Pained me to spray clover

Last year I planted the WMS Mississippi blend and really had not been down to club much this summer to check the plots. After bushhogging them to prep for spraying and planting I was surprised to find a nice patch of clover in every plot where we planted the WMS blend. Years ago we planted 3 plots in Whitetail Imperial clover and they did great and the deer grazed them all summer but come fall they just quit hitting them, despite our efforts to attract them. I hated to spray all that clover, especially when I think back about how hard we worked to establish those original 3 plots years ago.

What do you do with plots on your place if you have a decent stand of clover? I dont have a drill planter so that is not an option. I tried to reconfigure some of the plots so I could keep some of the clover on each plot, at least a 15' wide strip around the edge.

We have several plots similar to this that we have been dealing with for several years. We don't spray these patches. We simply throw our wheat/oat/rye mix then bush hog. We follow this with a relatively light tickle with the disk to just lightly disturb the soil. We are considering eliminating the light disking step this year.

If you could mow them couple time in Summer or spray 24DB they will last several years. Like Steiner suggested just top sow as needed

I agree with others.....just broadcast more seed before a rain and mow over it.

Actually, on established perennial clover plots, you can spray gly at a reduced rate, about 1 1/4 quart per acre and get a good kill, without hurting the clover. With my sprayer, it takes 20 gallons to cover an acre driving about 6 mph. I use 2ozs/gallon and always get a good kill, but the clover survives, as long as its not stressed. This time of the year is not the optimum time for trying this. May spraying really cleans up a clover plot nicely.

Full rate for gly is 1 qt per acre. Spraying low rates of any herbicide (especially gly) is bad advice and a horrible idea. That is exactly how herbicide tolerance develops. We already have some weeds in Alabama that are nearly impossible to control now - Palmer pigweed and marestail. They developed resistance to gly from people spraying at low rates. Alway, always, always spray full rate. If you want to control broadleafs in clover use 24DB when weeds are small. If you want to control grass spray Clethedom. Roundup is not labeled nor recommended for clover

1 1/4 qt per acre is not very reduced.

Clover is hard to kill. I've sprayed it with gly then disked it and it came back as thick as ever.

2 qts/acre is the recommended gly rate.

Recommended for what? I sprayed 1 QT per on mine 3 weeks ago, had Crab grass, Johnson Grass and several others. There's more plant life on the moon than in my plots. If memory serves , the paper with the jug just calls for a pint per using 41% for Crabgrass .

dont kill it, if you have clover still I would just broadcast my seed into and then mow it. theres no point in planting it if youre just going to try and kill it to plant. or you could spray it will 24db and clethodium and everything except the clover will die

We always add a qt of 51% 5 or 6 lb gly every time we spray beans & corn regardless of what else is in the tank mix. That’s just the standard recommended rate spraying over top of crop. When I’m trying to kill Bermuda grass or gravel roads I spray a 2 qt rate.

I’ve got an unusual hobby of traveling through Mid-West visiting farm shows & field days during Summer. One of their primary concerns is herbicide resistance. They blame problem on low rate applications. The government & universities recommended lower rates when Roundup was a patented product and cost 10xs what it does now. Took them a few years to figure out what they had done recommending low rates. Gly is so cheap now that there’s no reason to spray low rates

Here's a good chart. Weed rate tables start bout page 31.

http://www.cropsmart.net/Products/Glyphosate/CropSmart%2041%20Plus%20Label.pdf

I just remember on the QDMA website we always talked about 2 quarts/acre.

A Farmer friend said folks who use small 4 wheeler , tractor , backpack and hand sprayers tend to mix it way too hot and put out way too much. He suggested to me for plots a 2% mix and get out 1 Qt per acre . He said that is actually a little stouter than what they would spray. His numbers have always worked fine for me.

Blum, I've seen on those huntin' forums guys talking bout mixing it at 4 and 5 % , but never mentioning how much to get out per acre. At 4% they better have a fast tractor or they are waaaay hot.

Good info so far...

Reduced gly rates isn't advisable anymore...

With perennial clovers, I like the T&M method. Keep them sprayed through the spring and summer and then spread fall seed and clip the tops for your fall planting. Works great, been doing this for 12-15 years.

As the others have mentioned. I do spray cleth as it's safe for clover but kills grasses. Mowing helps keep the broadleafs at bay. Broadcast when needed and clover will do you right for years to come

Well, I checked the plots today and whatever weeds were present are all dead but the clover seemed to withstand the assault. We are starting to disc next week and plan to plant next weekend if it doesnt get to wet. I guess if the clover returns, so be it. But this year I have decided to stick with BFO, wheat and triticale and topdress some WMS brassica blend. Here is a pic typical of all our plots. Most are 1 -1 1/2 acres. I left about 1/4 acre of clover in the high grass which I will mow before opening day.

Looks like you could get by simply top sowing just ahead of a rain. That’s a good looking field to disc

I have never had much luck with top sowing BFO. Now wheat is not so much of a problem. We plant a lot of BFO and I am willing to turn under that clover to ensure we have good standing plots of oats. I am pretty sure that most of that clover will come back even after it has been disc.