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Soil Health Resource Guide

#summermix

By January 15, 2018January 29th, 2018No Comments

Late spring and early summer plantings are commonly utilized as a forage source for livestock when summer heat begins to reduce cool season grass forage production. These mixes can also be used on prevented planting acres to add biological diversity, suppress weeds, produce nitro-gen, and cycle nutrients during the prevented plant year.

Timing: These mixtures consist of both cool season and warm season species so soil temperatures need to reach and maintain 55-60°F and the last frost risk has passed.

The following mixes are “base” mixtures for different late spring/early summer planting situations and can be modified to best meet your needs. Call or email us and we can help you design the best mix for you.

Late Spring /Early Summer Prevented Plant

Late Spring /Early Summer Grazer
  • Legumes: Spring Forage Peas, Forage Soybeans, Desi Chick Peas, Chickling Vetch, Crimson Clover, Hubam Sweet Clover
  • Grasses: Spring Oats, Spring Forage Barley, Sorghum Sudan
  • Brassicas: Rapeseed, Mustards
  • Other Broadleaves: Flax, Safflower, Sunflower, Buckwheat
  • Estimated cost per acre: $18.00-25.00

This same mix can be turned into a Nitrogen Fixation mix by increasing the emphasis on the legume portion. The cost per acre will go up in relationship to the percentage of legumes
  • Legumes: Spring Forage Peas, Forage Soybeans, Desi Chick Peas, Crimson Clover
  • Grasses: Spring Triticale, Spring Oats, BMR Forage Corn
  • Brassicas: Impact Forage Collards, Viva Hybrid Turnips , Purple Top Turnips, Graza Radish, Broadleaf Mustard
  • Other Broadleaves: Baldy Spineless Safflower, Sunflowers, Buckwheat
  • Estimated cost per acre: $25.00-35.00

Late Spring/Early Summer Pollinator Mix
  • Legumes: Spring Forage Peas, AC Greenfix Chickling Vetch, Desi Chick Peas, Woolypod Vetch, Crimson Clover, Hubam Clover, Persian Clover, Forage Soybeans
  • Grasses: Spring Oats, BMR Forage Corn
  • Brassicas: Nitro Radish, Yellow Mustard, Brown Mustard, Broadleaf Mustard
  • Other Broadleaves: Flax, Safflower, Sunflower, Buckwheat, Flower Mix
  • Estimated cost per acre: $30.00-40.00

Planting covers after a summer-harvested cereal or pea crop is the perfect opportunity to implement very diverse cover mixes into a cropping system. Converting the ample hours of summer sunlight into forages and soil nutrients is one of the best ways to improve the biological health of your soil. With so many cover crop options to choose from, these mixes will be driven by your specific goals. These mixes can also work well for early silage fields and seed corn fields.

July/August Planting: With ample heat units remaining, warm season species will dominate these mixtures. Cool season species can thrive under a partial canopy during this time as well but generally make up a smaller percentage of the mix.

August/September Planting: At this point in the season, warm and cool season species can be effectively used together. Warm season species will decline after the first killing frost leaving the cool season species to continue to thrive and be productive.

The following mixes are “base” mixtures for different summer planting situations and can be modified to best meet your needs. Call or email us and we can help you design the best mix for you.

Summer Soil Builder

Summer Grazing Mix
  • Legumes: Cowpeas, Mung Beans, Forage Soy-beans, Sunn Hemp, Guar, Hubam Sweet Clover (Add for later summer plantings: Winter Peas, Chickling Vetch, Spring or Winter Lentils, Crim-son Clover)
  • Grasses: Sorghum Sudan, Millets, Teff Grass (Add for later summer plantings: Oats, Barley, Cereal Rye)
  • Brassicas: Nitro Radish, African Cabbage, Broad-leaf Mustard
  • Other Broadleaves: Flax, Safflower, Sunflower, Buckwheat
  • Estimated cost per acre: $24.00-33.00

This same mix can be turned into a Nitrogen Fixation mix by increasing the emphasis on the legume portion and cutting back on the other plant families. The cost per acre will go up in relationship to the percentage of legumes.
  • Legumes: Cowpeas, Forage Soybeans, Sunn Hemp, Guar, Hubam Sweet Clover (Add for later summer plantings: Winter Peas,Common Vetch, Crimson Clover)
  • Grasses: BMR Sorghum Sudan, Pearl Millet, BMR Forage Corn (Add for later summer plantings: Oats, Barley, Spring or Winter Triticale)
  • Brassicas: Impact Forage Collards, Viva Hybrid Turnip, Winfred Turnip, Nitro Radish, Turnips, Broadleaf Mustard
  • Other Broadleaves: Baldy Safflower, Sunflower, Buckwheat
  • Estimated cost per acre: $28.00-40.00

Summer Pollinator/Insectary Mix
  • Legumes: Cowpeas, Forage Soybeans, Mung Beans, Sunn Hemp, Guar, Crimson Clover, Hubam Sweet Clover, Persian Clover, Berseem, Clover, Spring Peas, Woolypod Vetch
  • Grasses: Hay Millet, BMR Forage Corn, Oats, Barley
  • Brassicas: Yellow Mustard, Brown Mustard, Broadleaf Mustard, Nitro Radish, Turnips
  • Other Broadleaves: Flax, Safflower, Sunflower, Buckwheat, Flower Mix
  • Estimated cost per acre: $25.00-35.00

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