Will running a cultipacker over clover hurt it?

[Derek Reese 29]

Hello everyone,
Just starting to get my orders in for fall planting and working on planning everything out. I have a few existing clover fields that are pretty good looking but starting to show some grass/weeds. My plan for fall seeding is to broadcast additional clover into the existing plot, then mow and cultipack. Will running the cultipacker through the newly mowed clover hurt it in any way? I think clover is pretty resilient but this is my first year having a cultipacker available (I am in the process of building one at the moment). Just wanted to be sure before I went with this plan.
Also, I have a few fields with buckwheat or an oat/buckwheat mixture that I plan to spray. Should I plant/mow/spray/pack or just plant, pack then spray? Still new to these grains and the fields I have are not that tall/thick.
I will be planting clover or brassicas into these BW/oat fields.
thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Tree Spud]

If you culitipack, it will push all OM down on top of broadcasted seeds screen ing them from light.

I would mow and then wait several weeks and broadcast then. A good rain will help with seed soil contact.

Ultimately the best time for broadcasting clover is late winter frost seeding.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

If you culitipack, it will push all OM down on top of broadcasted seeds screen ing them from light.

I would mow and then wait several weeks and broadcast then. A good rain will help with seed soil contact.

Ultimately the best time for broadcasting clover is late winter frost seeding.

I think I am more worried about getting good seed to soil contact, and in most of these fields the oats/BW and even just grasses are not more than a foot to a foot and a half tall (with a few bare spots), so I don't think shading will be too bad.
I definitely depend most on frost seeding but I want to give these fields a little boost in the fall too.
Also, I think the grass fields at least will be mowed at least once (possibly twice) prior to planting in early to mid August.
Thanks!

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

A seed only needs heat and moisture to germinate. I have run my crimper through clover/chicory plots. It does a halfway decent job of controlling some of the problem weeds but the chicory didn't like it. My chicory is now almost non existent. The clover responds well to it but it grows more laterally afterwards instead of vertically. (may be the reason for controlling some of the weeds) The competition from the clover may or may not be to much for the new planting. I would think that with a mid spring mowing next year it will release the new seeded clover and you should have a great plot.

 

[yoderjac]

Hello everyone,
Just starting to get my orders in for fall planting and working on planning everything out. I have a few existing clover fields that are pretty good looking but starting to show some grass/weeds. My plan for fall seeding is to broadcast additional clover into the existing plot, then mow and cultipack. Will running the cultipacker through the newly mowed clover hurt it in any way? I think clover is pretty resilient but this is my first year having a cultipacker available (I am in the process of building one at the moment). Just wanted to be sure before I went with this plan.
Also, I have a few fields with buckwheat or an oat/buckwheat mixture that I plan to spray. Should I plant/mow/spray/pack or just plant, pack then spray? Still new to these grains and the fields I have are not that tall/thick.
I will be planting clover or brassicas into these BW/oat fields.
thanks in advance for the help!

First, cultipacking won't hurt your clover at all. Keep in mind that mowing clover when it is in bloom can produce a lot of free seed for you. Most weeds in your clover field are assets, not liabilities. The grasses and weeds won't make the field any less attractive and often they will make it more attractive.

As for a fall plant following buckwheat, if you have a cultipacker, I would broadcast you seed and spray and then cultipack the next day. I would also consider a mix rather than a monoculture for fall. Mixing different type plants complement each other and keep the field attractive longer as each plant will peak at a different time. I would use a winter cereal grain like WR or WW for the grass component. An annual or biennial clover like medium red is a good choice for the legume component . Keep the brassica component seed rate down to no more than about 2 lbs/ac for small seeded brassica.

I'm presuming you are spraying with gly. Gly won't hut seed. The plant has to be green and actively growing for gly to impact it. That lets you broadcast and spray together. The reason I would wait a day to cultipack is to give the gly a chance to be absorbed. Most formulations of gly are rainfast in an hour or two. Also, depending on your cultipacker design, you may need to run it across a field you like. If it has picked up gly from running over a recently sprayed field, and then you run over another crop field, it ill distribute gly on that field. You have less worry of this with flip-over type cultipackers. I don't like to culitpack before I spray. Typically you get less even distribution of glyphosate and the dirt that gets on the plants is somewhat protective.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bassattackr]

Agree cultipacker would provide more benefit than harm if overseeding cereals into clover.

To Jack's point.. My recent game camera videos show the deer eating the dang weeds, not the clover in my plot. What an outrage.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

First, cultipacking won't hurt your clover at all. Keep in mind that mowing clover when it is in bloom can produce a lot of free seed for you. Most weeds in your clover field are assets, not liabilities. The grasses and weeds won't make the field any less attractive and often they will make it more attractive.

As for a fall plant following buckwheat, if you have a cultipacker, I would broadcast you seed and spray and then cultipack the next day. I would also consider a mix rather than a monoculture for fall. Mixing different type plants complement each other and keep the field attractive longer as each plant will peak at a different time. I would use a winter cereal grain like WR or WW for the grass component. An annual or biennial clover like medium red is a good choice for the legume component . Keep the brassica component seed rate down to no more than about 2 lbs/ac for small seeded brassica.

I'm presuming you are spraying with gly. Gly won't hut seed. The plant has to be green and actively growing for gly to impact it. That lets you broadcast and spray together. The reason I would wait a day to cultipack is to give the gly a chance to be absorbed. Most formulations of gly are rainfast in an hour or two. Also, depending on your cultipacker design, you may need to run it across a field you like. If it has picked up gly from running over a recently sprayed field, and then you run over another crop field, it ill distribute gly on that field. You have less worry of this with flip-over type cultipackers. I don't like to culitpack before I spray. Typically you get less even distribution of glyphosate and the dirt that gets on the plants is somewhat protective.

Thanks,

Jack

So just to make sure I am following: in the buckwheat/oat plot, there shouldn't be a need to mow, just spray, wait then pack after broadcasting?
I am planting some mammoth red and medium red clover, along with a few brassicas into the BW plot.
I had thought about the gly sticking to the cultipacker as well. I will be using it on fields that will not be sprayed.
Guess I could do all the non-spray fields on day then the sprayed fields the next.
Good call on that one.
Do you think a plant, pack, spray would work?..then I wouldnt have to worry about residual gly on the packer....

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Agree cultipacker would provide more benefit than harm if overseeding cereals into clover.

To Jack's point.. My recent game camera videos show the deer eating the dang weeds, not the clover in my plot. What an outrage.

I am often bewildered when I see the deer grazing in the high weeds NEXT TO THE FREAKING CLOVER PLOT.....
or the best one was this winter as I watched a doe stand on her hind legs to get to some pine tree limbs while she was not 50 yards from a still fairly lush clover field....
I understand that natural browse is best, but it is often out of range and that is just not convenient at all!

 

[yoderjac]

So just to make sure I am following: in the buckwheat/oat plot, there shouldn't be a need to mow, just spray, wait then pack after broadcasting?
I am planting some mammoth red and medium red clover, along with a few brassicas into the BW plot.
I had thought about the gly sticking to the cultipacker as well. I will be using it on fields that will not be sprayed.
Guess I could do all the non-spray fields on day then the sprayed fields the next.
Good call on that one.
Do you think a plant, pack, spray would work?..then I wouldnt have to worry about residual gly on the packer....

Correct, there is no need to mow if you are going to spray and cultipack. Cultipacking will put the buckwheat on the ground just like mowing. Just a little soil contact will help the buckwheat desiccate releasing nutrients it scavenged for the next crop. Buckwheat is a 30 to 60 day crop. You are not spraying to kill buckwheat. Spraying is to kill any weeds that may compete with your fall plant. Whether spraying is needed really depends on the state of the field.

If you simply spray one day and cultipack the next, you won't need to worry about residual gly on the cultipacker. On a nice day, you could even spray in the morning and cultipack in the afternoon. Keep in mind that residual gly on the cultipacker will be no more than on tractor or ATV tires if you drive through the field. In fact, I've driven through perennial clover fields after spraying gly on an nearby field. Six weeks later you can see my tracks as nice lush clover verses the rest of the field which is a mix of clover and summer grasses and weeds.

Keep in mind, none of this is rocket science and every place is a little different. You have the general process done good enough. Don't over think it. You will fine tune it over time to match your conditions.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

I am often bewildered when I see the deer grazing in the high weeds NEXT TO THE FREAKING CLOVER PLOT.....
or the best one was this winter as I watched a doe stand on her hind legs to get to some pine tree limbs while she was not 50 yards from a still fairly lush clover field....
I understand that natural browse is best, but it is often out of range and that is just not convenient at all!

No food is always best. The nutritional value of every plant changes over time as do the nutritional needs of deer. Recent studies show that deer even avoid plants with high concentrations of certain minerals that are generally abundant in the area. Also keep in mind that cover is a factor, especially when pressure increases during the season. Would you eat a hamburger from the restaurant next door or cross a super busy 6 lane highway on foot to get to a great stake house? You may cross that highway on occasion, especially when it isn't too busy, but when traffic is heavy, the risk is higher. In a nice lush clover plot a deer stands out and feels naked. Depending on the location of the plot in relation to other habitat, that may be a greater or lesser concern. A weedy clover plot has all the clover the deer can eat, along with some nutritious weeds, and the added structure the weeds provide make the deer feel more secure. Also keep in mind that deer are individuals and have individual preference variations.

Thanks,

Jack