Planting Green into a Cover Crop to Keep Soil Life Active
Planting corn green into hairy vetch. The planter cut through the young living crop easily. Even a short time without living roots in the soil can impact your farm ecosystem. If you practice no-till religiously, you are probably quite familiar with this concept. Although at Kingโs we generally donโt preach no-till orthodoxy, we do…
Cover Crop Termination
By Dale Dewing, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Delaware County As the new cropping season is quickly approaching, it is important to begin thinking about how to terminate your winter rye cover crop.ย As many know the incredible soil health benefits of using cover crops, they can also have many uses after they have served their purpose…
The Gateway Sorghum-sudan
Two rows of photoperiod sensitive sorghum-sudan, left, forage sorghum on right If you havenโt dealt with sorghum crops in the past, photoperiod sensitive sorghum-sudans could be a good initiation into the world of multi-cut crops like sorghum-sudan and sudangrass. Sensitive to day length, they wonโt initiate flowering until the day length gets below 12 hours…
Are Nurse Crops Needed? Factors to Consider in Spring Cool Season Perennial Seedings
The King’s AgriSeeds Agronomy Team You may be wondering how necessary it is to plant a nurse crop, such as oats, with your perennial grass or alfalfa seedings this spring.ย Hereโs the scoop: The main function of spring nurse crops is for weed control.ย Fall nurse crops, on the other hand, also serve as a…
Grain Sorghum: a Viable Alternative Crop
By Dale Stoltzfus and David Hunsberger, Kings AgriSeeds Inc. Are you tired of the traditional and sometimes limited income stream potential of your corn, soybeans, and wheat grain rotation?ย Are you motivated to improve your probability of a successful whole farm crop yield even in a dry year?ย Grain Sorghum may be the alternative crop…
Clover – Balady Berseem
Key Features
- Fast growing annual legume
- Tolerates wet ground
- Can work as a winter annual in zones 8a and above
- Not good for over-wintering in northern statesโ least winter-hardy annual clover
- Not resistant to root-knot nema-tode
- Shallow taproot
- Little or no risk bloat
Best Uses
Grazing, Haylage/baleage & Cover Crop. Can mix with alfalfa or small grains.
Establishment
- Seeding Rate:
- 8-12lbs/Acre drilled
- 15-20lbs/Acre broadcasted
- 3-6lbs/Acre in mixes
- Depth: 1/8โโ 3/8โ
- Date: Plant after soils are 50 degrees and rising.
Canmore Oats
Key Characteristics:
- Medium Maturity
- Competitive grain yield and good forage yielder
- Good straw oat
Uses:
- Grain: Excellent
- Forage: Good
- Cover crop: Good
- Dry Hay: Poor
- Haylage/Balage: Excellent
- Management Intensive Grazing: Good
Establishment:
- Planting Dates: Late winter to early spring. Late summer for fall forage and a winter kill cover crop.
- Seeding Rate: 95-130lbs/Acre (3-4Bu/ Acre)
- Large Seed Box Required
- Seeding Depth: 3/4โ to 1 1/2โ
Everleaf 126 Oats
Key Characteristics:
- True forage oat with high quality and late heading date.
- Dark green foliage
- Improved leaf density
- Seeding rate is slightly lower than other oats because of its leafy growth habit
Uses
- Dry Hay: Poor
- Haylage/Balage: Excellent
- Management Intensive Grazing: Good
- Grain: Not recommended
- Food Plots: Good
Establishment:
- Planting Dates: Seed 4 to 6 weeks prior to the beginning of wheat seeding.
- Seeding Rate: 80-100lbs/Acre for forage. 20-25lbs/Acre for nurse crop.
- Large Seed Box Required
- Seeding Depth: 3/4โ to 1 1/2โ
- Speed: Slower than other oats
Niagara Oats
Key Characteristics:
- True forage oat with high quality
- Dark green foliage
Like other oat varieties, mixes well with alfalfa as a nurse crop to suppress weeds and protect from harsh weather.
Uses
- Dry Hay: Poor
- Haylage/Balage: Excellent
- Management Intensive Grazing: Good
- Do not use for grain
Establishment:
- Planting Dates: Seed 4 to 6 weeks prior to the beginning of wheat seeding.
- Seeding Rate: 95-130lbs/Acre (3-4Bu/ Acre) 80-100lbs/Acre for cover crop 30-50lbs/Acre for nurse crop
- Large Seed Box Required
- Seeding Depth: 1โ to 1 1/2โ
Reeves Oats
At A Glance
- Early-medium maturity oat.
Uses:
- Grain, Forage, Cover Crops, and Food Plots.
- Grain: Good
- Forage: Excellent late summer var. Cover
- Crop: Excellent
- Dry Hay: Poor
- Haylage/Balage: Excellent Management Intensive
- Grazing: Good during fall and spring.
Establishment:
- Planting Dates: Late winter to early spring. Late summer for fall forage and a winter kill cover crop.
- Seeding Rate: 95-130lbs/Acre (3-4Bu/ Acre) 80-100lbs/Acre for cover crop Large Seed Box Required
- Seeding Depth: 3/4โ to 1 1/2โ Speed: Rapid
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