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Cover Crops

Annual Clovers

Description
Clovers are an excellent source of nitrogen and can double as a quality forage. They are good as a soil builder, as a weed suppressor and for erosion control. Clovers can be frost seeded and work well mixed with other cover crops such as small grains, grasses, radishes, and other legumes.

Clovers can be spring planted by frost seeding or planting with small grains. Use the grass seeding box on the drill.

Clovers can be overseeded into standing corn at last cultivation. Allow 6 to 7 weeks after the application of pre-emergent herbicides
like Atrazine. Check the herbicide labels.

Clovers can be broadcast or aerial-seeded into beans at leaf  yellowing prior to leaf drop.

Red clover will grow well in cooler, moist conditions and will slow down over the summer months. Yellow blossom sweet clover does
well in the summer and has the greatest warm weather biomass production of any legume, exceeding even alfalfa.

Berseem (also known as Egyptian clover) works well doubling as a cover crop and as a forage, producing 18-28 percent protein.

  • An annual clover with white blossoms and hollow stems–great for cover crop or forage.
  • A low seeding rate (5-8 lbs./A) makes it very economical; cold tolerant to -14ºF.
  • The bloom time is later than crimson clover, but if allowed to approach bloom stage, Viper will produce significantly more dry matter than crimson clover.
  • Viper Tech Sheet
  • This clover produces up to 150 lbs. of nitrogen and 4 tons of dry matter; seeded at 10-12 lbs./A.
  • When mixed with grains, it can beleft for cover or forage after grain harvest.
  • Mammoth is better than crimson for the North because it is more likely to survive the winter.
  • Berseem is a fast-growing summer annual and a heavy nitrogen producer–150 to 200 lbs.
  • Frosty survives cool temperatures much better than crimson clover and produces more biomass in the spring.
  • This is the only berseem that can reliably be fall seeded.
  • Medium Red can be cut once late in the seeding year and twice the following year.
  • This clover is good for short term rotations with good persistence.
  • Yellow Blossom is a summer biannual with a very deep root system (up to 5’ deep).
  • Seeded at 8-15 lbs./A, it can produce 2.5 tons of dry matter the first year; winter hardy and drought tolerant.