Old clover plot sprayed- feeling regret

[Garrett S]

Had a 6-7yo mixed variety clover plot that I maintained with cleth for the last few years. Had a bunch of broadleaf competition- even some woody early successional shrubs. I will keep the story short and say I couldn’t get a mower there often and had weedwhacked the whole acre and a half a few times- and it sucks. Decided today to nuke it and hit it w
3 qts gly but I kept looking at it as I drove through and admiring the wild flowers…..tried to focus on the poison ivy pockets and bromegrass as a distraction but I feel like I really screwed up. The plan was to start over with a fall regen style mix to burn up some of the excess nitrogen and freshen the soil, palatability and fall deer draw. Maybe I am just a softie and can’t kill anything (other than deer) anymore… struggle with cutting garbage shrubs and trees too.

Thoughts on old clover plots? How it suck’s to nuke healthy plants? Or that I’m an idiot? Lol

 

[Hoytvectrix]

The oldest food plot that we have on our property is an old clover plot that has been slowly getting taken over by perennial grasses and other broadleaf plants. What was once a central hub of activity from bucks to dose with their fawns has now turned into an area of avoidance. We have other food plots within 50 yards that are a fraction of the size but get 10 times the amount of deee activity through them.

I would love to see what others think about this, But I have a pet theory that old clover plots just aren't as appealing to deer if they have the other options available. This has happened a few times on our property and I only recently made the realization. This fall I'm going to kill off the old cloverplot and plant brassicas and eventually winter rye. I'm not quite sure yet when I'm going to do with it for next summer, But I might just put it back into clover. It seems like the peak browse pressure for cloverplots happens within the first two or three years and then it slowly tapers off. Has anyone else seen this?

 

[SD51555]

My feelings on keeping clover going is that you've got to keep the carbon sky high in it. That's what those encroaching grasses are doing, they are raising your carbon. Problem is, you're getting carbon from grasses that don't play nicely with a high clover objective. That's where the rye comes in. If you can get that solid stand of rye, it will pump tons of carbon in per acre and feed the clover. It'll starve out the grasses, and then finish up and get out of the way right when you want it to (in the northern half of the country at least). Where your clover is getting weak, I'd try a shot of gypsum around 300 lbs/ac, and chuck a hot rate of rye in there, and mow it down. I'd do that 4-6 weeks before first frost.

I don't know if that will snap it out of it, but that's what I'd try before wiping the slate and starting fresh.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

My feelings on keeping clover going is that you've got to keep the carbon sky high in it. That's what those encroaching grasses are doing, they are raising your carbon. Problem is, you're getting carbon from grasses that don't play nicely with a high clover objective. That's where the rye comes in. If you can get that solid stand of rye, it will pump tons of carbon in per acre and feed the clover. It'll starve out the grasses, and then finish up and get out of the way right when you want it to (in the northern half of the country at least). Where your clover is getting weak, I'd try a shot of gypsum around 300 lbs/ac, and chuck a hot rate of rye in there, and mow it down. I'd do that 4-6 weeks before first frost.

I don't know if that will snap it out of it, but that's what I'd try before wiping the slate and starting fresh.

That's a very interesting thought. I'll give that a try in at least a few strips.

I think that might explain it from a clover-grass competition standpoint. I'm curious about the forage quality, though. I think I might submit a couple samples to Dairyland Labs for a forage analysis to compare the young and old clover.

 

[Bill]

I had a field like that. I drilled beans into it last week and as I was driving around spraying it I didn’t notice the grass. I was thinking man there is still a lot clover in here….
To late now, it’s crispy. After the beans I’ll fall plant rye and clover and start the cycle over.

 

[Wild Thing]

Had a 6-7yo mixed variety clover plot that I maintained with cleth for the last few years. Had a bunch of broadleaf competition- even some woody early successional shrubs. I will keep the story short and say I couldn’t get a mower there often and had weedwhacked the whole acre and a half a few times- and it sucks. Decided today to nuke it and hit it w
3 qts gly but I kept looking at it as I drove through and admiring the wild flowers…..tried to focus on the poison ivy pockets and bromegrass as a distraction but I feel like I really screwed up. The plan was to start over with a fall regen style mix to burn up some of the excess nitrogen and freshen the soil, palatability and fall deer draw. Maybe I am just a softie and can’t kill anything (other than deer) anymore… struggle with cutting garbage shrubs and trees too.

Thoughts on old clover plots? How it suck’s to nuke healthy plants? Or that I’m an idiot? Lol

Wow! 3 Qt/Acre of Gly! I don't think I have ever applied more than 2 Qt/Acre. Just sprayed some cover crops last week that were really thick with clovers. I applied 1.5 Qt/Acre Gly and 1 Pint/Acre 2-4,D. Hope that will do the trick. Let us know how the 3 Qt cocktail worked out for killing all the clovers.

 

[35-acre]

I regret having killed off my 2-3 year old clover stand. I'm still trying to get it going again a year and a half later.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

I think to some extent the more predators your deer have to deal with.....the more leery they become about feeding in thick plots and prefer the more open field setting so that they can still see their surrounding while their head is down. If you notice, nervous deer dont keep their head down long

 

[bigboreblr]

I think the deer like young tender clover. Keeping it mowed hurt self reseeding, but the deer take more interest in it after I mow it.

Deer seem to enjoy a fallow field much more after it is mowed and starts growing fresh shoots.

 

[omicron1792]

Guy out of Miss state publishing on mineral stumps. Will cut small trees down and let the new shoots come out of it. The deer hammer them and when he tested them the new sprouts had 5 times the minerals and nutrients in them as a regular full grown tree (and obviously lower to ground so deer can eat).

I bet same principle applies to older field. Plants are In a stable mode and not really stressed or growing, and their nutrient levels are down. Deer can sense that and prefer eating newer growth that is higher in those levels.

Just my guess.

 

[Wild Thing]

I think the deer like young tender clover. Keeping it mowed hurt self reseeding, but the deer take more interest in it after I mow it.

Deer seem to enjoy a fallow field much more after it is mowed and starts growing fresh shoots.

Guy out of Miss state publishing on mineral stumps. Will cut small trees down and let the new shoots come out of it. The deer hammer them and when he tested them the new sprouts had 5 times the minerals and nutrients in them as a regular full grown tree (and obviously lower to ground so deer can eat).

I bet same principle applies to older field. Plants are In a stable mode and not really stressed or growing, and their nutrient levels are down. Deer can sense that and prefer eating newer growth that is higher in those levels.

Just my guess.

We all believed for many years that mowing your clover freshened it up and provided better nutrients for more deer attraction. That myth has been pretty well debunked through university studies in recent years. All mowing actually does is remove forage which might otherwise be available. Still...if you like mowing and like the looks of mowed clover, have at it. Around here I could never run out of clover - it just grows back too fast to hardly notice any browse pressure.

 

[SD51555]

We all believed for many years that mowing your clover freshened it up and provided better nutrients for more deer attraction. That myth has been pretty well debunked through university studies in recent years. All mowing actually does is remove forage which might otherwise be available. Still...if you like mowing and like the looks of mowed clover, have at it. Around here I could never run out of clover - it just grows back too fast to hardly notice any browse pressure.

That's pretty much what I see at my place. During the summer and through september, there is so much other and better food to be had, my clover isn't touched much until the native browse gets zapped by frost. I've gotten my clover mowing down to just once in early August. That timing up by me seems to be very good for knocking out breakthrough grasses for the rest of the year.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

We all believed for many years that mowing your clover freshened it up and provided better nutrients for more deer attraction. That myth has been pretty well debunked through university studies in recent years. All mowing actually does is remove forage which might otherwise be available. Still...if you like mowing and like the looks of mowed clover, have at it. Around here I could never run out of clover - it just grows back too fast to hardly notice any browse pressure.

Couldn't this be tested by mowing a part of an older clover field and seeing which side - mowed or un-mowed - gets the most traffic?? I have no idea whether mowed or un-mowed is better for nutrients / deer attraction.

 

[SwampCat]

This is why I like clover - and specifically a heat/summer persistent variety like durana or patriot. And no, you dont have to keep the plot sprayed and nice and pretty with only clover in the plot. The deer will find it down under the weeds. That johnson grass in the foreground needs to go - because it can take over. I will bush hog if the "weeds" get two foot tall as they will start to shade out the clover. Some shading of the clover will actually allow it to persist longer in the heat of the summer. I am a firm believer in keeping as many bucks on your property all year. High protein, easy feeding food sources will attract bucks in the summer - which I believe are largely lazy during the summer. I dont think they like to roam around much when it is 95 degrees. When they find a good food source, they tend to stick. I used to plant soybeans - but as I grew my deer population, and hogs became more numerous - my soybeans would not make it past ankle high - even five acre plots. I started trying various other summer plantings - and stuck on clover. Best thing that ever happened to me. Clover is cheap and easy compared to beans. A plot in this condition could be overseeded with wheat in Oct - either just with a spreader, a food plot seeder, or drill - and comeback a day or two later and clip with a bush hog. That top pic was taken five years ago - fifteen bucks in that picture.. The plot is nearing need for a bush hogging. That knee high vegetation all over the plot is marsh elder - it gets six feet tall and will ruin a plot - and my deer will not browse it all all. The bottom plot is today. Not many weeds yet. But it is early. All my plots have experienced an influx of annual ryegrass over the pass three years. I dont feel it benefits the plots - but I am not sure at this point, I could every get rid of it. The annual ryegrass seems to set the clover back - until the ryegrass dies out and falls down, then the clover starts coming on. I have a corn feeder on the back side of this plot with a texting camera for hog hunting and coon trapping. There may be five or six deer in this plot at one time - off and on through the day - and maybe one or two of them will walk over to the corn feeder. Deer will often leave a corn feeder for acorns. I take it as a good sign that deer would rather feed on clover than corn.

 

[Nightvision]

I like my clover plots clean. Spotless even. I lease my land and have a limited amount of acres that I can plant and I want them all producing the maximum that they can.

It’s not needed as far as the deer are concerned but helps on tonnage per acre.

And it’s purty!!! Lol

 

[SwampCat]

I like my clover plots clean. Spotless even. I lease my land and have a limited amount of acres that I can plant and I want them all producing the maximum that they can.

It’s not needed as far as the deer are concerned but helps on tonnage per acre.

And it’s purty!!! Lol

I used to keep mine clean, but I am getting lazy in my old age. On my home 300 acres, I have about 20 acres of clover in eight food plots. I used to keep them clean, but found out on my ground, they tend to burn up quicker in summer if there is not some shading. In addition, over half my plots cant be reasonably accessed until mid summer due to mud and water. As you can see in the first pic - I think keeping a plot “purty” is more important to the land manager than the deer. My deer dont eat my clover to oblivion - but drought will sure knock it down to a crisp, brown, crust.

 

[Barndog56]

Too late now but next time you could spray 2-4d,b instead of gly. That'll kill all the broad-leaves, shrubs, and small trees but leave your clover intact.

 

[Buckly]

Had a 6-7yo mixed variety clover plot that I maintained with cleth for the last few years. Had a bunch of broadleaf competition- even some woody early successional shrubs. I will keep the story short and say I couldn’t get a mower there often and had weedwhacked the whole acre and a half a few times- and it sucks. Decided today to nuke it and hit it w
3 qts gly but I kept looking at it as I drove through and admiring the wild flowers…..tried to focus on the poison ivy pockets and bromegrass as a distraction but I feel like I really screwed up. The plan was to start over with a fall regen style mix to burn up some of the excess nitrogen and freshen the soil, palatability and fall deer draw. Maybe I am just a softie and can’t kill anything (other than deer) anymore… struggle with cutting garbage shrubs and trees too.

Thoughts on old clover plots? How it suck’s to nuke healthy plants? Or that I’m an idiot? Lol

I’ve sprayed 4 qts Gly and also 2-4D on well established clover plots and then tilled them under. If left alone you will have clover back there in a year or less. Can’t kill off established clover very easy. As a. Side note I think I’ve spent way more money and time creating access to food plots to get equipment in there than on the plots themselves. Plan the work and work the plan. Lol.

 

[bigboreblr]

2,4d and 2,4db are way different to clover. 2,4d kills clover, 2,4db was made for alfalfa fields, but works well on keeping clover pots in good shape.

2,4d and gly works together to kill everything in field. Especially if you got broadleaf problems. You should wait 2 weeks after spraying 2,4d. It has residual effects on seedlings.


A big difference in my food plotting success is keeping the edges brushy. Dont hit every inch you can with the sprayer or mower. So.edays the deer e joy the grape leaves growing in the brush...

I've learned a few things about palatibility from my father in laws goat. He loved grape leaves and apple tree bark.

 

[SwampCat]

2,4d and 2,4db are way different to clover. 2,4d kills clover, 2,4db was made for alfalfa fields, but works well on keeping clover pots in good shape.

2,4d and gly works together to kill everything in field. Especially if you got broadleaf problems. You should wait 2 weeks after spraying 2,4d. It has residual effects on seedlings.


A big difference in my food plotting success is keeping the edges brushy. Dont hit every inch you can with the sprayer or mower. So.edays the deer e joy the grape leaves growing in the brush...

I've learned a few things about palatibility from my father in laws goat. He loved grape leaves and apple tree bark.

I love to read what works around the country and see the differences. My deer wont hardly touch grape. They did sample a few leaves on my tame muscadines - and never touched them again. I see no browsing on wild muscadines. My deer did not even eat apples laying on the ground under my two producing apple trees last year. They laid there and rotted. The hogs wouldnt even eat them. I feel sure in a few years they will catch on.