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market-farming - RE: [Market-farming] Winter sowing red clover

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  • From: "Rick Hopkins" <rdhopkins AT americanpasturage.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] Winter sowing red clover
  • Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 21:58:45 -0600

I have heard that you can feed the clover seed to the cattle and let them
spread it. I also heard a farmer tell how he sprinkled the seed on the
cow's backs when they came in for water and that during grazing the seed
would eventually come off and be spread in the pasture.

That aside, late January/February frost seeding works best in most
latitudes. Pasture that was not grazed or hayed late in the fall will
quickly overcome the clover as it begins to sprout. Late winter grazing of
winter stockpiled fescue will not set the fescue back enough to prevent it
from dominating the Spring growth period. For best establishment, the
fescue needs to be grazed in the fall and again in early Spring to keep the
root reserves low enough for the clover to take hold.

Rick H.

-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Marlin
Burkholder
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 6:10 PM
To: Market Farming
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Winter sowing red clover





> Does anyone have hints as to winter sowing of red clover into common
fescue?
> Should it be disced first or the fescue mowed down? SHould it be before a
rain,
> etc?

I've always heard that if you can, you should graze it hard with cattle in
late winter. Cattle like fescue during the winter and will do well on it if
there is a lot of accumilated growth. Discing or mowing fescue prior to
overseeding is not going to amount to much of you have much top growth.
Fescue has a massive root system that is tough to penetrate. You need to get
the grass removed as much as possible as this weakens the root system of the
fescue and gives the clover a competitive advantage to get established.
It's even justifiable to overstock the field for awhile in order to get the
grass grazed down good. If you sow the clover while the cattle are still in
the field, the cattle will tramp the seed into the ground and help it
furthur to get started. Later on you will want to take the cattle out for
awhile to give the clover a chance to establish, then follow by intensive
rotational grazing about once a month.

I seldom sow clover in my fields but I like to have my pastures grazed short
during the winter. I'm seeing that with winter pastures managed this way,
I'm seeing a fair amount of clover coming in naturally without overseeding.
Don't worry about overgrazing fescue. It is an aggressive grass which needs
to be grazed into the ground periodically in order to suppress it enough to
give other plant species a chance to get established.

Marlin Burkholder
VA

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