Which clover/legume is fastest establishing after harvest?

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
Looking to dd clover or similar into wheat stubbles to be my overwinter covers, may add some cheap grass seed if there's any available to give variety. Will any establish fast enough to be useful? Or is it a waste of effort? I graze them normally too. Some will be terminated early march, some early april.
 

Kevtherev

Member
Location
Welshpool Powys
Depends when you drill them you may find something like mustard cheaper than clover as a cover crop.
Lots of different options I have seen phacelia and red clover used as an overwinter green manure.
 

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
Vetch is probably your best bet legumewise. 5 to 10 kg per ha in with a few other species. The earlier you sow, the better it will do. Literally every day counts in August and I would hesitate to drill anything apart from spring beans after the first week in September.
 

Wombat

Member
BASIS
Location
East yorks
Vetch is probably your best bet legumewise. 5 to 10 kg per ha in with a few other species. The earlier you sow, the better it will do. Literally every day counts in August and I would hesitate to drill anything apart from spring beans after the first week in September.
Would agree, my vetch drilled first week of sept with oats as a cover was rubbish plus the slugs ate it. The issue we have is the wheat being fit to combine before the last week of august
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
so none of these clovers grow enough to be worthwhile? The legume is obviously to fix a bit of N. To be honest I did add some berseem to a cover mix a couple years ago, and vetch, hardly saw any of it grow. Perhaps it'll be as well to stick stubble turnips in to graze and have the muck from the sheep then.
 

jack6480

Member
Location
Staffs
so none of these clovers grow enough to be worthwhile? The legume is obviously to fix a bit of N. To be honest I did add some berseem to a cover mix a couple years ago, and vetch, hardly saw any of it grow. Perhaps it'll be as well to stick stubble turnips in to graze and have the muck from the sheep then.
Best way or undersow a crop
 

Wombat

Member
BASIS
Location
East yorks
so none of these clovers grow enough to be worthwhile? The legume is obviously to fix a bit of N. To be honest I did add some berseem to a cover mix a couple years ago, and vetch, hardly saw any of it grow. Perhaps it'll be as well to stick stubble turnips in to graze and have the muck from the sheep then.
I would think that’s a real option, also what’s seed cost £10 a ha for stubble turnips vs £50+ for a mix
 

Grass And Grain

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Yorks
How about broadcasting clover seed in the standing crop, before a rain. Although would need a boom spreader?

Otherwise vetch. But only if established immediately after w barley harvest, and then it won't have come to much by beginning of March. Depends of course if you're in Newcastle or Newquay!
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Clover doesn’t get big enough to withstand frost if drilled after winter wheat here.
Could you broadcast the clover seed into the wheat in spring and scratch it in with a grass Harrow/tined weeder? Only problem I can see with that is clover hates DFF herbicide, Ally etc.
Clover needs to be sown in spring in our experience.
 

Bogweevil

Member
Crimson clover, bigger seeds than other clovers, makes strong plants sown in August IF you can find moisture which you often cannot in the south where it grows best being of questionable hardiness further north. Does not compete that well with weeds so clean ground important

Plants go dormant over winter but take off in April and start fixing nitrogen. Grazing value plummets when flowers form in early summer but most excellent for biodiversity when in flower, bugs love it. Good entry for June sown crops such as kale or pumpkins, but not much nitrogen fixed by time maize must go in. Modest value for March sown crops.

Could mix it with IRG I suppose, never seen it done though.
 

Kevtherev

Member
Location
Welshpool Powys
Always found the speed of establishment and plant size of clover disappointing in the first autumn. I’ve now dropped it from cover crops but have increased the amount of vetch.
Clover can take time to get going depends a lot when it was sown and soil temps it also doesn’t like being sown too deep.
 

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