Planting rye and clover...

[pdfangus]

some things I have learned
people love excuses for recreational tractor driving.
tillage kills the life in the soil.....
exposing soil to sunlight kills micobiological life....
discing destroys the surface layer and just adds to compaction below which the roots have to struggle to break thru.
no till drilling is a very good way to plant cover crops....broadcasting before a rain is a good way too....especially for the species you named.
crab grass and bermuda grass can thrive if they have water and nutrients....

 

[Lucky_P]

Agree with pdfangus - 'specially on the ryegrass & clover. wouldn't disc. sure, you could drill it in, but I've seen and had way too much success just broadcasting ryegrass/clover, letting the cows tread it in, and off we go. Now, the cereal rye may or may not catch quite as well - but if you graze it hard, with plenty of hoof pressure, you might get a good stand.
Will be overseeding some of my thinnest mixed-grass (mostly fescue/OG) paddocks with annual ryegrass just ahead of the herd as they make their last pass around the farm before we pull 'em in for winter feeding & breeding.

 

[Banjo]

I'm not the fan of annual ryegrass that I used to be. Sure it makes good grazing IF you get a good stand. If you get too good a stand then your gonna have a lot of nothing when it peters out come summer. Work towards cool season perenials like Persist OG which will come in almost as early as ryegrass in the spring and do pretty well in the summer.

 

[pdfangus]

Thanks for the assistance fellas!! It is much appreciated. pdfangus, I am totally with you about my soil...or lack of soil lol. I am working very hard to improve it and am glad to hear that tilling, even light tilling is bad for it...fuel costs are high as well. lucky, I would love to broadcast the seed and allow the the cows to tread it in...but I am not sure I have the number of animals to do a good job...I am also not comfortable just broadcasting...I am worried I won't get a good stand for the winter...ugh!! I guess I am just learning so I have to take my lumps as I go. I guess if I can find someone to drill for me I will go that route...otherwise I will just broadcast. BTW...how long after you broadcast seed do you let the cows tread it in??? Oh yea, Banjo...maybe I should simply use the cereal rye and clover?

Tim

since I don't have many cows now....cow planting is not effective for me....I plant my paddocks post grazing....I broadcast and then either bushog or aerate or both.....that has worked well even on the summer cover crops that have to have some soil to seed contact....
putting biomass back on the soil is the best way to build the soil. the biomass feeds the life in the soil. this year with plenty of rain we have put a lot of biomass on the soil....

Back in the day I hated to waste grass and would keep stock on it far too long to make them eat it.....that was the wrong thing to do....while I don't love to bushog I bushog much more now to break up the biomass and keep the stand growing...

 

[TexasShooter]

Can anyone answer...
Will broadcasting (like mentioned above) give enough stand to bale in the spring? If so, how many bales (approximately) per acre if unfertilized and sufficient rainfall?
How many bales (approximately) per acre if fertilized and sufficient rainfall?

Thanks for replies in advance.

 

[Banjo]

BTW...how long after you broadcast seed do you let the cows tread it in??? Oh yea, Banjo...maybe I should simply use the cereal rye and clover?
Like .....as soon as possible. You have to be your own judge but I would be more comfortable with sowing and tromping in the Cereal rye than any other especially if you time it with expecting rainfall. The CR will be more vigorous than the ryegrass. The ryegrass doesn't like much competition, that's why grass needs to be grazed real short for it to work. I overseeded some ryegrass last fall and it didn't do nothing, mainly because my other grasses were too big. I don't want my cool season grasses too short this time of year......we only have about 90 days of good grass growing left till it starts to slow down.