Ball Clover

We are having some of the best results with our clover, I just had to share it with you.  We used to plant rye-grass in the fall for our cows and goats, but 2 years ago Shane decided to try something different.  After reading about ball clover, he decided to plant one of our fields with it.  The great thing about it was that you wouldn't have to plant this year after year.  Once it bloomed and seeded, you were good to go for years to come.  Here is a shot of some clover that is the result of a planting 2 years ago.  

 

Shane put a little rye grass out this past fall to come up with the clover, but it didn't do well at all.  Although, we have so much clover to graze our animals on right now compared to others in our area.   We have actually tried to find if there was anyone local that would like to bring their cows over to graze because we have such an abundant amount.  When it was first planted, we had over 40 head of cattle.  Now with only half that amount, we have more clover than the amount of mouths needed to eat it.  The first year it came up, we were afraid to graze it down too low, for fear that it wouldn't re-seed.  It ended up getting so thick, it choked out all of our summer grass in that pasture.  We call that a lesson learned.  Shane spoke with a representative of the company, and he said that they graze it down pretty low and that it will still bloom when it's fairly short. 

We have three 5 acre areas roped off with electric fence that is to be grazed.    We put 133 goats (does, yearlings, kids) plus 30 head of cattle in one of the 5 acre areas, a week ago.  They will probably be moved today or tomorrow.  That is a very high stocking rate for such a small area, but there was a lot of clover.  The picture below may give you an idea on how tall it was. 

By the time we move those cows through the other two spots , the first 5 acres will more than likely be ready to graze again.  We have had a pretty good bit of rain here lately.  The only problem we have is there are another 25 acres of ball clover.  Shane is going to look at some cows today to buy and put to work on mowing it down.  If not, he will have to bush hog.  We sold our hay equipment, so it wouldn't be possible to bale it.  

If you would like more information, just check out their website.  I'm sure they would be willing to answer any questions that you may have too.  They have been real helpful to my husband in answering any questions.  Here is a link to their website:  http://www.ballclover.com/.