Red Clover

[mghley]

I have inherited a field of grass which is 75% red clover which is in flower, 18 inches high with plenty of mature docks in .
Can’t really turn the sheep in and would have issues with affecting fertility of ewes.
Only option is to bale and wrap, how good a feed is clover and any tips on making, can you feed sheep mid ?

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Makes excellent silage, especially for late pregnancy in ewes as will help milk supply.

Treat very gently when making, otherwise you get quite a bit of leaf loss. Ted as little as possible and at low revs. But it is better for a reasonable wilt otherwise it will be soggy bales that go out of shape.

 

[sticky]

It will make terrific feed and will negate some hard feed. I have little experience but I believe you need to wrap it 6 or possibly 8 times to try and prevent the stalks puncturing the wrap.

 

[tinsheet]

Mow it wrap it, = rocket fuel

 

[ISCO]

Makes excellent silage, especially for late pregnancy in ewes as will help milk supply.

Treat very gently when making, otherwise you get quite a bit of leaf loss. Ted as little as possible and at low revs. But it is better for a reasonable wilt otherwise it will be soggy bales that go out of shape.

We

 

[ISCO]

We have grown it in past and will be planting more as rocket fuel for fattening lambs.
The problem we had was getting silage dry enough. Experts say don't Ted as lose leaf. I think the above is good advice and would ted lightly as if not you will get soggy bales.

We

 

[Bury the Trash]

It will make terrific feed and will negate some hard feed. I have little experience but I believe you need to wrap it 6 or possibly 8 times to try and prevent the stalks puncturing the wrap.

Yes and with the Added risk of a few dock stems straining the plastic .


Could be worth considering using an additive especially if there isnt much leafy grass in it as well.

Also if you want it to persist dont cut it too tight ie leave a relatively long stubble. That in itself can provide a problem if bales are wrapped in situ as when they get dropped they might punture the odd place , well so would the dock stubble aswell i guess.
Wrapping at the stack would be better in that situation.
Thats my experience with anyway, makes brilliant stuff for sheep if your careful.

 

[neilo]

I have inherited a field of grass which is 75% red clover which is in flower, 18 inches high with plenty of mature docks in .
Can’t really turn the sheep in and would have issues with affecting fertility of ewes.
Only option is to bale and wrap, how good a feed is clover and any tips on making, can you feed sheep mid ?View attachment 828454

Do you have any arable land to spread the resultant muck on, or will it be going onto grassland? Have a look at any dairy farm to see how we’ll dock seed spreads through silage & muck. A very efficient way of spreading them around, unless it goes onto cropping land.

Do you have any fattening lambs that can go on it? It’s rocket fuel feed for lambs, with the added advantage that the seeds would stay in the same field.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Yeah , just got to watch for pulpy kidney and

 

[davidroberts30]

leave a stubble 3 inches as the clover grows from the crown on the surface
the bales will be 17% protein silage without you even trying
just mow it and bale 2 days later

 

[Radio]

Would it be any good for store cattle ?

 

[Samcowman]

Rocket fuel for store cattle.

 

[ollie989898]

Dont worry about the dock seeds in it, most farms will have a seed bank loaded with it anyway.

You cut that now you may well get another cut before the season is out.

 

[harperfarmer]

We grow straight red clover to put in a TMR for store and finishing cattle rations. Tremendous crop imo. Routinely sitting around 18%CP, averaging 7-8 bales/acre per cut at around 40%DM. Will cut three times this season but four would definitely be possible now we know what it's capable of. We wouldn't normally let it get too strong into flowering as it can be quite stemmy at that stage and livestock will leave the tougher pieces if feeding in a ring feeder. Cattle look really well on it plus we sell excess into the local AD plant if we've made enough silage. We just wrap the same number of layers as normal grass silage as we have got the sharp stubble issues as we cut before it gets stemmy. It doesnt like excess wheelings as you'll see where the trailers have been for a week or two after cutting in the regrowth. We don't ted at all just mow in wide swaths leave for 48 hrs then rake into rows.

 

[ollie989898]

As above red clover doesnt like being cut low or being punished by wheelings- dont take tankers on it if its wet.

I am near convinced it loves all the P and K you can throw at it. On with the slurry.

 

[steveR]

As above red clover doesnt like being cut low or being punished by wheelings- dont take tankers on it if its wet.

I am near convinced it loves all the P and K you can throw at it. On with the slurry.

FYM? Heavy or light dressings??

 

[ollie989898]

FYM? Heavy or light dressings??

My concern would be picking it up in subsequent cuts. If it was friable and well rotted I would put it on at the end of the season but certainly not so thick you cant see the ground.

Perhaps an application put on the first dry day in March so it had time for the worms to sort it and the clover wont really wake up until later when the soil is warm anyway.

I have not seen anyone who is using FYM of any kind on red clover in a serious way, some experimentation is needed. I suppose technically you aren't supposed to put nitrogenous materials on legumes but zi have known people put bagged N on lucerne before.

 

[Agric]

My concern would be picking it up in subsequent cuts. If it was friable and well rotted I would put it on at the end of the season but certainly not so thick you cant see the ground.

Perhaps an application put on the first dry day in March so it had time for the worms to sort it and the clover wont really wake up until later when the soil is warm anyway.

I have not seen anyone who is using FYM of any kind on red clover in a serious way, some experimentation is needed. I suppose technically you aren't supposed to put nitrogenous materials on legumes but zi have known people put bagged N on lucerne before.

Using well rotten FYM as a top dressing after 1st and 2nd cut (organic beef and sheep so no slurry). Spread it fairly lightly straight after the crops being taken off and roll with a flat roll as soon as it dried enough not to pick up on the roller.
Mow second cut a bit higher and make sure the rake driver isn’t going too low and there’s non picked up on the swaths.

 

[steveR]

My concern would be picking it up in subsequent cuts. If it was friable and well rotted I would put it on at the end of the season but certainly not so thick you cant see the ground.

Perhaps an application put on the first dry day in March so it had time for the worms to sort it and the clover wont really wake up until later when the soil is warm anyway.

I have not seen anyone who is using FYM of any kind on red clover in a serious way, some experimentation is needed. I suppose technically you aren't supposed to put nitrogenous materials on legumes but zi have known people put bagged N on lucerne before.

I have some 18 month aged nicely stuff, that I was planning on lobbing on over winter, but if time allows, I'll get it on late October. I got caught out a few years ago with adressing that failed to break down as well as I had hoped and had some low level contamination in the first cut I was not happy about!

 

[steveR]

Using well rotten FYM as a top dressing after 1st and 2nd cut (organic beef and sheep so no slurry). Spread it fairly lightly straight after the crops being taken off and roll with a flat roll as soon as it dried enough not to pick up on the roller.
Mow second cut a bit higher and make sure the rake driver isn’t going too low and there’s non picked up on the swaths.

Must be WELL rotted to be top dressing in the season

Not sure I can get a 3" stubble as describd above by David... but I can see the need to keep it long, but I have moved that way with repeat cut silage anyway.