Plot looks good, Wisco. I can't completely answer your question, but I can share my experience. You obviously won't be able to feed deer with a plot that size, but you can definitely shoot one.

You have some decent biomass there with the maturing rye, but you can always use more. My plots are quite dry, so for me, the more thatch the better. If you are going to have some good moisture in the forecast, throw something into the rye that will grow quickly - buckwheat, oats, whatever works. Let that produce more biomass up until you plan to plant your fall food.

You won't be able to plant the LC Mix as he describes, but you can create an LC Smorgasbord.

You can spray or not. I've had better luck spraying first a few days prior. Throw your brassica seed and some clover. Mow and/or Roll, then walk away. For me this is in early July. At the end of summer, once the brassicas and clover are growing, top-seed the whole plot with cereal grains (oats & rye) and some more clover. You can also put down some fertilizer for the brassicas at the same time. For me this is the end of August or September long weekend. If you have clover that will overwinter where you are, make sure to include it. Remember, the grains and clover you add now will make up your biomass for next year - just like your plot right now. One thing I have learned is to NEVER skimp on the rye. Use more than you think you need, then add more.

I'm in Ontario, Canada, about an hour north of the NY border, so adjust your planting times to your location.

Good luck!
I am also in Ont. up around Renfrew, just wondering if you have tried to grow Durana clover on a plot? if so what was your seeding rate?
 
I am also in Ont. up around Renfrew, just wondering if you have tried to grow Durana clover on a plot? if so what was your seeding rate?
One thing for sure MM......your at least as persistent as Durana. Grin. Did you already buy the Durana? If so.....plant it. If not......I think there are better choices. Alice White is what I would buy. Mixed with some radish.....put down 6 # / acre. If I were to try Durana.....I'd do the same rate. Good luck.

Edit: If you add some red clover (4# / a) with it.....or even a second variety of white clover (3#/a) ....even if the Durana is a bust....the other clovers will be there for you. My 2 cents.

Edit 2: I did a google and there is a good Buckmasters article by Dr Kantmeyer (sp) on Durana and its attributes. He says this: (google is your friend)

This cool season perennial legume is adapted from east Texas across the south to the Atlantic Coast, north along a line from Macon, Ga., to Dallas, Texas and all the way to Canada. Below this line, it will do well in the right soils: sandy loam and heavy soils but not deep pure sands. It also tolerates shade up to 70 percent and wet soils including intermittent flooding.It is adapted to the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions (where rainfall is adequate) as well as Upper Midwest and New England. I suspect it will thrive in Canada, but this is currently unknown. Durana will grow in low pH (down to 5.4) but like all other clovers, will thrive in a pH of 6.0 or above.
 
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One thing for sure MM......your at least as persistent as Durana. Grin. Did you already buy the Durana? If so.....plant it. If not......I think there are better choices. Alice White is what I would buy. Mixed with some radish.....put down 6 # / acre. If I were to try Durana.....I'd do the same rate. Good luck.

Edit: If you add some red clover (4# / a) with it.....or even a second variety of white clover (3#/a) ....even if the Durana is a bust....the other clovers will be there for you. My 2 cents.

Edit 2: I did a google and there is a good Buckmasters article by Dr Kantmeyer (sp) on Durana and its attributes. He says this: (google is your friend)

This cool season perennial legume is adapted from east Texas across the south to the Atlantic Coast, north along a line from Macon, Ga., to Dallas, Texas and all the way to Canada. Below this line, it will do well in the right soils: sandy loam and heavy soils but not deep pure sands. It also tolerates shade up to 70 percent and wet soils including intermittent flooding.It is adapted to the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions (where rainfall is adequate) as well as Upper Midwest and New England. I suspect it will thrive in Canada, but this is currently unknown. Durana will grow in low pH (down to 5.4) but like all other clovers, will thrive in a pH of 6.0 or above.
This
 
One thing for sure MM......your at least as persistent as Durana. Grin. Did you already buy the Durana? If so.....plant it. If not......I think there are better choices. Alice White is what I would buy. Mixed with some radish.....put down 6 # / acre. If I were to try Durana.....I'd do the same rate. Good luck.

Edit: If you add some red clover (4# / a) with it.....or even a second variety of white clover (3#/a) ....even if the Durana is a bust....the other clovers will be there for you. My 2 cents.

Edit 2: I did a google and there is a good Buckmasters article by Dr Kantmeyer (sp) on Durana and its attributes. He says this: (google is your friend)

This cool season perennial legume is adapted from east Texas across the south to the Atlantic Coast, north along a line from Macon, Ga., to Dallas, Texas and all the way to Canada. Below this line, it will do well in the right soils: sandy loam and heavy soils but not deep pure sands. It also tolerates shade up to 70 percent and wet soils including intermittent flooding.It is adapted to the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions (where rainfall is adequate) as well as Upper Midwest and New England. I suspect it will thrive in Canada, but this is currently unknown. Durana will grow in low pH (down to 5.4) but like all other clovers, will thrive in a pH of 6.0 or above.
Thanks for your opinion, yes I have managed to get 10# of Durana, I had read the Buckmasters article but thought I would give it a try. I had considered adding Forage Radish with it then thought maybe winter wheat would be a better mix, I thought maybe the radish would shade out the clover maybe that is wrong. I do have other seed left from last year a mix of Ladino, Dutch White, Red clover with a little Alfalfa.
 
Thanks for your opinion, yes I have managed to get 10# of Durana, I had read the Buckmasters article but thought I would give it a try. I had considered adding Forage Radish with it then thought maybe winter wheat would be a better mix, I thought maybe the radish would shade out the clover maybe that is wrong. I do have other seed left from last year a mix of Ladino, Dutch White, Red clover with a little Alfalfa.
The experimentation with mixes is the fun part. I personally like forage oats. My deer really seem to like it. I have had a lot of problems trying to establish clover. I've tried a LOT of things that were total failures (beans and peas especially). One thing I always do is throw down winter rye later in the season to fill in any bare spots and so there is something there in the spring.
 
Radish will not kill freshly planted clover, but it will set it back due to shading. Out of all the grains, oats seem to let the most light in. They are also very attractive, so it gives other crops a break.

The years I tried for a predominate clover stand, I found mixing with red clover to be good. Clover will do great with ocassionaly mowing.

I planted Durana in a plot in 2022 up in the adirondacks zone 3b sandy soil. IT came back in that plot. I really wanted patriot, but the place sent me durana instead. I did use patriot for maintenance seeding this year in an existing plot. So it will be difficult to tell for sure how it does.

It might be another story if your planting double digit acres, but a few acres of plots Durana is worth it in my book. It's not that much than ladino if you look around.

I was on the fence about medium red for awhile. IT goes great for year one, then fizzles. What I learned is the white clover are more prolific seed producers than red clovers. If you maintain your plots with mowing, red has trouble making seed. Like one or two times a year it puts out with slow to mautre flowers. Most whites just dump seeds. You can mow a white clover plot and it seems like 2-3 weeks you see some newer seed heads turning dark.

Dutch clover is amazing, but at a price. It seems to drown out newly grown seeds by shade. You may need to stunt that clover with a light doze of roundup to let the young seeds get light. This is about everything, including winter rye. Dutch would be great for a monoculture of clover, if thats what you want.
 
I have had good luck with a mix of Ladino, Dutch white, Double cut Red clover and a bit of Alfalfa but my goal is a predominatly clover plot as the deer here love it. The attachment is a plot I established last year, it had been grass and weeds for fifty years or so. I sprayed, mowed, seeded, and cultipacked. I try to mow plots once or twice a year.
Thanks for your reply.STC_0005 (2).JPG
 
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