Sweetclover is a biennial legume that lives for two years. Sweetclover can provide good nutrition to cattle because it is high in protein and energy when not mature. However, sweetclover can become toxic to cattle if fed as hay, North Dakota State University Extension livestock systems specialist Karl Hoppe cautions.
What clover is best for hay?
Red clover
Red clover is effective as a pasture legume and for hay. It can withstand more shading in the seedling stage than most other legumes, making it easy to establish in grass sods.
Do horses like sweet clover?
Although sweet clover is also a problematic clover for horses, causing a bleeding disorder, it is rarely found in pasture situations. It is more commonly found in hay mixtures harvested from roadsides where the deep-rooted sweet clover is seeded as a soil stabilizer.
What is sweet clover good for?
Sweet clover is used to increase the loss of water from the body through the urine (as a diuretic). It is also used for varicose veins and to relieve symptoms of poor blood circulation (chronic venous insufficiency) including leg pain and heaviness, night cramps, itchiness, and fluid retention (edema).
What is the best clover for cattle?
White clover is the most tolerant of grazing. Red clover provides greater forage yields and will be productive later into the summer than white clover. Annual lespedeza will provide more production during mid to late summer, especially on droughty hillsides.
What is best to plant for hay?
Alfalfa. Alfalfa is a good choice when very high quality hay is needed. When made and stored well, alfalfa hay or haylage is dairy-quality feed of higher quality than normally required for beef, sheep, poultry, dry dairy animals or other species.
What is Deer favorite clover?
Arrowleaf Clover – Arrowleaf clover is a cool-season annual that is highly productive in fall and spring and a top-choice forage for whitetails. Though it’s an annual, arrowleaf clover is a heavy re-seeder – with the right management, you can get several seasons of production out of one planting.
Is sweet clover toxic to horses?
An overgrowth of sweet clover in your horse’s pasture can cause sweet clover poisoning, or Slaframine poisoning. Hay can also become contaminated with mold and fungus from clover and can cause your horse to become ill. Horses, when they ingest too much sweet clover infected with slaframine, can develop the slobbers.
Can a horse have too much clover?
For some, however, eating too much clover or being exposed to unhealthy clover, can create a number of problems. Such problems include extreme obesity, increased salivation (slobbers), and even conditions of lactation in non-pregnant horses.
What clover is best for horses?
Common white clover and Ladino white clover are the most popular legumes for horse pastures. Although alfalfa is commonly recommended, it is seldom found in pasture mixes. Red clover is also commonly recommended but most horse owners avoid it because it can cause the slobbers.
Does sweet clover come back every year?
Sweet clover can be an annual or a biennial depending on where it is planted as well as the cultivar used. Sweet clovers are an excellent soil-builder because they have a deep taproot that extends through the soil profile which takes up nutrients and minerals that can be used by crops.
How much nitrogen does sweet clover fix?
50 to 100 pounds per acre
The amount of nitrogen contributed by red clover can range from 30 to 50 pounds per acre and for sweet clover from 50 to 100 pounds per acre by full bloom, depending on the density of the stand, moisture availability, soil type and the length of the growing season.
Is sweet clover the same as red clover?
Sweet clover is not as consistent as red clover in producing high quality forage over the summer period. Sweet clover is very tolerant of dry conditions, heat and grasshoppers. Sweet clover is a true biennial and will survive only one winter. Sweet clover is susceptible to attack by the sweet clover weevil.
Why can’t cattle eat clover?
Sweet clover contains a high level of a chemical that can be converted to an anticoagulant. Improperly curing hay made from certain sweet clover varieties such as white and yellow sweet clover can cause severe and often fatal hemorrhages in livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats.
Will clover hay bloat cattle?
Legumes with the highest likelihood to cause bloat include white clover and alfalfa. Red clover and crimson clover would be classified as moderately likely to cause bloat, while berseem clover is low risk for causing bloat.
Should I plant clover in my pasture?
Adding clovers to grass pastures and hay fields can offer many benefits to a forage system. Clovers interseeded with grasses improve animal performance, increase nutritional quality of pasture and hay, extend the grazing season, and reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizer.
What is the easiest hay to grow?
Depending on your needs, plant grass, alfalfa, or a mixture of the 2 for use as hay after growing. Grass hay is generally more nutritious than alfalfa hay for livestock, but alfalfa has more fiber. If you choose grass hay, timothy grass is ideal for growing and harvesting hay.
How do you increase yield of hay?
Apply nitrogen early to promote rapid spring growth.
Applying 80 lb N/A in mid- to late March will promote early growth in hay meadows, resulting in higher first harvest yields.
How do you grow high quality hay?
Here are seven steps to help you produce a quality alfalfa yield:
- Choose an appropriate field.
- Plant the right seed variety.
- Scout regularly.
- Cut alfalfa at the best time.
- Set yourself up for drying success.
- Lean on moisture levels.
- Be smart about bale storage.
How late will deer eat clover?
Perennial clover plots green up early in the spring (when deer need it most) and generally will produce well into the frost season. Our whitetails work clover plots all winter long and will dig through 8 to 12 inches of snow to get to it.
What is the best time to plant clover?
Spring
The best time to plant clover is in Spring or late Summer/early Fall. It is also a great choice for frost seeding.