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The grass is always greener…
…when you add cover crops! And for the first time that’s what we’ve done. Son-in-law Curt Humphreys and Coop manager Glenn Covington reviewed the results of the project this weekend…and pronounced themselves satisfied. Grandson Church had started the plan with Glen but he’s now off at Cornell Veterinary School. If you enlarge the picture you should be able to pick out turnip, radish, cow peas and the clover. Tougher to see but they are there are Cereal Rye and perennial rye. I never thought we’d get to the point where I’d think we’ve maxed on clover. Glenn is a little worried about possible bloat. We have pastures that were…
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Upgrading some pastures…
…and using a no-till drill. In addition to clover, which we often spread, this year we’re mixing in perennial rye, cereal rye, turnips, radishes and cow peas. We’re doing several pastures hoping to extend the natural grazing season. Not only should it mean extra nourishment for mama and calf in the winter slump but some of these plants put down very deep roots. The theory is that will loosen the compacted soil and bring more minerals closer to the surface to feed the plants. It also should help capture rain water, limiting the effects of drought. As they say on television…”only time will tell”! David
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Ahead of the storm…
…Church is seeding clover just ahead of our most recent snow storm. For our “civilian” readers, the clover serves several important purposes: It provides additional forage during the summer slump in the grass growing season. It counter-balances the toxic effect of the endophyte which is more prevalent in fescue in the summer. And it fixes nitrogen in the soil to such a great extent that we haven’t had to fertilize in a dozen years. All this without plowing. The nighttime freezing and daytime thawing…coupled with the melting snow…provides the ideal growing conditions for the seeds. And the snow did come just as Church was finishing. David