No-til beans or milo into frost seeded clover?

[Bassattackr]

A thread on another site got me thinking.. In order to beat the weeds from taking over soybeans, has anyone:

1) Tilled/disced in winter and frost seeded clover
2) mowed clover short (ish) before planting
3) No tilled beans into the clover plot?

Wondering if this would be a good option for weed control in soybeans?? Perhaps have a "built-in" green and grain plot come fall.

Also thinking how WGF Milo / sunflowers / cowpeas would do in this same scenario.. Maybe this option is better than soybeans as they'll shade out the clover quicker/eventually. Bonus you get the N use..

Potential issues:

- Not being able to disc in fertilizer for milo/sunflower area. Broadcast before rain should fix..
- Not being able to mow the clover after the beans are planted.

If an epic failure, I guess I could always disc it in the fall and establish the traditional clover/cereal/brassica plot.

On a no herbicide farm otherwise I would just disc/plant in June and torch with gly as weeds come up.

 

[yoderjac]

Legume on legume may not be the best choice. I have seen perennial clover used for weed control in corn. The clover was well established (more than a year old). They mowed he clover in the spring to about 6". They then rigged up a sprayer with nozzles right over the corn rows on he planter. So, the gly just suppressed a 4"-6" row where the corn was planted. The corn germinated and got above the clover strips before it rebounded from the root system. The previous years of clover provided N for the corn. The blanket of clover kept weeds from infiltrating the corn. It was a significant reduction in the amount of gly needed at planting time and there was no follow-up spraying. In fact the corn was not RR.

I never disk in fertilizer, in fact have not used commercial fertilizer for over 4 years now by minimizing tillage and reestablishing soil health and better nutrient cycling. I presume you are talking about annual cover if you are frost seeding. I'm not sure how well this would work with annual clover.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[buckdeer1]

Most likely unless it stayed very cold after planting soybeans that early they would rot if the ground got very wet

 

[Bill]

I have often thought about making my own spray rig that would sit on the drill. Spray nozzles very close to the ground off the press wheel so it only sprays a few inches wide. Drill beans and spray the clover in one pass.

it’s just a thought rattling around. But some day if I get time......

 

[yoderjac]

I have often thought about making my own spray rig that would sit on the drill. Spray nozzles very close to the ground off the press wheel so it only sprays a few inches wide. Drill beans and spray the clover in one pass.

it’s just a thought rattling around. But some day if I get time......

That's what I described. I saw a video of it years ago somewhere. I think i is a great approach, but I like the idea of using a non-legume in the clover.

 

[davidhelmly]

I have often thought about making my own spray rig that would sit on the drill. Spray nozzles very close to the ground off the press wheel so it only sprays a few inches wide. Drill beans and spray the clover in one pass.

it’s just a thought rattling around. But some day if I get time......

I like that idea!