Crimson Clover Management

[nxy]

I have some pure Crimson Clover this year, what's the right time to cut it if I want it to regrow rather than take one big cut and plough it up?
If I look really hard I can find flowers just emerging on it.
I have some fields mixed with winter vetch that we will take one big cut off but would like the pure clover to provide a second cut if possible.
Also If I cut it pre flowering will it be OK for baled silage as there is not a hope of making hay at the moment even here. (I'm in France)

 

[JD-Kid]

would need to wilt well to rase up sugar levels
have grown it here for grazing and it did regrow
I would be guessing under 10% flowering would be ok. pre bud would make. very good hay but might be a tad wet for good silage

 

[Sid]

We put some in for bulk with vetch and understand grass.
Cut it for silage when half in flower

 

[Derrick Hughes]

If you want it to self seed yiu will have to wait for the seed to set about 4 weeks after flowering I expect

cutting during or just after flowering normally kills off the plant.

 

[Sid]

It's an annual not a perennial?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

It's an annual not a perennial?

Yes

Mowing after early bud stage will effectively terminate the clover

 

[nxy]

Thanks for that

It sounds like I had better put those fields on the top of the list to be cut then. I don't want it to set seed either, the fields will go back into cereals.

Its not something I have done before. We are experimenting with Crimson Clover, Forage Pea, Winter Vetch and Forage Oats both pure and in mixes as we are being "encouraged" by the system here to move away from ryegrass and bag nitrogen.

Plus I suspect not all the ryegrass seed we have bought in is resistance free which is worrying in an arable rotation.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I would think if your cutting now yiu could resow ,it germinates in 3 days if your not to dry

 

[Sid]

Yes

Mowing after early bud stage will effectively terminate the clover

I've seen barley come again after wholecroping.
Never say never

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I've seen barley come again after wholecroping.
Never say never [emoji6]

You can never say never in farming thats for sure
But if yiu don't want it in next years crop dont let it form seed or it will grow like weed . But quite easy to spray out if your not organic

 

[Sid]

You can never say never in farming thats for sure
But if yiu don't want it in next years crop dont let it form seed or it will grow like weed . But quite easy to spray out if your not organic

Nothing wrong with an under story to suppress weeds.
Quite easy to succumb to the got to be sterile and clean thought process

 

[nxy]

I would say its too late to plant any clover here. We have sown it in May in mixtures with Foxtail millet and Sorghum and it never really comes to much.

 

[Sid]

I would say its too late to plant any clover here. We have sown it in May in mixtures with Foxtail millet and Sorghum and it never really comes to much.

With a cover crop not an issue this late.

Gives it a micro climate

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I would say its too late to plant any clover here. We have sown it in May in mixtures with Foxtail millet and Sorghum and it never really comes to much.

Is that due to lack of moisture?

 

[nxy]

Is that due to lack of moisture?

Yes it might not rain at all. We generally reckon on feeding a third of our conserved forage in the summer. There might be no grass at all for two months some years.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Yes it might not rain at all. We generally reckon on feeding a third of our conserved forage in the summer. There might be no grass at all for two months some years.

Do you grow lucerne ?

 

[nxy]

Do you grow lucerne ?

Yes, for the first time this year. Our land is naturally very acid and even if the summers here may be hot and dry, the winters are cold and wet so its not a normal crop in this area. Having said that we are trying some on drained land which was limed both before and after deep cultivation last autumn. I hope it just needs time to establish because the clover has done much better. The lucerne seed plus inoculant costs nearly three times the price of crimson clover a hectare which is a factor!

 

[JD-Kid]

Yes, for the first time this year. Our land is naturally very acid and even if the summers here may be hot and dry, the winters are cold and wet so its not a normal crop in this area. Having said that we are trying some on drained land which was limed both before and after deep cultivation last autumn. I hope it just needs time to establish because the clover has done much better. The lucerne seed plus inoculant costs nearly three times the price of crimson clover a hectare which is a factor!

how acid
the cost of seed spread out over the life span of the lucerne and sowing costs etc will make it alot cheeper per year per ha if that makes sence.
for making silage from the clover to get the sugars in there. have you sown it with a 1 year ryegrass

 

[Matthew Britton]

You might need a bit of additive or some poured on mollasses to give you enough sugars for good fermentation. That’s one of the reasons clover is usually grown with grass.

 

[nxy]

how acid
the cost of seed spread out over the life span of the lucerne and sowing costs etc will make it alot cheeper per year per ha if that makes sence.
for making silage from the clover to get the sugars in there. have you sown it with a 1 year ryegrass

When I took on the place it was 4.5 to 5 pH. We have got it better but Lucerne in france is traditionally grown over chalk or limestone.

If i get three years out of the lucerne it will be a surprise.

The problem with mixes with ryegrass is that they are not eligible for area payments. Hence the forage oats.