• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Plant Cover Crops

Learning about the benefits of planting cover crops.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Newsletter

Kura Clover

Dec 28 2012

Kura Clover – The Perennial Cover Crop

Kura Clover is an interesting option for cover cropping no-till corn producers. Why? Because Kura Clover forms a “living mulch.”

I have been working with Dr. Ken Albrecht from the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Kura Clover since the summer of 2000.  During that summer as I traveled through eastern Iowa and NW Illinois I envisioned that before 2005 all of that region would have Kura Clover on it!

That never happened. But I am still very excited about Kura Clover as a feed source and cover crop.

For Kura Clover to be best utilized on your farm you really need to graze it the first two years and periodically thereafter.  Cattle milked similarly on this mixture as what they did on alfalfa!
For Kura Clover to be best utilized on your farm you really need to graze it the first two years and periodically thereafter. Cattle milked similarly on this mixture as what they did on eating alfalfa haylage!

What’s so great about Kura clover?

Kura clover:

  • Produces high yields with little additional nitrogen
  • Fixes gobs of nitrogen
  • Forms a “living mulch”
  • Survives forever – stands last 30+ years
  • Makes livestock producers/row crop farmers smile
  • Provides diverse options in the field
  • Saves cover croppers money – a one time investment in seed
  • Controls erosion 
  • Is easy to work with in corn production

Why hasn’t Kura clover taken over the cover crop/forage world?

  • It establishes slowly.
  • It requires livestock (cattle or sheep) to be a part of the program for optimal benefit.
  • You cannot plant corn into Kura Clover every year.
  • You cannot plant soybeans into Kura Clover.
  • It must be inoculated with a special inoculant for it to establish/thrive.
  • It costs a lot in establishment year.
  • There are few producers of Kura clover seed – the biggest is CISCO Seeds.
This Kura Clover was ready to be sprayed with the second application of glyphosate to burn it back so the corn could take off.  This plot yielded over 185 bu/ac the year this photo was taken.
This Kura Clover was ready to be sprayed with the second application of glyphosate to burn it back so the corn could take off. This plot yielded over 185 bu/ac the year this photo was taken.

 

Corn growing in Kura Clover in Arlington, Wisconsin.
Corn growing in Kura Clover in Arlington, Wisconsin.
Note that this photo (taken in October 2002) shows large ears and a beautiful crop of Kura Clover growing under the canopy.
This photo (taken in October 2002) shows large ears and a beautiful crop of Kura Clover growing under the canopy.

 

 

 

 

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Benefits, Kura Clover, Types of Cover Crops · Tagged: Cover Crop Benefits, cover crops, grazing cover crops, Kura Clover, Living Mulch, produce Nitrogen with Cover Crops

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Adding Nitrogen to cover crops (1)
  • Cover Crop Application Method (1)
  • Cover Crop Benefits (75)
    • Breaking Up Compaction (18)
      • Cover Crop Roots (12)
    • Erosion Control (1)
    • Higher Yields (22)
      • Nitrogen from Cover Crops (12)
      • Planting Radish with Wheat (1)
    • Lower Inputs (4)
    • Manure management (6)
      • Slurry Seeding Cover Crops (1)
    • Soil Improvement (15)
      • Cover Crops and Earthworms (6)
      • Inoculating Cover Crop Legumes (1)
    • Water infiltration/percolation (3)
    • Weed Suppression (5)
  • Cover Crop Challenges (69)
    • Aerial Application (9)
    • Aerial Application into Soybeans (2)
    • Chemical Use and Cover Crops (7)
    • Cover Crops in Iowa (3)
    • Cover Crops in Wisconsin (6)
    • Crop insurance (4)
    • Delayed Spring Planting (8)
      • Planting into Tall Austrian Winter Peas (2)
    • Dormant Seed (2)
    • Establishing in dry conditions (2)
    • High-boy application (1)
    • Killing Annual Ryegrass in the Spring (7)
    • Misinformation and Myths (5)
    • Prevented planting (11)
    • Radish Smell (1)
    • Risk Management (5)
    • Seed Selection: What to Plant After… (11)
      • Corn (3)
      • Soybeans (2)
      • Wheat (7)
    • Seeding Rates (3)
    • Stand Establishment Following Cover Crops (5)
    • Timing of Planting (3)
    • Wild Radishes (1)
    • Winterhardiness (3)
  • Cover Crop Champions (1)
  • Cover Crop Wearables (1)
  • Cover Crops – Return on Investment (2)
  • Cover Crops & No-Till (1)
  • Cover Crops effect on spring Soil temperatures (4)
  • Cover Crops in Minnesota (4)
  • Cover Crops in the Northland (8)
  • Education (70)
    • Aerial Application Certification (2)
    • Cover Crop Meetings (9)
    • Cover Crop Plots (12)
    • Cover Crop Research (12)
    • Decision Making Tool (2)
    • Field Days (11)
    • Improved Varieties (6)
    • Midwest Cover Crops Council (3)
    • Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide (1)
    • Online Training Seminars (4)
    • Radish Plot (7)
    • Surveys (3)
    • Webinars (3)
    • YouTube Videos (13)
  • Frost Seeding (1)
  • Grazing Cover Crops (10)
    • Cover Crops for Forage (3)
    • Fall Grazing (3)
  • Lower Yields possible (1)
  • Seeding Mult-Species Cover Crop Mix (1)
  • Terminating Cover Crops (1)
  • Types of Cover Crops (61)
    • Annual Ryegrass (10)
    • Austrian Winter Peas (9)
    • Cowpeas (2)
    • Crimson Clover (10)
    • Hairy Vetch (2)
    • Kura Clover (1)
    • Mustard (1)
    • Oats (4)
    • Radishes (24)
    • Red Clover (3)
    • Sorghum Sudangrass (1)
    • Sudangrass (1)
    • Turnips (4)
    • Winter Barley (1)
    • Winter Cereal Rye (12)

Newsletter

Cover Crop Resources

  • CISCO Seeds Cover Crops
  • Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative
  • Cover Crop Decision Tool
  • Midwest Cover Crops Council
  • Sustainable Crop Rotations with Cover Crops

Other Farm Resources

  • Practical Farmers of Iowa

Connect Online

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on RSS

Footer

Popular Videos

Pages

  • Blog
  • Why Cover Crops?
  • About
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Advertise Here
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2023 · Altitude Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in