undersowing clover / gras

I want to add spring cereals and grass-seed to my rotation for building fertility and want to undersow one spring cereal with clover with the aim to graze with sheep in autumn/winter and as a good break and forecrop for the next spring cereal undersown with the grass for the next two years grass-seed crop, also grazed in autumn/winter with sheep.

- which clovers to use for that purpose or what else to mix with any clovers ? Seedrates ?
- which spring cereals to use for undersowing ?

For spring cereals it would be oats and barley in my choice as wheat needs too early drilling when it is usually too wet here. Would there be any preference what to undersow under oats or barley better ??
 
Thought that already.....
But I like growing some oats, am I right in thinking that the undersown grass would be better with less light under the oats than clover would do ??
So undersowing barley with clover, graze the clover and drill oats next spring undersown with grass !?
 
We had a very dry spring here - barley drilled early April and grass/red clover sown on top 2 days after. No rain for weeks resulted in the barley (sown at a low seed rate of 70kg/ha) doing very well but a very poor grass/clover establishment - when the grass /clover did get going it was then smothered by the barley. We wholecropped and once the light got in the grass/clover has recovered a lot. Any other year I think it would have worked ok but ...
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
Oats likely to smother the undersown crop so I would go with barley.
We undersew all of our spring oats - have done for 15-16 years since being organic. Works very well, the oats yields 1.5-2t/acre organic, good crop of straw that needs 2 days to dry because of a little bit of ryegrass in it. And a ley ready to graze the day after.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
I'd go with a tetraploid white clover and maybe just ease up a fraction on your usual cereal seed rate.. tetraploids you'd be doing well to smother.
(But not a real upright dairy-type white or it will keep going up and up, and up, for the light.)
Here was a wholecrop (not for combining)
and the oats were dropped back by 10% triticale by the same amount- triticale smothered more than the oats due to height, probably- the clover in the oats was up with it by cutting.
That was a couple of upright type red clover strains. Hugely dense crop.
 

anthonybecvar

New Member
BASE UK Member
Location
East Sussex
I’m going to experiment with applying the clover to my wheat very soon whilst there’s still rain on the cards. I’ve heard of a clover dressing that absorbs water though. I’m going to apply it with our contractors avadex applicator as it can’t be broadcast more than about 10-12m and we run on 24m tramlines. I don’t fancy driving over the crop too much.
 

James999

Member
I’m going to experiment with applying the clover to my wheat very soon whilst there’s still rain on the cards. I’ve heard of a clover dressing that absorbs water though. I’m going to apply it with our contractors avadex applicator as it can’t be broadcast more than about 10-12m and we run on 24m tramlines. I don’t fancy driving over the crop too much.
Did you ever give this a go? If so what kinda time did you broadcast the clover? Be interested in you’re results as it’s something I am wanting to try
 
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