How to establish clover from scratch?

[Uk0724]

New here but been lurking for years. I’m mostly a corn / sunflower (dove field) guy but have decided that corn is too much trouble with input prices, field prep, pre emerge, planting and then post emerge.

So I’d like to turn my 3 acre cornfield that I usually leave standing into a clover field.

What steps would you take? Right now the field is prepped and ready for corn, but I’d rather go another route. I need to wait until fall for the atrazine to wear off.

Right now from searching I’ve gathered that it needs a nurse crop. I have not found consistent answers on when to plant the actual clover.

I’ll be using a GP 606NT drill. Do I drill cereal rye this fall and clover this spring into the cereal rye or can I do them both this fall? Soil PH is 6.4 and had all fertilizer applied to get a corn crop going.

Location is far Western Kentucky

 

[Bill]

You can plant them both this fall.
The problem with trying to plant them at the same time is seed depth. I tried last fall and must have gotten my clover too deep. Zero clover but the rye was fine.

The problem with planting them separately is once you have a set of drill lines in the ground it’s hard to plant a second time and follow your lines.

This fall I may drill the rye and broadcast the clover.

 

[TreeDaddy]

You can plant them both this fall.
The problem with trying to plant them at the same time is seed depth. I tried last fall and must have gotten my clover too deep. Zero clover but the rye was fine.

The problem with planting them separately is once you have a set of drill lines in the ground it’s hard to plant a second time and follow your lines.

This fall I may drill the rye and broadcast the clover.

I must have done the same because I got minimal clover

I drilled both together in a mix in the large seed box

Did you use the small seed box for the clover ? Would that have been a better method?

bill

 

[Bill]

I must have done the same because I got minimal clover

I drilled both together in a mix in the large seed box

Did you use the small seed box for the clover ? Would that have been a better method?

bill

I used separate boxes.

 

[farmlegend]

You can get differing opjnions on this, everyone has different dirt and conditions.

I’ve been growing clover plots for 25 seasons now, and the most effective, foolproof method for me at my southern Michigan farm is to plant winter wheat, on the heavy side, around Labor Day. Follow up with frostseeding the following March. Allow the wheat to ripen, cast its seed, then mow it with the mower set sort of high in August. It has worked wonderfully for me.

 

[SD51555]

The bigger question is how do you want to manage it? White clover is awesome for forage, but it doesn't play well with other forages once it's got a foothold. I've become a big fan of yellow sweet clover, balansa clover, and red clover. Those all give you a window to replant anything else in late summer. That blend coupled with a winter cereal, and chicory and plantain is a rock solid blend for all-season attraction in the fall. But you also have to learn how to farm in heavy residue with that blend.

If you've got the drill, there are some that have had luck drilling into white clover, but i don't know enough about that to tell you how they did it.

 

[bigboreblr]

You got both seed boxes? IF your fertilizer levels are high, you might be fighting weeds.

You could plant corn, then in 3 weeks or so spread clover seed. Im a bit surprised nobody is into that here. You spray roundup while growing corn.

Clover alone is a good bit of work. Clover balanced with small grains is less work.

Buckwheat or peas now, then do clover and grains in the fall.

No ideal way to do it, several good ones.

You get droughts there often? might look into a drought resistant summer crops, then go for a fall season crop.

Wheat is nice. cowpeas are one I want to try someday.

What is your local food source competition in the area look like? Offering something the others don't is a very good option.


I think either doing corn and clover, or summer crop, then go with wheat and clover. Seed clover both in the fall / late summer and in the winter too.

Many years I have liked the fast / slow combo of medium red and ladino. Not muh luck with crimson clover up here in NY. However, southern folks like it alot.

IT is harder to ween a hunter off corn than it is deer........ Maybe clover combo most of the field and corn a corner. Make a nice strip on one side for your bow stand.

 

[Uk0724]

I think I’m going to try to do the cereal rye with clover at a higher rate drilled in the fall. The adjust by frost seeding in the spring based on what the clover did over the winter. My area is soybeans and corn. Farm is rotated between corn and soybeans. I’m looking for a clover patch I can spray occasionally and keep the weeds out and mow when needed. I’m tired of all the preparation for a corn plot.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I think I’m going to try to do the cereal rye with clover at a higher rate drilled in the fall. The adjust by frost seeding in the spring based on what the clover did over the winter. My area is soybeans and corn. Farm is rotated between corn and soybeans. I’m looking for a clover patch I can spray occasionally and keep the weeds out and mow when needed. I’m tired of all the preparation for a corn plot.

Our camp did away with corn too - for the costs & time involved - plus we have bears = waste of time. We now follow what the AG / farmer gents advised us on here, which is to plant a mix of clovers with grain (cereal) rye around Labor Day. Rye is the nurse crop until the clover gets established, which typically kicks into high gear the following spring. Then we mow the rye that same spring around June to release the clover to full sun. Provided your soil pH is good, this has worked well for us, with a fairly simple plan. Good luck with your plots!

 

[Uk0724]

Thanks everyone. I think this is the route I will go.

 

[omicron1792]

You can get differing opjnions on this, everyone has different dirt and conditions.

I’ve been growing clover plots for 25 seasons now, and the most effective, foolproof method for me at my southern Michigan farm is to plant winter wheat, on the heavy side, around Labor Day. Follow up with frostseeding the following March. Allow the wheat to ripen, cast its seed, then mow it with the mower set sort of high in August. It has worked wonderfully for me.

I like this. But hedge your bet. Plant clover in the fall with wheat (or rye). Then frost seed last snow also. I find with clover you can never plant too much, but can plant too little.

Also like seen in this thread, sometimes clover plantings in fall are a bust for one reason or another.

 

[matinc]

SD above you said you have to learn to farm in heavy residue. Can you expand on that? Ty

 

[bigboreblr]

No small seed box, not big deal. 3 acres with a solo 421 isn't bad chore. You could buy a 12v spreader and mix clover seed with sand, extra cereal grains, or some pelletized lime. I buy several bags and look for the bags with smaller pellets than the average bag.

Solo 421 has been by far the best hand spreader for clover I have ever used. Even IF I has a seed drill I would still have that solos 421 and a earthway 2750 bag seeder. Sometimes you get flooded spots, or sections that didnt make it for other reasons. Some folks like to put a 2nd doese of cereal grains, but delayed fr a few weeks. Deer like the younger stuff.

Spread the clover before running the drill. IF stuff is too high, then spread afterwards. Some folks cultipack the weeds / summer growth down, then drill in the same direction of the cultipacker. Can be easier on the equipment knocked down in the same direction vs pushing it down catching on drill parts.

 

[jsasker007]

I think you could drill them both at the depth you would use for clover and be alright. I usually just broadcast rye and it does fine. jmo