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Growing Red Clover For Seed

O

Oliver662011

Member
I am growing red clover for seed in Ohio. I planted two of my fields last spring. They add up to roughly 3 1/2 acres. I intend to harvest it via a Allis All-crop 66, then market and sell the cleaned and dry seed. I was just wondering if anyone has any advice on how much spring fert I should put on this year to benefit my yields. I am also getting bees for pollination. Should I mow and bale a first cut before I harvest for seed? I am going to direct harvest. If anyone else has any other just general advice from their experience growing or selling red clover seed is welcome. I included a photo from late Last September will post a current photo next week. Thanks for all the help.
Mike
1104121051_zps5765d039.jpg
 
I combine clover seed every year with an all crop. I am organic so I do not fertilize in the spring, as thats what my clover is for. I swath my clover and let it lay at least a week, and I leave it a little tall, like six inches when I cut it, then my grain table goes right under the swath when I combine it. And I always bale first cutting. I have found their is always a demand for clover seed.
 
(quoted from post at 03:28:34 03/20/13) I combine clover seed every year with an all crop.I swath my clover and let it lay at least a week, and I leave it a little tall, like six inches when I cut it, then my grain table goes right under the swath when I combine it. And I always bale first cutting.
Click to expand...
A couple questions, do you combine your second cutting then? Also what do you cut it with before you let it lay when you combine it? And how do you clean your seed?
 
That stand looks a little thin to me. Weeds may be a problem because of the thin stand.

Yes there is a market for clover seed. Yields for seed are low per acre and clover is one of the lower priced seeds to buy. Profits may be better in hay depending on your local hay market.

Don't harvest it wet or the seed may mold and not grow and be worthless.

Gary
 
(quoted from post at 04:23:41 03/20/13) That stand looks a little thin to me. Weeds may be a problem because of the thin stand.
Gary
Click to expand...
The weeds that are there are now dead and the clover is beginning to form a thick canopy due to some warmer weather we had. But I was still gonna over seed a little bit. Thanks for the advice
Mike
 
If you'll pardon me for butting in. We would block the rollers open on the haybine, cut when dew was on make a tight windrow and would run 60 All Crop with pick up attachment. To clean the seed we would remove the screen hammer mill mixer and dump seed through hammermill. Then we would pick a breezy day and dump the seed on concrete slab from old milk barn holding pen. If no wind we set a couple of big fans and dumped seed in front of that. The seed was for our own use and was plenty clean to broadcast.
 
I have never cut clover for seed but my Dad and Grandfather did alot of custom work with an All Crop 66.You should clean the seed the day you cut it because and green material in the clover will heat and hurt the germination in the clover.Dad talked about being up untill midnight cleaning clover seed with a clipper seed cleaner.I still have the seed cleaner and screens.If I remember right they made the first cutting for hay and cut seed off the second.They did not have a pickup head so they direct cut the clover.They did enough clover each year that they wore out a set of rasp bars every year.With custom work they cut on the shares with them getting half the seed.
 
As a rule of thumb, legumes will remove 15 pounds of
phosphorus, and 40 pounds of Potash per ton of yield
on a dry basis. So, determine the forage yield you
want and multiply that by the mentioned numbers.
Generally, red clover will need (ball park) 40-50
units of P2o5, and 100-150 units of Potash. With
that said, most research folks will tell you that
red clover does not respond to applications of
potash. I personally was surprised when I read
that.
 
Before I had a haybine I would mow it with a cycle bar mower and rake it early and gently with a dew on, now I use the bine with open rollers and your right, its the second cutting.
 
You will have to cut and remove the first cutting. When the clover comes back the seed will be there. The last time I did clover, we cut it early with a dew on. Used a NH haybine with the rollers open. Let it dry for a few days then picked up the swaths with my Gleaner K with a pick up attachment. Then, ran the seed thru a A/C all crop 66. Could not believe how well the all crop cleaned the seed.
If you direct harvest with your all crop, either do as the others have stated and clean immediately. Or, if you have somewhere, a large slab of concrete, where you can dump out the seed and let it dry. Keep it leveled out. Check it to make sure it's not heating. If it does, stir it.
Good luck with your endeavor.
 
The time I combined red clover, I left it until brown & relatively dry. It was about 2 to 2 1/2 feet tall & I combined just as some of it was starting to lay over. It was dry, so no worries about mold & came out of the IH101, pretty clean.
That sounds a lot different than what I have been reading here, but I'm in hot & dry Texas.
 
(quoted from post at 03:28:34 03/20/13) I combine clover seed every year with an all crop. I leave it a little tall, like six inches when I cut it, then my grain table goes right under the swath when I combine it.
Click to expand...
So you don't have a pick-up style head? Because I do not have one just wondering if it will work still?
Mike
 
(quoted from post at 03:28:34 03/20/13) I combine clover seed every year with an all crop. I leave it a little tall, like six inches when I cut it, then my grain table goes right under the swath when I combine it.
Click to expand...
So you don't have a pick-up style head? Because I do not have one just wondering if it will work still?
Mike
 
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