BERSEEM CLOVER

Berseem clover is a high-nutrition forage that is used to extend the spring grazing season in warm-season perennial grass pasture systems and as a summer annual in colder areas. Berseem clover is an excellent protein source for livestock when grazed fresh or cut for hay, and it is considered non-bloating.

Berseem is similar in both appearance and feed quality to alfalfa and can be used to fill in bare spots in alfalfa fields. Research has shown that twenty percent berseem blended with alfalfa in new seedings results in improved forage yields and quality.

Berseem clover is also valued as a cover or green manure crop due to its vigorous growth and nitrogen-fixing characteristics. Berseem can easily produce in excess of 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre. And berseem clover has an excellent fit in wildlife food plots.

Originally from the eastern Mediterranean, berseem is less drought tolerant than alfalfa, requiring a minimum of forty inches of annual precipitation in non-irrigated systems. But it tolerates wet, poorly drained soils, and it is known to tolerate saline conditions better than red clover or alfalfa. It is best suited to medium-silt loam to clay-loam soils.

Berseem is fairly easy to establish and can be frost-seeded. A fast-growing clover, it has erect stems that grow to four feet. It has cream to yellow-colored flowers and oblong, pubescent leaflets. Stipules are pointed with red and green veins. Stems are hollow and pubescent, branching from the base. Its pods contain a single purplish-red seed similar in size to crimson clover seeds. It has shallow taproots.

There are two types of berseem clover, single-cut and multi-cut. Most varieties of berseem will winterkill in continental climates common in the upper Midwest, however, some berseem cultivars, such as ‘Bigbee’ and ‘Frosty,’ have greater winter hardiness and are being used in small grain, corn and soybean rotations in the Midwest. (‘Frosty’ is reported to have survived -16 degrees Fahrenheit conditions under snow in a Purdue University trial.)

For use as a green manure crop, berseem clovers can contribute in excess of 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre. And under irrigation, berseem has a production potential of up to eight tons of biomass per acre.

In Oregon, berseem clover is planted in September and October and harvested for seed in July.

In grazing systems, livestock producers should graze before flowering when plants reach twelve to fifteen inches tall and basal shoots begin to grow. For hay or silage, cut at fifty to sixty days after planting. It is important to avoid removing all of the leaves, as it will likely not regenerate from its roots.

For pure stands, seeding rates should be eight to twelve pounds per acre if drilled and fifteen to twenty pounds per acre if broadcast. Berseem works great as a companion to small grains grown for forage.

Berseem clover is considered fairly easy to terminate either by herbicide application or via roller crimping. .