Fall Food Plot

[Early Bird]

I have a rye/mammoth red clover food plot that was planted last fall. The clover is quite thick and getting tall. I am going to leave it go until I plant my Fall planting which will be Peas, oats, radishes on 60% of the plot and brassica on the other 40%. followed by a broadcast of rye on the pea/oat side about 3-4 weeks after the first planting. My question is would it be advisable to Gly sometime in mid July and then again when I throw and mow in mid August? Or would it be better just to wait til mid August and Gly when I throw and Mow? I think my main concern is that I get a good kill on the clover and that the thatch wont be so heavy that it wont germinate well. As always your advice is greatly appreciated.

Ray

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I’d wait


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[davidhelmly]

I know everyone sees it different but I’ve never understood killing a good clover stand to plant something else.

 

[yoderjac]

I know everyone sees it different but I’ve never understood killing a good clover stand to plant something else.

When it comes to long-lived perennial clover, I agree, but I do see a case for terminating short-lived perennial clover or annual clover. It is fixing N for the next crop and most of that N becomes available when the clover dies.

When I use a short-lived perennial like medium red in the fall, I got a good crop the follow year. After that, it does not do much. By the second spring and definitely the second fall, it needs to be replanted.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Early Bird]

I am surprised that the deer are hardly touching the clover. My property has a good amount of browse but I thought the clover would be utilized more. Anyway thanks for the comments. Do you have an opinion on weather I should kill the clover a few weeks before planting and then throw/roll and spray again to get any residual weeds. Thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[davidhelmly]

I am surprised that the deer are hardly touching the clover. My property has a good amount of browse but I thought the clover would be utilized more. Anyway thanks for the comments. Do you have an opinion on weather I should kill the clover a few weeks before planting and then throw/roll and spray again to get any residual weeds. Thoughts?
Thanks!

If you are doing throw and mow I would spread my seed and then throw/roll and spray. That would let the deer utilize the clover as long as possible and hopefully the thatch will keep the weeds at bay.

 

[yoderjac]

I am surprised that the deer are hardly touching the clover. My property has a good amount of browse but I thought the clover would be utilized more. Anyway thanks for the comments. Do you have an opinion on weather I should kill the clover a few weeks before planting and then throw/roll and spray again to get any residual weeds. Thoughts?
Thanks!

Unless you are using exclusion cages, it is hard to know how much your deer are using the clover. If they are not, they simply have some other quality food in the area where they perceive the risk/reward ratio to be better. I put some cages around young apple trees but did not have time to put down the weed mat. When I broadcast clover and WR in the field last year, some made it into the cages. When I checked the field in April, I was surprised how lush the clover was. Deer seemed to be ignoring it, or at least that is what I thought at first. Then I saw the clover in the apple tree cages. It was a good 6" taller. Six inches of clover consumption is quite a bit.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[SD51555]

I've got good clover coming. Can't find any evidence of browse right now (even with cages). On the flip side, I could not find a stump sprout that wasn't browsed already this spring.

 

[yoderjac]

I've got good clover coming. Can't find any evidence of browse right now (even with cages). On the flip side, I could not find a stump sprout that wasn't browsed already this spring.

Your're up north right? That makes sense. Deer's digestive tracts adjust for winter to process browse. My deer have been primarily off browse for quite a while now but it would make sense that your deer transition later than mine. On top of that, what you say is a great example of deer finding a quality native food source that has a better risk/reward ratio. Mineral stumps have a lot of concentrated nutrition in the new growth making them very attractive. On top of that, the vertical growth provides cover. That is the best of all worlds for a deer, quality food in cover. My does disappear into cover for a couple weeks when they get close to fawning and then I suddenly get pictures of deer in most every field a few says after they drop the fawns.

 

[Rit]

I think sometimes you just have to kill good clover. Plans change. I mowed some of this bottom of the knee clover a few days ago. I probably mowed it too short. We will see. Deer packed in it almost every night right now but there is enough in the field they aren’t putting a dent in it. I was going to spray and kill all of it but a 20x700’ strip to put a buckwheat crop in before fall planting. I am undecided now. In a few weeks when all the beans emerge the deer will leave and feed in the Ag fields all summer. My clover will go somewhat dormant when the heat arrives. I have a strip of clover in every plot. I have a strip just inside the woods to the left but it’s much smaller. Maybe 15x75’. That clover isn’t 6 inches tall. Surrounded by great cover. The above picture is a large field screened by switch but still less security cover.

Great clover has been really easy for me. I rarely spray for weeds, I over seed towards the end of August and as of last year add Gypsum at the same time in hopes it helps with the clay. I mow once Memorial Day and again at Labor Day. Ignore it the rest of the year. Maybe that’s why I don’t mind killing it sometimes.