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Post by kooch on May 3, 2019 13:18:30 GMT -6
That's sounds like a smart strategy. If the deer don't keep it mowed how tall will you let it go before you Mow?
I planted regular Berseem a number of years ago as a nitrogen credit to Sorghum. It grew well.
I don't plan to mow it, I just want to see what it will do when spring planted and allowed to do whatever it does. I can't wait to hear about it. It'd be super if it grows fast enough to smother, then lasts through a few hard frosts and into firearms deer season. That, and some brassicas next to it and a guy could be all set.
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Post by kooch on May 3, 2019 13:55:07 GMT -6
The clover portion of my mix last year was equal parts Frosty Berseem, Fixation Balansa and Crimson. I planted first week or so in July, along with brassicas, all mixed together. I spread the clover component heavy because my seedbed is not really a seedbed. It grew great, and I had green clover still on opening day up at my place and we had a few hard frosts. The crimson was long gone by then though. During my tree planting trip a couple weeks ago, I saw quite a bit of tiny little green clover sprouts. I'm hoping it'll grow like mad then die back in time for me to get my concoction planted this summer without too much fuss. I do not know which variety was sprouting already. First year planting this so I too am interested to see what all of this has turned into when I head back up in a couple weeks. Another spot, very wet, and brand new, was seeded in MR/Alsike/WR. It was also doing it's thing already, despite the giant pools of standing water all around it and generally muck dirt it's in. With a Frosty Berseem, Fixation, Crimson mix, about the only thing that could be sprouting/growing now is the Fixation. The stuff will put on an amazing growth spurt if the deer don't keep it eaten to the dirt. My fall planted Fixation turned into an incredible mess of clover by mid-summer. Bees loved the stuff. It did not however re-seed itself. How long did the Fixation live? Did you have to terminate it or did it die back naturally in time to plant your next plot?
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Post by smsmith on May 3, 2019 17:44:42 GMT -6
How long did the Fixation live? Did you have to terminate it or did it die back naturally in time to plant your next plot? It lived until August I want to say. I ended up terminating the plot, but there wasn't a lot of Fixation at that point. I think the stuff can serve a purpose in northern latitudes, but I haven't completely figured it out yet.
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Post by kooch on May 4, 2019 9:39:37 GMT -6
How long did the Fixation live? Did you have to terminate it or did it die back naturally in time to plant your next plot? It lived until August I want to say. I ended up terminating the plot, but there wasn't a lot of Fixation at that point. I think the stuff c an serve a purpose in northern latitudes, but I haven't completely figured it out yet. Fixating nitrogen for your next crop, weed suppression, feeding deer in the Fall and early Summer.
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Post by smsmith on May 4, 2019 10:06:20 GMT -6
It lived until August I want to say. I ended up terminating the plot, but there wasn't a lot of Fixation at that point. I think the stuff c an serve a purpose in northern latitudes, but I haven't completely figured it out yet. Fixating nitrogen for your next crop, weed suppression, feeding deer in the Fall and early Summer. Not really much for feed in the fall. Spring through summer, yes. I think it is also very dependent on snow cover or I think we'd lose most of it to winter kill. In years like last year, it would do well. A couple years ago when there was very little snow cover here, I think most of it would have been dead come spring. When it works, the stuff is pretty impressive. Not sure it's worth the cost of seed vs. other options for me. That's the same thing I'm trying to figure out with the Frosty
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Post by wklman on May 4, 2019 14:14:05 GMT -6
Ordered up 20 lbs of it for shits and giggles. I've got a wet field that frosty should grow good on if the deer don't mow it to the ground. Should be a good draw during bow hunting if it stays green.
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Post by MoBuckChaser on May 6, 2019 7:31:52 GMT -6
My cost on Frosty Berseem went from $2.25lb to $2.75lb in a month. What is the attraction all of a sudden?
Edit: I got question answered by my Lacrosse rep. Lots of alfalfa fields suffered 50% or more winter kill this year and they use frosty berseem to interseed into the poor stands. So not enough supply for the demand all of a sudden.
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Post by Sandbur on May 11, 2019 14:06:26 GMT -6
My cost on Frosty Berseem went from $2.25lb to $2.75lb in a month. What is the attraction all of a sudden?
Edit: I got question answered by my Lacrosse rep. Lots of alfalfa fields suffered 50% or more winter kill this year and they use frosty berseem to interseed into the poor stands. So not enough supply for the demand all of a sudden.
My neighbor ran some medium red through some spots where the irrigator wouldn’t reach and alfalfa didn’t hang on.
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Post by wintomatic on May 11, 2019 21:59:34 GMT -6
I planted 10 acres of the annual pollinator mix with the no-till this afternoon. I went heavy on the Berseem. (Mix also has med red clover, cowpeas, buckwheat, yellow mustard, and sunflowers.) went with the cheap berseem. I hope it takes some of the pressure off of my 2 acres of dbltree mix I planted last year, they have the winter rye eaten almost to the ground. Saw a herd of 15 deer from the tractor. Planting 4.5 acres of the perennial pollinator mix tomorrow morning, then setting up the no-till for about 7acres of beans...all into corn stubble. I hope we got the depth right
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Post by Sandbur on May 12, 2019 2:30:42 GMT -6
I planted 10 acres of the annual pollinator mix with the no-till this afternoon. I went heavy on the Berseem. (Mix also has med red clover, cowpeas, buckwheat, yellow mustard, and sunflowers.) went with the cheap berseem. I hope it takes some of the pressure off of my 2 acres of dbltree mix I planted last year, they have the winter rye eaten almost to the ground. Saw a herd of 15 deer from the tractor. Planting 4.5 acres of the perennial pollinator mix tomorrow morning, then setting up the no-till for about 7acres of beans...all into corn stubble. I hope we got the depth right Can you get us some pictures of those pollinator mixes as they mature?
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Post by smsmith on May 12, 2019 9:39:10 GMT -6
It looks like Frosty Berseem can indeed be seeded into cold ground. I think there was still some frost in the ground when I planted it, but I guess I'm not 100% sure. I do know I've got a bunch of it sprouting. I'll be interested to see how the stuff grows in spring. I hope it takes off quickly and keeps weed competition down.
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Post by wintomatic on May 12, 2019 23:04:20 GMT -6
The perennial mix didn’t go so well through the no-till. All the seed for 5 acres came mixed together in one bag, and the guy who dropped it off said to put it in the regular box (not the box for “fluffy” seed). Everything was going fine until about 1/2 of the seed was gone, then it wouldn’t come out anymore. We cranked the opening setting from 4.5 finally up to 8 and still nothing coming out! Ended up having to suck it out of the box with a shop vac and broadcast it with my agrifab tow behind and cultipacked the whole 5 acres. Got er done though. Actually cultipacked the whole 15 acres to be safe. As I drove by the perennial patch on the way home I saw 6 pheasant out there feasting on the seed. $1350 for 5 acres worth of seed...praying for some rain now. $270/acre for perennial seed is a really good price though (other places were up to $700/acre) It has every NWSG except for switch grass. (Indian, big and little bluestem, sideoats, Virginia Wildrye and Canadian Wildrye, plus 16 pollinator species). I bought it through the Douglas county SWCD. The bag was from Milborn seed.
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Post by MoBuckChaser on May 13, 2019 5:18:49 GMT -6
It looks like Frosty Berseem can indeed be seeded into cold ground. I think there was still some frost in the ground when I planted it, but I guess I'm not 100% sure. I do know I've got a bunch of it sprouting. I'll be interested to see how the stuff grows in spring. I hope it takes off quickly and keeps weed competition down.Your not the only one that hopes it takes off quick. Farmers have been notilling it into their poor alfalfa stands hoping it will make some forage quick. I don't know if it will or not, but I hope it does for them.
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Post by smsmith on May 20, 2019 11:12:46 GMT -6
It looks like Frosty Berseem can indeed be seeded into cold ground. I think there was still some frost in the ground when I planted it, but I guess I'm not 100% sure. I do know I've got a bunch of it sprouting. I'll be interested to see how the stuff grows in spring. I hope it takes off quickly and keeps weed competition down.Your not the only one that hopes it takes off quick. Farmers have been notilling it into their poor alfalfa stands hoping it will make some forage quick. I don't know if it will or not, but I hope it does for them. Well, I was wrong about the Frosty sprouting. What I thought was clover is not....I've got areas with what appears to be either water hemp or pigweed sprouting. The shit looks like it was planted, it's so uniform and thick. I thought I had won the war with the stuff last year. Apparently I was sadly mistaken.
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Post by MoBuckChaser on May 20, 2019 11:22:13 GMT -6
Your not the only one that hopes it takes off quick. Farmers have been notilling it into their poor alfalfa stands hoping it will make some forage quick. I don't know if it will or not, but I hope it does for them. Well, I was wrong about the Frosty sprouting. What I thought was clover is not....I've got areas with what appears to be either water hemp or pigweed sprouting. The shit looks like it was planted, it's so uniform and thick. I thought I had won the war with the stuff last year. Apparently I was sadly mistaken. That sucks. Hit it with dicamba and get it killed.
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