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Sainfoin
- Thread starter Yarg
- Start date
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
From what I recall most of the people that have tried it had a tough time getting it established.
mikmaze
5 year old buck +
DOn't waste your time if you have clay soils, I tried it on a clay spot that had a bit of sand but not enough, three years of hope till I gave up on it and turned it under. you NEED a clean seed bed, I'm talking weed free, kill plot in late summer, kill it again three weeks later, again three weeks later. Plant winter rye, on green up in spring kill that and wait, light till, wait, spray, maybe do buckwheat summer, burn it down, light till and spray again. by this time there should be little to no competition for the sainfoin. seed it and cross fingers. mine never got more than a foot high, might have ended up with 10% coverage, not enough there to see if the deer even ate it or not. I could not manage the area, and after further reading my soils were wrong. expensive seed, three years wasted, I moved on.
So I was wsucoug over the the qdma forum back in the day. I just mostly lurk these days. However, I do have quite a bit of experience with sainfoin.
Sainfoin is very similar to alfalfa in that it takes some time to get established. Both have deep tap roots. It is equally, drought and heat tolerant (very heat tolerant). The biggest plus of sainfoin over alfalfa is that it doesn't get stemmy and un-palatable once it starts to mature. Also when everything has started to turn in mid-summer, sainfoin shines compared to the other legumes. Doesn't dry up and deer love it. Alfalfa usually won’t dry up either but it gets stemmy, and the deer put it pretty low on the preference list.
Now for the negative. Sainfoin is not very browse tolerant. It's considered a single cut hay in most applications. This is because it just doesn't bounce back after being consistently grazed. This can lead to weed issues, as lack of regrowth really allows for weeds to "fill in" the plot. So if you are in an heavily grazed area or already have lots of weeds, I'd suggest red clover, or even alfalfa. Sainfoin will most likely disappoint if this is the case.
The niche for sainfoin is that it is a big draw for deer especially when everything else is dry, but this is also its downfall. If you have good moisture I would stick with clovers. If you do plant, make sure your soil is well drained and in good shape. Also make sure you get the newest variety "Delaney Sainfoin" as it’s supposed to be more of a double cut variety, but I have not planted that type personally.
Sainfoin is very similar to alfalfa in that it takes some time to get established. Both have deep tap roots. It is equally, drought and heat tolerant (very heat tolerant). The biggest plus of sainfoin over alfalfa is that it doesn't get stemmy and un-palatable once it starts to mature. Also when everything has started to turn in mid-summer, sainfoin shines compared to the other legumes. Doesn't dry up and deer love it. Alfalfa usually won’t dry up either but it gets stemmy, and the deer put it pretty low on the preference list.
Now for the negative. Sainfoin is not very browse tolerant. It's considered a single cut hay in most applications. This is because it just doesn't bounce back after being consistently grazed. This can lead to weed issues, as lack of regrowth really allows for weeds to "fill in" the plot. So if you are in an heavily grazed area or already have lots of weeds, I'd suggest red clover, or even alfalfa. Sainfoin will most likely disappoint if this is the case.
The niche for sainfoin is that it is a big draw for deer especially when everything else is dry, but this is also its downfall. If you have good moisture I would stick with clovers. If you do plant, make sure your soil is well drained and in good shape. Also make sure you get the newest variety "Delaney Sainfoin" as it’s supposed to be more of a double cut variety, but I have not planted that type personally.
Victor Van Meter
5 year old buck +
Found this through a search and am glad I did. I was considering giving it a try, but if it is difficult to get started, I think I will stick with more traditional options.
VV
VV
