done in exchange for living on the property free of charge. By the time I left, I had 65 different plots. I learned a lot about establishing and maintaining Imperial Clover. However, my wife and I have since sold out of that corporate farm and bought land of our own. I haven’t yet made the commitment to buy all the needed equipment, so I am at the mercy of a local farmer. I have worked out a deal to borrow a tractor and brush hog from a neighbor to mow my plots, however. In theory, it works pretty well. My winter plots are the result of the normal farming, which is a contract operation. I pay the farmer to put in and take out my crops so I can leave whatever I want to leave. This is a very efficient way to get winter plots. The smaller
Imperial Clover plots last roughly three years and don’t take as much time or equipment. So, I can usually get the farmer to roll in for a day and re-establish clover plots when that is required. The plots are on a rotation where I am redoing roughly one-third of the plots every second year. I have about 15 acres (the biggest plot is four acres) of Imperial Clover so I need to replant roughly five acres every other year. With the right equipment, that doesn’t take very long. First, I get a soil sample tested at the local co-op. I always want my pH to run as close as possible to 7.0, so I usually end up having to apply some lime. It is all but impossible to get someone to come in with a lime truck for just a few acres, so I buy bagged lime from the co-op
Bill Winke
Although the author’s property includes and is surrounded by row crops, and that deer food source is factored into his management plan, higher-quality forages, such as Imperial Whitetail Clover, are also planted.
and apply it with an ATV mounted spreader. This method is very inefficient and takes a lot of passes to get the proper rate, but it is worth the effort. If you have the equipment, consider having a load of lime delivered to your property and then use a shovel and rear-mounted tractor spreader to apply it. The manager at the local co-op can recommend someone who will deliver the lime. A pile of lime will last for several years. Of course, many co-ops will deliver bulk amounts of lime and spread it for next to nothing. After liming, I wait until the first dry spell of spring and then apply the fertilizer the same way – with the ATV spreader. I use the levels of phosphorous and potassium recommended by the soil test. Next, the farmer goes in and tears the field up with a power-takeoff driven field tiller that mounts on the 3point hitch of his tractor. Any heavy small disk would also work. I have had limited success when broadcasting the seed and dragging it in. We have had the best success by drilling the seed into the ground using the drill’s shallowest setting. The press wheels behind each drop tube assure good seed-to-soil contact. Now all I need is rain. I have never sprayed my Imperial Clover plots with a grass herbicide, but I understand it works well to clean them up after year two. I probably will consider it in the future. During the first two years, the aggressive growing tendency of the clover smothers out the grass competition. To gain weed control, I mow my plots regularly. During a normal summer, I will mow the plots twice – once in mid-June and once in mid to late July. During a dry summer, I usually skip the second mowing to reduce stress on the plants. I fertilize with a maintenance dose of potassium and phosphorous during the spring each year. That’s how I do it. W
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The Whitetail Institute / 239 Whitetail Trail Pintlala, Alabama 36043
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WHITETAIL NEWS / Vol. 16, No. 1
www.whitetailinstitute.com