Cereal Grains and cover crops

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains/ spring oats and field peas

can you or do you ever go into a clover field in say September and drill some oats, rye or triticale into the plot. just to beef it up a bit?

In most cases clover would be to thick and competitive, so generally the opposite is done, using cereal grains to establish clover.

If one had a no-till drill and the clover stand was thin I'm sure it could probably be done.

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains/ spring oats and field peas

The oats n peas we planted when it was 18 degrees are coming up after the rain...not as good as those we planted later however

But at least they are coming up! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

This warm weather was sorely needed! Hopefully it will get everything growing again after the deep freeze!

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains/ spring oats and Berseem Clover

I planted oats and Berseem Clover for spring/summer feed and then plow down/nitrogen source for fall brassicas.

Stuff came up over night!

I took these last week...if we ever get some sun after all this rain it oughta be a foot high in no time!

I imagine I'll have to keep it clipped in order to till it under, otherwise I'm sure it would just end up wrapped in the tiller tines.

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains/ spring oats and Berseem Clover

The rye has quickly reached a height to tall to till under without wrapping so I mowed it the other day.

It's warm enough now to till it under and plant buckwheat, which I will till under also for a fall plot in lat summer.

The oats and berseem clover have really taken off!

The berseem is a very fast growing, albeit temporary clover.

Great way to provide some summer forage and build soil.

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains/ spring oats and Berseem Clover

Anybody have any pics of their Berseem clover?

I wasn't able to clip mine until after it went to seed and so it doesn't look so hot right now.

It looked better early on...hoping I have time to till it under and plant some oats and rye there.

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains/ fall rye and oats

Since my corn and beans have been decimated by early September I deicded I better get some fall field rye planted.

I mixed a 1/3 oats with it which really they love before it frosts hard.

I had to brushhog down some ragweed

While I was doing that Jess hit it a couple times with the tiller. The soil was moist from recent rains and tilled up great.

I mixed field rye and oats in my bag seeder. Used a large mixing cup to dip it out and into the bag. By yourself it is nearly impossible to pour it into the bag

I broadcast it on the tilled but not packed soil:

Then Jess ran over it with the tiller down but the PTO off and the cultipacker behind:

That covered most of the seed:

Few seeds left on top but packing the seedbed covers 95% of the seed and leaves a firm seedbed for quick germination:

Good info in this link on where to buy seed and how much it costs.

Roughly $9-12 a bag for field rye (not ryegrass) and slightly more for oats. Considerably more for "brand name" oats...

Late August to mid September is best planting times...earlier is fine for oats and up to early October for rye and wheat.

Timely rains should get mine off to the races!

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains/ fall rye and oats

My grains have bee affected by hot weather and moisture for sure. I can really see a big difference where the soil has more moisture or shade from the still hot late summer sun.

It's up but not "thriving"...

This is a small, shaded hidden plot with better soil moisture:

Most of these pics are only a week after planting

I noticed some seed still had not germinated so I hope it will thicken a bit yet.

All of the spots I planted are on fairly poor ground with no fertilizer so I don't expect much. Enough to attract some attention this fall and perhaps some spring strutters as well...

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains/ fall rye and oats

Here's a few pics of some very small plots of rye and oats that is surrounded by alfalfa, corn and soybeans. As you can see they still grubbed it right to the ground! They ate as close as they dared to this tent blind where you can get an idea how tall it was.

Not leaving much for winter...

Little better here...

This hidden patch is full of scrapes and they are hitting it pretty hard also.

$20 worth of seed...nothing fancy...just seed oats and rye from my local feed n seed dealer.. ($20,000 in equipment but hey...a man NEEDS toys! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif )

Scratch up a little patch, throw on some seed and your in business!

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains/ fall rye and oats

We ask what are deer hitting this time of year? Here's some trail cam pictures from a small "garden size" plot of rye/oats that I have perhaps 1500 TC pics from this fall.

They hit it mostly at night because it's an open area, alfalfa on one side and corn/beans within feet of it. They visit all the other fields but they can't seem to leave the rye alone and it's grubbed to the ground now.

Those pics are right thru the ice, snow and more ice from first shotgun thru the recent ice storm. In a week I get 200-400 pictures just to give one an idea of how hard it gets hit.

I would like to add...you can spend your money on whatever type of seed rye/oats you wish...it's your money...but this is just plain seed oats and rye. $11 a bag...

I buy mine at the local Seed N Feed store but Welter Seed can ship it right to your home if your not sure where to buy it.

Easy, cheap, lasts thru the entire hunting season and I can't ever recall someone saying "gee...they never touched my rye/wheat/oats this fall"... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains/ fall rye and oats

Still getting lots of action in my rye plots even with all the snow:

Dec 22nd:

Did I mention that gobblers love to strut in rye plots in the spring?

It's true that corn or soybeans left standing will draw like crazy all winter but they won't take a pounding in a small plot and you sure won't plant an acre for 20 bucks...

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains - Red Clover for green manure

So you have a plot or two of rye, wheat or triticale that your not going to frost seed white clover into. Perhaps you plan on rotating it to brassicas in late summer or even back to cereal grains.

Right now is a perfect time to frost seed Red Clover and take advantage of it's ability to produce a tremndous amount of nitrogen and "green manure" to your soil when plowed/tilled under.

By now we all know that nitrogen (46% urea for most of us)has become etremely expensive. Why spend the time and money lugging fertilizer bags when you can frost seed a few pounds of red clover seed right now and let Mother nature do the rest! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

It's hard to beat the soil surface that grazed rye or wheat has this time of year for frost seeding...perfect!! Just spread it on and let it grow thru the summer and then plow it under when you are ready to plant brassicas or cereal grains.

It's something anyone can do with very minimal equipment and the clover will provide some early summer grazing and a great place for poults or chicks to forage as insects are attracted to the flowering clover.

You may need to clip it once or twice to keep it from going to seed but otherwise it's so easy..even I could do it! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Winter Cereal Grains and Red Clover

Green Manures

Red Clover is pretty "forgiving" and you can get away with lower PH and fertilizer requirments but here is info if you would like to "spice" it up a little!

Fertilizing alfalfa and clover

Cover crops and green manures

Basics of Green Manuring

Ampac Seed Clover types - 100 #'s acre of nitrogen

Welter Seed - Clover seed

Plenty of reasons to get some red clover seed and start soil building today!! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains - Red Clover for green manure

Just a couple pics of the Alta Swede Red Clover I planted for a plowdown, green manure/nitrogen fixing crop.

I frost seeded it in March...

This spot is in some rye...

This spot was oats last fall so of course is pretty bar now...perfect for frost seeding...

Pics were taken a few weeks ago so it's picking up speed now. I'm not sure how red clover will compare to Berseem Clover for a plow down. The advantage of RC is that it could be seeded with a fall crop of rye or wheat or frost seeded while berseem is an annual and cannot not be frost seeded.

Remember this clover is not for "deer feed" but just an inexpensive clover seed for soil building purposes. With the price of fertilizer, natural soil builders are looking better and better.

It's almost time to plant buckwheat any time from late May to early June for southern Iowa. Hope to plant mine after Memorial Day sometime.

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains - Red Clover for green manure

June 1st update on frost seeded plow down red clover...

Into a rye plot...

Different farm/soil ect. but also into what is left of a rye plot...

This is some on some very poor clay soil...note that it is not as green and is much shorter...it is however surviving...

Since we have been discussing the attributes of rotating food plots and using legumes to provide nitrogen for subsquent plots: Rotating plots year to year

here are a few pics of Berseem Clover which is a great in expensive annual clover that can fix nitrogen and feed your deer at the same time. It CANNOT be frost seeded however...

and a reminder that forage oats can provide quick spring cover and feed along with berseem clover and plowed down for a fall crop.


Deer love oats of any kind but forage oats such as these from nannyslayer can stand heavy grazing a little better.

While I frost seeded my red clover I could have just as easily seeded it with the rye last fall and it would have had an even better head start. It could be seeded with brassicas or frost seeded into the "aftermath" in late winter.

Berseem is just a great clover if you have to till up plots in the spring. I added it to almost all of my plots including white clover and alfalfa seedings.

It won't last year to year but it grows quickly, produces high protein forage and fixes nitrogen all at the same time.

Berseem is in most expensive clover mixes...which is great, except your paying 8 bucks a pound for seed that sells for less then $2 a #

For spring grazing and green manure plowdown, sow oats at 100-120#'s per acre (32#'s per bushel) and berseem clover at 10-20#'s per acre.

Seed red clover at 8-12#'s per acre.

Berseem Clover seed source

Plow-down Red Clover seed source

Time to plant buckwheat is you are including it in your cover crop rotation!

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains - Buckwheat cover crop

Early June is a great time to plant buckwheat for as a cover crop when we need something to fill in before a fall crop. It's a great weed inhibitor and soil builder.

We sprayed earlier last week with roundup and then tilled a strip along a lane.

I had some buckwheat seed left from last year..

It's an easy to sow seed and because it was last years seed I put it on pretty heavy.

The ground was still pretty wet but it was hot and windy so we let it dry out, tilled it again, seeded it and just rolled the tiller back over it lightly. Plant at roughly 50#'s per acre.

Poured again Sunday night so we'll see what comes up...

Buckwheat seed source

Buckwheat Fact Sheet

Buckwheat Production

Buckwheat for Green Manure

Buckwheat

The Basics of Green Manuring

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains - Buckwheat cover crop

Some pics of my buckwheat that I planted a few weeks ago...

The ground was plenty wet at that time and the clay packed a little so germination varies a little.

Easy stuff to grow for a short term ground cover/green manure/ temporary food source.

We'll just watch it grow and till it under when it's starts to flower well. I'll post pics every month to show progress and the time period it takes to reach flowering stage and plow down.

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains - Buckwheat cover crop

This thread is meant to cover all aspects of planting cereal grains (oats, rye, wheat, triticale and buckwheat) for not only food plots but soil building as well.

I also have tried to cover the use of various legumes that can be grown to not only provide high protein feed but produce copious amounts of nitrogen for your next food plot.

When ever we can grow a combination of cereal grains and legumes we are going to not only "kill two birds with one stone" but perhaps bag the whole flock!

Grains such as oats, rye and wheat that can be left until they produce "straw" help improve our soils with organic matter, adding carbon and and avenue for moisture to follow and a means of holding it there.

Adding legumes such as berseem clover, red clover, field peas and hairy vetch also add more organic matter and up to 200 units of nitrogen per acre!

Several very easy and inexpensive options include adding red clover to your fall rye, wheat and oat mix. This option works best if one can leave the red clover until the second year but either way it will improve your soil and add nitrogen.

When spring planting (following a previous years brassica crop for instance) then planting forage oats, berseem clover and field peas can do the trick.

The forage oats from nannyslayer have been heavily grazed by deer this spring but have "taken a lickin and kept on tickin"!

adding berseem clover makes an unbeatable food source and cover crop/soil building combo!

Keep in mind that these are plantings for which seed is relatively inexpensive or...you can purchase urea at a thousand bucks a ton!@*%! (or some such...I'm sure it changes on a weekly basis...)

Hairy vetch is another excellent source of nitrogen that can be planted with rye in a fall food plot and left through the following summer.

Field peas and oats can be planted in late March if possible and also make a great combo for feeding deer and building your soil.

Times are changing, sometimes in the blink of an eye and perhaps we need to change back to some of the tactics our grandfathers used that didn't require petroleum products to grow their crops.

Drag your eyes off of that "big buck picture" on the side of the bag and consider some other options that will feed your deer and your soil!

Vining Peas for sustainable Agriculture

Field Peas for cover crop

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains - Buckwheat cover crop

One month update on the buckwheat

On fertile soil this would most likely be 8-12" higher but on this soil I'm just happy if anything grows at all...

On my barren clay subsoil's a constant supply of rain is needed or anything I plant quickly shrivels up and dies so the rains that have been a curse for so many are a blessing on my place.

Of course my farms have some beautiful top soil as well but those are either being farmed or in CRP because the soil is HEL.

That leaves me "fooling" around with little "odd" spots that often would be better off planted to trees...but that would leave me without a "challenge"...

This shows some frost seeded plow down red clover that even with the rain has just barely survived on this poor subsoil.

Unless one hauls in manure, old hay or top soil you cannot expect to improve this type of soil over night. They ruined it "overnight" years ago and now it will take years to undo the damage.

I have seen many old pastures with like kind soils in this area...barely able to support vegetation of any kind let alone actually feed a cow.

It takes time and patience to gradually improve these soils but many "hunting farms" have plenty of these problem spots to deal with. Red Clover and birds-foot trefoil are two legumes pretty adaptable to poor soil and easily frost seeded into mowed or killed sod in these areas.

This is only a 100 yards away but better soil and the clover I frost seeded in the rye looks wayyy better!

Keep in mind that for maximum nitrogen production from clover it should be in the ground and growing for at least 6 months, so the longer it is there the better.

Seeding red clover into a fall plot of rye/oats/wheat etc. will give you a couple months "head start" over frost seeding. One has the option then of plowing the clover down for a fall plot or clipping it so you have a nice lush red clover plot for fall and leaving it one more year.

This rye was mixed with oats and then pounded to death all winter so it's extremely thin but even if it was thicker it could easily be left "as is" and the whole thing clipped perhaps in September. The regrowth will be very attractive to deer this fall!

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains - Buckwheat cover crop

Buckwheat at 6 weeks

Pretty well flowered out now so I'll keep an eye on it and till it under before it goes to seed

The ground was wet when we planted and you can see the tire track running down the center of it. Just an example of why not to work ground wet and how soil compaction can be a real problem.

It's amazing that buckwheat can grow on this hardpan soil with no fertilizer. It would be a foot taller on good fertile soil.

The plowdown red clover and berseem clover are doing great this summer also, making "free" nitrogen every day!

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains - Buckwheat cover crop

Originally Posted By: huntyak
Do all clovers, not just red, add nitrogen every year to your soil?



All legumes make their own nitrogen and that includes alfalfa, clovers (of any kind) soybeans, peas and hairy vetch...just to name a few.

Some legumes are capable of fixing more N then others.

Alfalfa, berseem clover, most white and red clover, peas and vetch can add up to 200 units of nitrogen per acre.

At today's costs of nitrogen...that's nothing to sneeze at!

 

[dbltree]

Re: Cereal Grains - Buckwheat cover crop

My buckwheat is just starting to go to seed...just barely

It's at that point where one wants to plow, disc or till it under. You want to make sure it's green to get the most soil benefits and add organic matter to your soil.

It's a little to early to plant any fall grains so I'll just till it under, and then till it again in mid August and plant oats and rye. At that point I'll add some red clover that I can leave thru next summer which will add more soil organic matter and a good amount of nitrogen for next falls plot.

We'll want to think about picking up our fall grain seed such as oats, winter wheat, rye and triticale in the coming weeks ahead.

Always check with your local ag supply/seed and feed store because shipping can be expensive.

These are just some examples to give you a rough idea what a bag of seed should cost and a supplier if you cannot locate something nearby.

Frank Forage Oats

Fall Annual Field Rye NOTE: DO NOT plant ryegrass...ask for FIELD RYE!

Winter Wheat

Winter Triticale is a cross between wheat and rye and is great for grazing.

Add Field Peas

or

Austrian Winter Peas to spice up your grains and add a legume to your mix.

For 20-30 bucks an acre you can add an inexpensive plow down red clover that will be working all thru next year fixing nitrogen for your next food plot.

Alta-Swede Mammoth Red Clover

with nitrogen costing a grand or more a ton (give or take a few hundred... ) it figures out like this...

Each pound of actual nitrogen (a 100#'s of 46-0-0 urea contains 46#'s of actual nitrogen) could cost you roughly a buck a pound.

So for 20 bucks your red clover can produce upwards of 200 units of nitrogen per acre. Easy as pie to spread 10#'s of clover seed in a small hand seeder but start hauling 50# bags of fertilizer, spreading it (not to mention writing a check for it) and the clover seed starts to sound real good!

I frost seeded this red clover last winter into rye and we clipped it recently:

All summer this red clover has provided a high protein food source for deer, an insect attractant for turkey poults and naturally fixing nitrogen at the same time. How you gonna beat that?

I can choose to leave it one more year or till it under and re-plant grains or brassicas but either way when I do...I will also till under some wonderful organic matter to loosen my heavy clay soil and build soil nutrients each time I do so.

It's a win win deal!!

If you live near nannyslayer or Osenbaughs they also can fix you up with most of your fall food plot needs. I was very happy with the forage oats and field peas from Brian, so keep him in mind. The shed gathering is coming up so that might be a good place to "swap seed" if Brian will be there.

Overview of Cover Crops and Green Manures

Cover Crops

Sustainable agriculture

Managing Cover Crops