near the MN border and am wondering the following:
How much growth can I expect this fall before it goes dormant?
Will it "Over Winter" & if so, would you suggest to terminate "Both" Cereal Rye & Crimson prior to my typical June Buckwheat planting so that it doesn't go to seed before Brassica planting next fall (typically seed into Buckwheat & crush/spray in one pass) in the same plot or would you leave it go until July (maybe just terminal Rye with grass herbicide around June 1) before terminating Crimson in early/mid July for a Brassica planting end of July?
I don't especially want it to go to seed and have a bunch of volunteer Majestic Crimson Clover in my Brassica plot next fall.
How much growth can I expect this fall before it goes dormant?
Will it "Over Winter" & if so, would you suggest to terminate "Both" Cereal Rye & Crimson prior to my typical June Buckwheat planting so that it doesn't go to seed before Brassica planting next fall (typically seed into Buckwheat & crush/spray in one pass) in the same plot or would you leave it go until July (maybe just terminal Rye with grass herbicide around June 1) before terminating Crimson in early/mid July for a Brassica planting end of July?
I don't especially want it to go to seed and have a bunch of volunteer Majestic Crimson Clover in my Brassica plot next fall.
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ridgeview72
New Member
I have a 25 pound bag of Majestic Crimson Clover and only plan to seed 1.2 acre's this fall w/ Cereal Rye on food plot that will be Brassica fall 2026.
Have a 1.05 acre plot that will be Brassica this fall 2025 that will get planted into Crimson Clover in 2026.
If it doesn't "Over Winter" well or if you feel it would go to seed I'll terminate rye & Crimson and plant Buckwheat early June.
Don't have very good access to fields as have to drive 3/4 mile thru the neighbors to access. Don't particularly want to be mowing it off every couple weeks during the summer just to keep it from going to seed as I don't have that kind of time, nor would I think my neighbor would appreciate all the traffic thru his property.
Have a 1.05 acre plot that will be Brassica this fall 2025 that will get planted into Crimson Clover in 2026.
If it doesn't "Over Winter" well or if you feel it would go to seed I'll terminate rye & Crimson and plant Buckwheat early June.
Don't have very good access to fields as have to drive 3/4 mile thru the neighbors to access. Don't particularly want to be mowing it off every couple weeks during the summer just to keep it from going to seed as I don't have that kind of time, nor would I think my neighbor would appreciate all the traffic thru his property.
Bassattackr
Well-Known Member
Curious to hear everyone's take on a larger 1-2 acre clover field - Deer use throughout the hunting season (Sept/Oct thru January).
My green fields are typically cereal grain, brassica plantings mixed with clover. First time I'm relying on a pure clover (ladino/Alice) stand through hunting season.
My green fields are typically cereal grain, brassica plantings mixed with clover. First time I'm relying on a pure clover (ladino/Alice) stand through hunting season.
Put some white & red in there so u have great clover the following year. When I plant crimson in fall- it’s there in spring so I’ve had good luck. Rye will be there for sure: Easy to kill it. Oats winter kill.
I’d be fine with it. As I get lazier I have a few more of those. Lots of tonnage there that’s pretty darn desirable. I think some of the small clover plots can get mowed down a bit too short sometimes so nice to have one. I’ll drill in oats, rye, peas, etc into the clovers as well for some variety. Maybe give a bigger clover patch a whirl & see what you think.
I love a mix. I’d add different varieties to my clover like Skip said above. And if I was going to do buckwheat in early June, I’d rather go with a warm season soil builder mix from Green Cover or Vitalize Nitro Boost instead. All the benefits of buckwheat (and buckwheat is a big part of both mixes) plus a variety that both deer, game birds and pollinators are going to use. Seed right into it in fall just like what you were going to do anyway.
I’m hoping Welters gets into the spring mix/fall mix game. All the companies I mentioned have been AWESOME to deal with btw. I’ll probably keep buying summer mix from Vitalize but kind of want to build my own fall mix and seed it by seed size and put it specifically in large seed box and small seed box instead of dumping the whole mix in my large seed box.
@Bassattackr I like how you are doing your clover. I let mine grow and havent mowed it yet and now I’m scared to mow it. I know there is twin fawns in one patch and I just hate to mow it for awhile.
Bassattackr
Well-Known Member
For this reason, I time my last spring mowing around mid to late May (before most fawns drop), and then wait until July 1 or so to make sure they're big enough to move.
Also helps to watch the next pass you're mowing as you go - IE watching to the left if you're mowing around the field counterclockwise, etc..