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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: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 21:39:38 -0600

Mowing will have the same effect on the roots as grazing, but the residue
the mower leaves makes it more difficult for the clover to sprout. Disking
will help.

Rick H.

-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of William
Dellinger
Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 9:05 AM
To: Market Farming
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Winter sowing red clover


I'm not grazing the clover, at all. Will severe mowing both now and in early
spring set it back enough? I plan to disc it as well.

Rick Hopkins wrote:

> 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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