I harvest all kinds of clover and small seed here in Indiana. Have for 30 years. Use Allis All Crop combiines and minneapolis molines pulltypes. Usually all direct harvest in august.. never get tired of it.
We harvest Medium Red cloverseed in central Ohio. Weve always combined directly without swathing. Being organic the green residue from weeds and the clover just balls up and we lose alot of seed due to this. Does swathing prevent the most seed loss? Also does a swather with a rotary type head (discbine) knock-out too much seed vs a cutter-bar style swather? Nobody around us harvests the seed for any other opinions. Thanks
In Oregon valley where they grow most of the clover seed in the USA they will never straight cut it to my knowledge. You will have issues with the harvest like you are having straight cutting. I'm guessing you are putting more seed out the back in those Green balls than you may realize. I've heard of guys in Wisconsin just letting everything freeze in late fall and than straight cutting it but they are only averaging 150lbs an acre which is significantly less than the guys who swath it late august or early September. You can do a burn down if your not organic. When we swath it the machine has drapers, no augers, no crimpers. Some guys experimenting around on small acres will use a haybine and open up the conditioner all the way and gently blow it through. I would suggest doing it in a heavy dew or light rain. Remember it's ok to get a inch of rain on your swath but at this time of year it's almost impossible for the swath to dry 100% perfect. After 7 or 10 days when it is mostly dry just Combine it and it won't come out as clean but I think you will still get more seed. Most times when the swath is damp you need to run some air on the seed in the gravity boxes or put landscape fabric over your grain bin vented floor and run the air. Clover harvesting is a pain and that's why they do it out west where it sunny with no rain in the summer. In Wisconsin or the midewest we need to break the rules :) you will need to too-
How soon after pollination, when the flower turns dark brown, are the seeds biologically ready to be separated from the plant? I've been picking some wild red clover and throwing the pollinated blooms around my food plot. Can the stem still be green and have viable seed?
Yes the stem can be green but the flowers should be dark brown. On a hot dry day if you rub the brown flower between your hands the seed will come out. If the seed comes out it's viable. the seed will be Yellowish or purple. It is important to remember Red Clover can have "hard seed" Many times 25% of the seed can be of this category. This means the hard seed will only germaniate after it freezes. So if your tossing red clover on the ground and it seems like the stand should be better often it improves in the spring when the hard seed germinates.
Yes it does if it's medium red clover. Some other clovers do not come back. Medium Red Clover will come back every spring for several years. Generally you can get 2 seasons of seed off the crop before the stand starts getting to thin.
Organic Farming 0 seconds ago These fields did not have bee's on but bee's are ideal and will increase yield. However, honey bee people don't like putting honey bee's on red clover because they say it's hard to get nectar out of plant however they do still pollinate so it does help the farmer but may not largely increase honey. We rely primarily on wild bumble bees but are doing some trials on leaf cutter bee's as they work better than honey bee's (we think) those trials are still in progress. All Clover farms In Canada I'm told use Honey bee's because the climate is not great for natural pollinators. See what the pollination looks like at this link th-cam.com/video/TnZhHeSuWZI/w-d-xo.html
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I harvest all kinds of clover and small seed here in Indiana. Have for 30 years. Use Allis All Crop combiines and minneapolis molines pulltypes. Usually all direct harvest in august.. never get tired of it.
Just sewed my lawn with Red Clover seed. Fascinating to see how it got from field to bag. Thanks for sharing !
A lot of people have never seen that good video 👍👍👍👍
Awesome details. We are looking to try this with a JD s780 this summer.
awesome
We harvest Medium Red cloverseed in central Ohio. Weve always combined directly without swathing. Being organic the green residue from weeds and the clover just balls up and we lose alot of seed due to this. Does swathing prevent the most seed loss? Also does a swather with a rotary type head (discbine) knock-out too much seed vs a cutter-bar style swather? Nobody around us harvests the seed for any other opinions. Thanks
In Oregon valley where they grow most of the clover seed in the USA they will never straight cut it to my knowledge. You will have issues with the harvest like you are having straight cutting. I'm guessing you are putting more seed out the back in those Green balls than you may realize. I've heard of guys in Wisconsin just letting everything freeze in late fall and than straight cutting it but they are only averaging 150lbs an acre which is significantly less than the guys who swath it late august or early September. You can do a burn down if your not organic. When we swath it the machine has drapers, no augers, no crimpers. Some guys experimenting around on small acres will use a haybine and open up the conditioner all the way and gently blow it through. I would suggest doing it in a heavy dew or light rain. Remember it's ok to get a inch of rain on your swath but at this time of year it's almost impossible for the swath to dry 100% perfect. After 7 or 10 days when it is mostly dry just Combine it and it won't come out as clean but I think you will still get more seed. Most times when the swath is damp you need to run some air on the seed in the gravity boxes or put landscape fabric over your grain bin vented floor and run the air. Clover harvesting is a pain and that's why they do it out west where it sunny with no rain in the summer. In Wisconsin or the midewest we need to break the rules :) you will need to too-
@@redwagonfarms thanks for your advice. We still farm like it's 1950 and I'm ready for a change
How soon after pollination, when the flower turns dark brown, are the seeds biologically ready to be separated from the plant?
I've been picking some wild red clover and throwing the pollinated blooms around my food plot.
Can the stem still be green and have viable seed?
Yes the stem can be green but the flowers should be dark brown. On a hot dry day if you rub the brown flower between your hands the seed will come out. If the seed comes out it's viable. the seed will be Yellowish or purple. It is important to remember Red Clover can have "hard seed" Many times 25% of the seed can be of this category. This means the hard seed will only germaniate after it freezes. So if your tossing red clover on the ground and it seems like the stand should be better often it improves in the spring when the hard seed germinates.
Does the clover come back once you've harvested the seed?
Yes it does if it's medium red clover. Some other clovers do not come back. Medium Red Clover will come back every spring for several years. Generally you can get 2 seasons of seed off the crop before the stand starts getting to thin.
Do you folks get people to put honey bees on your fields while the clover is flowering?
Organic Farming
0 seconds ago
These fields did not have bee's on but bee's are ideal and will increase yield. However, honey bee people don't like putting honey bee's on red clover because they say it's hard to get nectar out of plant however they do still pollinate so it does help the farmer but may not largely increase honey. We rely primarily on wild bumble bees but are doing some trials on leaf cutter bee's as they work better than honey bee's (we think) those trials are still in progress. All Clover farms In Canada I'm told use Honey bee's because the climate is not great for natural pollinators. See what the pollination looks like at this link th-cam.com/video/TnZhHeSuWZI/w-d-xo.html
What state is this in?
Wisconsin. On sand or sand loam or loam sand soil