Market Farming

["David Guthrie" <dguthrie AT egyptian.net>]

Hi Paul:

The problem with fall planted rye in our area is how quickly it takes off in
the spring and if you therefore want a clover crop you still have rye
involved.  I suppose clipping is the answer if the rye is that much higher
than the clover.  I like the typical midwest (where I am) rotation of winter
wheat planted Oct. 10 so that a good stand will occur without becoming too
tall for overwintering.  The ground is prepared by a lot of disking till a
weedfree seedbed is established.  Then, in Feb or March I broadcast my red
clover or other clovers into the green wheat.  It's a challenge to find a
day that the field is dry enough to not track up.  So, one could sow the
clover on frozen ground into the green early spring wheat crop.  Then, the
freeze/thaw cycle absorbs the clover into the ground.  We even hope for a
late snow to cover the clover seed, which has the action of driving the seed
into the ground as it melts.  The wheat can either be harvested in June/July
or clipped before it forms a seed head.  The resultant stubble acts as mulch
for the clover crop which comes on like gangbusters after dispatching the
wheat.  Weather plays a role in this procedure though.  I let 20 acres of
this kind of wheat/clover go to seed after harvesting the wheat this year.
It kept out most of the foxtail etc.  Paul, remember Falkner's claim that
repeated disking in of cover crops and re-establishment of same dramatically
helps rid the field of weeds over 2-5 year period?  That's what I'm doing
with cover crops and clovers.  I'm just letting an occasional clover crop go
to seed in the fall.  Oats would be a good substitute for wheat since it
dies off in the winter and you're essentially sowing clover in an oat
stubble mat in Feb. when you frost seed.  One problem is that the better and
cleaner fall the cover crop you use the better clover crop you'll have in
the spring.  That's one I'm working on.

David Guthrie
dguthrie AT egyptian.net




----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul A. Bock" <bockpa AT plesh.com>
To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 12:58 PM
Subject: [Market-farming] frost-seeding


> Hello Everyone,
>   Can someone help me understand frost-seeding?  I am guessing that you
> simply cast seed on frost-heaved ground and that the seed finds its way
into
> the ground as the frost melts.  But where I live we get say 3-4 feet of
snow
> on the ground most of the winter.  Should I cast the seed onto the snow?
> Will a warm day with a melting top side give enough water to germinate the
> seed when it is still above the soil?  Specifically, I would like to
> frost-seed red clover seed into fall planted rye.  Should I plant the
clover
> before or after the snow instead?
>
> -Paul Bock
> Stone Gully
>
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