Buy Organic Clover
Use Clover for hay, chop, cover crop or forage. Like all our other small grains and seeds in general, we can't guarantee a steady supply of clover seed all year long so, if you're thinking of getting some, do it now. We may not have any left if you come back later. All Clover seed on this page is preinoculated.

Drill or broadcast 1/4" to 1/2" deep 12 to 15 lbs. per acre. In a mixture, seed 2 to 4 lbs. per acre.

Seed late winter to August 10

Sweet clover may be used for hay or pasture or as a plow-down crop. By far, its greatest use and adaptation is as a pasture- and soil-improving crop.

The amount of grazing it will furnish in its seeding year depends upon its companion crop. If seeded with a small grain that is harvested for grain, little forage production can be expected. If the grain is pastured or otherwise seeded with less competition, some first year pasturage can be expected. In general, it can be pastured once it reaches a height of 12 to 14 inches if close grazing is avoided. It should not be grazed during September and early October when it is producing winter root reserves.

Sweet clover is not as palatable as most other legumes because of its high coumarin content. Livestock soon get used to its taste and consume it readily. The coumarin content presents no animal health problems when used as pasture.

There is less danger from bloat with sweet clover than with alfalfa, red clover or alsike, but some possibility does exist.

No other legume will provide as much grazing as sweet clover during the spring and summer of its second year. Animal performance is equal to that of alfalfa, and for a short period its carrying capacity is greater. The biggest problem during this period is to regulate animals so the clover is not grazed closely enough to harm new shoots yet is grazed closely enough to prevent it from flowering.

As a soil-improving crop, sweet clover probably has no equal. It has a deep taproot system that penetrates the subsoil, produces a large amount of growth that can be quickly broken down and converted to organic matter and fixes high levels of nitrogen on heavy clay soils.

Sweet clover is unexcelled as a legume used to improve nitrogen levels, especially at the end of the first growing season. In Iowa tests it produced 146 pounds of N as compared to 55 from alfalfa, 50 from red clover and 36 from ladino in the fall of the seeding year. Spring-seeded sweet clover may be plowed down during the fall or winter of the seeding year without much decrease in the potential nitrogen level produced during its full lifetime.

Sweet clover is a fine source of nectar and pollen for honey bees. Usually both yellow and white are used by beekeepers because yellow may bloom as much as two weeks before white, and a combination of the two extends the flowering season.

Planting rates vary. 7-15 lbs per acre depending on whether you use it in a mix with other crops or your soil is good or poor.

White clover can be cut or grazed. It lasts longer than red clover although it is lower yielding. Its lower growth habit makes it suited to grazing and this is its main use The aim is to produce a sward which contains 30-50% white clover and the right balance of clover to grass throughout the year. White clover leys are equally suitable for cows or sheep.

Where possible allow an interval of about 35 days between defoliation. This gap allows this legume to perform. Most of its nitrogen is fixed during the later stages of growth and therefore early defoliation restricts nitrogen fixation. Also we have encountered less bloat on mature swards. Dry matter yields of white clover leys are in the range of 10-13 t/ha. Without using any applied nitrogen, high clover leys can achieve the same production as conventional systems.

Sowing & Establishment

Sow between March and September. White clover seeds are small and will benefit from shallow sowing. A very firm seed bed is required and the clover must be sown on the surface. (You should be able to ride a bicycle across the field before sowing!) Rolling at least once after sowing is strongly recommended. If undersowing do not choose a thick crop. This will result in failure.

A thinly sown spring cereal is ideal. The seeds are best sown by broadcasting using a spinner. If sowing in the autumn, aim to sow by mid September.

A perennial clover, tolerant of acid and base-reacting soils. Performs well in wet meadows where other legumes won't. It is finer than medium red, more fragrant, lower yielding with a very fine seed. Plant in early spring or late fall in cooler climates.

*Used primarily in mixtures at 1 - 3 lbs. per acre Use double that or more if planting alone but it does best in mid-size stands.

Alsike clover tillers profusely from the crown, with stems at least as long or longer than those of red clover but more slender and prostrate. Stems and leaves are smooth, hands are somewhat smaller than red clover and the flowers are pink or white.

Inclusion of timothy with alsike is highly desirable since the clover is likely to lodge badly and make curing difficult. Alsike usually produces only one crop of hay. Establishment is often possible on poorly drained and overflow land.