Hay Fed

[Stocker Steve]

The only things I have seen that are high for both N fixation and forge growth are peas and beans.

I have seen low germ with a small amount of beans in a drilled mix. I think there is a lot of cracking.

So lots of peas are an obvious choice in the north. I am going to upgrade to winter peas next year.

 

[BFE]

Frosty Berseem it is!
They have a 0/5 score on the vetch for grazing, and 1/5 for haying. Nuff said.

I love their rating scale and descriptions of the various crops. Super helpful resource.

Frosty is non bloating. I have a thread in grasses on it where I'll post pictures as things progress. Won't be any change until spring now, but I was pleased with the stand I got.

 

[Muletrack]

Odd mix with a huge amount of brassica. Check out the Smart Mix calculator on Green Cover Crop site.

I have started to double crop some annual forage acres. This year I press drilled my SS mix in mid June (too late due to drought) and then press drilled an oats and turnip mix into it after a fall rain in early September.

Still working on a NT drill but have found an old press drill and no tillage prep works OK as long as you go in after a rain.

Thanks. I will check out the Green Cover Crop site. This "odd" mix is just what my dealer (Chesak Seeds at Bismarck) is pushing. Your oats/turnip mix sounds better to me. I rent a JD 1590 from our county NRCS at $10/acre. Chesak calls this their Frost Tolerant Mix. http://chesakseedhouse.com/cover-crops/

 

[Stocker Steve]

Thanks. I will check out the Green Cover Crop site. This "odd" mix is just what my dealer (Chesak Seeds at Bismarck) is pushing. Your oats/turnip mix sounds better to me. I rent a JD 1590 from our county NRCS at $10/acre. Chesak calls this their Frost Tolerant Mix. http://chesakseedhouse.com/cover-crops/

Brassicas are cheap per seed and germinate fast and tolerate cold and look leafy,
but,
at the end of the day you have a watery salad bar that will not fix any N nor put on many pounds.

It's a goal thing.

 

[Muletrack]

Brassicas are cheap per seed and germinate fast and tolerate cold and look leafy,
but,
at the end of the day you have a watery salad bar that will not fix any N nor put on many pounds.

It's a goal thing.

No, they won't fix N, but won't they recover deep N?

 

[Stocker Steve]

No, they won't fix N, but won't they recover deep N?

Deeper roots recover deeper minerals. How much is not usually measured. A concern with a short season cc is how deep can roots go in 40 to 60 days?

There is some research being done in the rich rainy part of the US (east coast), pulling samples down to 6' for various practices, with a goal of cleaner recreational waters due to less leaching. Here they are trying short season fall cc to prevent corn field N from going deep.

If you are serious, I would get some "deep" soil samples, before I bought any seed. Soil pits can be fun.

 

[ClinchValley86]

Deeper roots recover deeper minerals. How much is not usually measured. A concern with a short season cc is how deep can roots go in 40 to 60 days?

There is some research being done in the rich rainy part of the US (east coast), pulling samples down to 6' for various practices, with a goal of cleaner recreational waters due to less leaching. Here they are trying short season fall cc to prevent corn field N from going deep.

If you are serious, I would get some "deep" soil samples, before I bought any seed. Soil pits can be fun.

Very solid advice there I feel like. As usual.