"Top Dressing"

[Darron]

I have been reading up on brassicas and noticed the term "top dressing." From my readings, they say you can do a "top dressing" of brassicas on clover plots. When you top dress, do you spread the seed the same time as the clover, or do you wait until later in the summer since brassicas are typically fall forage?

Also, they (Biologic) stated that brassicas can be grown in shady plots receiving less than 50% sun. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks for the help!

[Darron]

I know somebody on here knows a little bit about this. I talked to a Mossy Oak rep today via e-mail and he suggested around August going in and looking at my plots. If they are high, mow them down to approx 6" and then broadcasting the brassica seed at 4-5lbs per acre. This way the deer have something to eat when the clover wilts after the first hard frost. Is this worth doing? At $50 per 9lb bag, I'd like to get some feedback. Any info on this would be appreciated.

[So. Ohio Outfitters]

I know somebody on here knows a little bit about this. I talked to a Mossy Oak rep today via e-mail and he suggested around August going in and looking at my plots. If they are high, mow them down to approx 6" and then broadcasting the brassica seed at 4-5lbs per acre. This way the deer have something to eat when the clover wilts after the first hard frost. Is this worth doing? At $50 per 9lb bag, I'd like to get some feedback. Any info on this would be appreciated.

That sounds a little high? was that a name brand mix? You can go to your local co-op and buy purple top turnips....that's what most of your mix's have in them anyways...purple top yeild a high percentage of forage....try your local co-op, and tell them you want purple top and you want the 50 or 100lb bags, and I priced them at around 68$ I believe...

[So. Ohio Outfitters]

I have been reading up on brassicas and noticed the term "top dressing." From my readings, they say you can do a "top dressing" of brassicas on clover plots. When you top dress, do you spread the seed the same time as the clover, or do you wait until later in the summer since brassicas are typically fall forage?

Also, they (Biologic) stated that brassicas can be grown in shady plots receiving less than 50% sun. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks for the help!


I've never top dressed, but what I recommend doing is keeping a little 1 acre area or bigger, close to your bigger plot of clover and just dedicate that to brassicas..

[Darron]

This is my first year doing it myself so I am learning a lot. I've got a neighbor across the street from our farm that has all the equipment and he has been a tremendous help and has only charged me for gas. Since nobody else around us practices QDMA, we decided to manage the deer on our properties totally 180+ acres. We have built a great friendship in the last 3 months. Next year I plan to have one plot in clover and another plot in brassicas. From what I have read, you're not suppose to plant brassicas two years in a row, so I would just rotate.

As far as the brassica mix, it is from Mossy Oak. It is called Maximum. It $49.99 per 9 lb bag. The Mossy Rep advised me to top seed my clover plots at 4lbs per acre. None of my plots are 1 acre in size (1/2 acre, maybe a little more) so a 9lb bag should do both plots if I set the spreading rate low.

[Milo]

I know somebody on here knows a little bit about this. I talked to a Mossy Oak rep today via e-mail and he suggested around August going in and looking at my plots. If they are high, mow them down to approx 6" and then broadcasting the brassica seed at 4-5lbs per acre. This way the deer have something to eat when the clover wilts after the first hard frost. Is this worth doing? At $50 per 9lb bag, I'd like to get some feedback. Any info on this would be appreciated.
Please do not mix seed if you can help it in your plots....Just start a seperate area and throw them in. I think there is a better selection for winter food IMHO. Mowing your clover allows for weed control and it also keeps the clover thick and lush. Spend your money on Lime and fertilizer .

[TheCream]

I'd listen to Milo. I have been told he is an expert in this field...and the field. :coolgleamA:

My only expereince with anything like this was the brassica mix from Tecomate we planted last fall. It was mostly turnips and rape, but there was also chicory seed in there. We couldn't see the chicory all fall because the other stuff just jumped out of the ground and was almost 3' tall in what seemed like no time. This spring, though, with all the brassica being dead and gone, there are spots of chicory standing that made it. It's not enough to call a plot, and it will get tilled under, but those few spots of chicory have the largest specimens in the entire bottom!

[Darron]

Being new to this, I have a couple Q's.

Why is it not a good idea top dress brassicas in with clover? You're the first person that told me not to. Even the Drury boys claim to do this to their thinning clover plots in the late summer months. I'm just curious why this is not a good idea.

At what height should a clover plot be mowed?

Should lime and fertilize be spread throughout the summer months?

Thanks for your help Milo. I appreciate your help and responses!

[Milo]

Being new to this, I have a couple Q's.

Why is it not a good idea top dress brassicas in with clover? You're the first person that told me not to. Even the Drury boys claim to do this to their thinning clover plots in the late summer months. I'm just curious why this is not a good idea.

At what height should a clover plot be mowed?

Should lime and fertilize be spread throughout the summer months?

Thanks for your help Milo. I appreciate your help and responses!

Lets go into why not first.

Clover naturally grows in large patches and generally grows together dense. You can still fertilizer the clover to keep it going well and strong into the fall. For it to do that, your going to want to cut and maintain it. By introducing competition to it, you weaken it considerably. The clover can and will potentially shade or choke out the brassicas. We spray and fertilize well into the fall. That give it a great start in the spring too.

Lets not get into the Drury boys....I will just say this. If they had to work with the soil conditions of most southern hunters have to deal with, they would not be on TV... Everybody likes these great pics of deer in these super lush food plots. You can have that to a certain degree but remember these pics are in ideal conditions in what is undeniably the most fertile ground in the US. Seen any of that stuff where you hunt?:confused::D


Mow your clover to approximately 6-8 inches..It will grow back quickly and choke out weeds too.

You will want to add lime and fertilizer throughout the summer. The acidic soil conditions of southern ohio suck and without proper sweetness( thats what I like to call it) your plants will struggle to regrow after cutting. We generally apply 3 times a year with Pellitized lime. fertilizer with I believe 10 -20-20 fertilizer. You will want a low nitrogen fertilizer for clover.

[Darron]

I talked to my neighbor and we're going to put in a brassica plot in late August. He's going to disc the plot to turn up the ground and then fertilize and broadcast the seed. I have been researching brassicas and evolved habitat has a very attractive shot plot mix that is a good price. They recommend barely covering the seed since it is so small. I have a plot in there right now consisting of annual rye grass, fescue, and white clover (low % of white clover. Basically it's a grass plot.... stupid huh?). My neighbor recommended disking the plot that way it may rejuvinate some of the grasses and clovers in there until the brassicas take over. He said the brassicas will choke out the grasses due to the large leaves. This way I will have a clover plot with red, white, and alsike clover on one end of the property and a brassica plot on the other.