Here are the photos that go with the last post. The photos are in the order that the computer uploaded them so I am just going with the flow. Sorry for the lack of continuity.

This first one is a field where we had some MSCC last fall and then i Broadcast summer mscc this spring….Just broadcasting did not work so I grazed it again and then mowed it….Now it has a wolrd of clover….mostly white dutch, some crimson, some red and even some yellow sweet.

This is the paddock the horses are grazing now….they will get a new paddock today and I will bushog this one and the one previous.

this is the new clearing….I burned brush from it several times during the winter and seeded it to summer MSCC on Memorial day….

This paddock was seeded with the aerator probably two weeks ago and the MSCC is coming up thru the grass.

This is a shot of rye and Lana Vetch that was broadcast on pasture in late November….this is in the near future grazing for the horses….

I passed thru the stable and Perkins was checking me for treats….

Just a shot of Perkins and Star Baby and Jonahs butt as they were cleaning up the round pen lot so that I could mow the weeds…this area used to be vegetable garden but I am gettin too old to do that much tillage work….I no till my garden now and use containers as well…the conatiners I am liking very much.

just did this on Saturday…had a forage bucket with just fescue….pulled the fescue….added a little horse poo stirred it up…dropped in some MSCC summer mix and decided to just mulch it….will try to take regular photos.

Here is some of the new summer MSCC.

this is my MSCC test row in the garden that was planted Memorial day.

this is a shot from the fall MSCC that was not grazed and was bush hogged and broadcast last week….this shows the density of the crimson clover heads that are on the ground there….should be beautiful next spring.

another shot of new crops MSCC that shows a little bit of everything I think.

This shots shows Lana Vetch climbing the fescue….I love this stuff….legume, beautiful, nutritious, and self seeding if allowed.

Star Baby inquires about treats.

this is a closeup of a wet area in the new ground where the summer MSCC has germinated….on the drier parts of the lot there is less germination….but there is a chance of rain tonight…

This is the ungrazed fall MSCC that was just broadcast with summer MSCC and then bush hogged. there is too much grass cover to see any new germination yet

This is some buckwheat that did come up near a fence line from the early failed boradcast attmept…I am discovering that Buckwheat is pretty hardy and easy to grow…have sprouts of it all over where I have dropped seed.

this was a real hotspot in the first field seeded with summer MSCC….don’t know if it was becasue of manure or just a plethora of seed from the feast and famine aerator seeder.

Sorry no photos this time…..

Just some scribblings from a beat up old cowboy…..

The last few days we have been involved in mixing and distributing some summer multi species cover crop seed. I have also been trying to get some seeded on my home place.

A few weeks back I seeded some home made cover crop seed which I broadcast into standing winter cover crop that had been grazed. I am here to tell you that was pretty much a failure. I think the birds and small animals were the biggest reason….In walking through the field to look for germination I found lot of hulls of all sorts and very little new plants….even the millet and sorghum did not seem to fare very well….

Just as an experiment, about the same time, I planted a handfull in a short row scratched in the dirt with a hoe in a pasture….last night I remembered to go check that . That row was up nearly a foot tall with good species diversity…..

I later broadcast another small lot with the same homemade mix and it was in a wet field which had been pretty well pucked when grazed by the bulls…I do have some germination and growth in that field but it is not overwhelming.

My conclusion is that these summer cover crops must have some soil to seed contact in order to germinate and flourish….

I have also been in contact with Green Cover Seed, our fall mix supplier….I specifically asked about the near failure of most of the cover crops broadcast over soybeans last fall….those cover crops were not a failure but they did not do anything until this spring…..unfortunately the crop behind beans was usually early corn…..this year we were blessed with a late and wet spring so a lot of those cover crops did have an opportunity to express themselves. In a more normal year they would have been sprayed and the fields planted in March. Corn here is 10 to 15 inches tall now. At this time last year corn was trying to tassel and it had quit raining and the drought had begun……. so every year is different in the challnges presented.

Alos last year we did not have frost until November….couple this with some fall rains ….which means soy beans still had a canopy cover and were still green and vibrant up until frost. So cover crop seed broadcast over beans laid where they landed without benefit of sunlight and competing with the beans. Below is what Kieth from Green Cover responded to me.

“As far as flying on to a growing crop – not much will work until the canopy opens up  – some years better than others.  It really comes down to sunlight hitting the growing plant – without that, not much will work.  The later it gets, the better cereal rye will work over wheat, oats, or barley.  Crimson clover and hairy vetch are the best legumes”.

I know broadcasting can work as I broadcast everything that was planted on my place last year….but I was not broadcasting over beans….I was broadcasting behind grazing…..On many fields I also might have mowed after broadcasting or run a drag (an old tractor Tire) over the field….but on many I simply broadcast after grazing….in my last post you can see in the photos that I had decent results….
this week I have put seed down on two parts of one field….I cut the field in half and reseeded each half after grazing with the bulls….I wish I had the time to have taken a photo but I did not. This is the field where I had a fall cover crop and it had gotten about six feet tall….The Rape and Turnips had created a sea of yellow blossoms and hidden the clover and small grain and grasses. So I grazed it….The bulls left a lot of biomass which is good but they grazed in there for quite a few days as well.

I do not have any type of planting equipment….The day I wanted to do the first half of the field I did not even have my broadcast seed bag. I do have and old spike tooth aerator and it has a distribution box on it but it never seeded properly and the seed rate adjustment had been stuck for years. I fooled with it until I got the adjusment to at least move….then I hooked this contraption behind my Bush hog and mowed…seeded and aerated in one pass….

update here….on 5/24/2013 I have multiple species seed germination….it is too early to identify but I have single shoot grasses and dicot leaves germinating…planted on Sunday and shoots up to an inch tall on Friday….I am tickled…

The second half of the field I had my broadcast seeder so I broadcast and then mowed and pulled the aerator over it….I hope some of it will come up….I really need to find some type of seeder that I can afford for small acerage. Anyhow we will keep on putting out seed and seeing what happens.
Also in terms of fall cover….at my place Kieths statement above is correct….the ceral rye and the Lana vetch and the crimson clover were the stars of my cover crops….and I put out a lot more wheat than I did rye because it was easier to find and pay for….but the rye was superior….
I have rye and vetch that is so tall the horses do not want to go into it….but they will…and they are trampling down as much as they are eating which is good for the soil….I will move them and mow that paddock this weekend.

I have winter peas that have not yet been grazed….It is a Multi Species Planted field where the Rape and Turnips did not take over…..The Crimson Clover and the peas have been a spring delight….The winter peas are now providing the show….they are beautiful when they bloom….

One more thing….these cover crops are excellent for wildlife….I have quail on my little place and have not had any quail for over 25 years. I have had a covey of eight all spring until they broke up into pairs for nesting….Also had a turkey nest within 100 feet of the house….the dogs flushed her about two weeks ago….unfortunately Apache proudly brought me a dead turkey poult…..I hope some of them survived….

you can click on any photo and see it in large size…..use your back arrow to return to the blog.

I was doing cover crop checks this afternoon to asure compliance with cost share regulations….

Most of the producers has already sparyed to kill the cover crops and planted corn. Some corn was up and seemed to have survived yesterdays frost.

Two farms put on a brilliant display shown in the photos below.

Jim Clay has the only stand of Blooming tillage radishes that I know of. I know that mine winter killed as well as the oats. Jim does not have any oats apparent but he has loads of radishes that are blooming like crazy. In this first photo I tracked the flowers down to the radish root to be sure that is what was blooming….

This was just a shot of the small grain and grasses at the Isbells Keenbell Farm.

Jim planted both the 4 way mix and the nine way mix….in the nine way mix the rape has overtopped everything else just as it has at my house..

The blooming heads of the rape are nearly four feet tall..

here is a closer shot of the Clay Radish and crimson clover and triticale….

KeenBell are intensive grazers and move the cattle daily. In the strip you can see yesterdays grazing , todayd s grazing and the future days grazing….CJ said it is 18 inches tall.

intersection of the 4 way mix and the nine way mix at Jim Clays…

Five acres of the nine way mix.

At Keenbell the Crimson Clover and the Triticale seem to have dominated the stand. not sure why as this is the only place I saw this happen.

fifty acres of the 4 way mix

some snapshots from around the farm yesterday and today….no sequence and no continuity but I will try to explain what is up. I have been grazing the bulls in strips through a small field in front of the house. this is a field where I had planted some multispecies cover crop seed along with some oats that I had last fall…..I only had a smattering of MSCC cover crops seed when I did this field so it was just poured in with the oats. The oats and the tillage radishes all winter killed but I had a good stand of clover and turnips and rape along with some wheat and tritcale. I decided to graze it this week and the bulls were in there in four strips for about five days total.