Kenland Clover

'Kenland' red clover is a tall growing, short-lived, perennial legume with erect, leafy stems and pinkish-purple to magenta-red flower heads.  When used as a cover crop, it improves the texture and fertility of the soil.  It can also be used for hay, silage, over-seeding to fill in bare spots in pastures and fields or in a three to four year crop rotation plan where you are allowing an area to lie fallow.

Sown in the fall, growth is slow through the winter, but it begins growing quickly as spring arrives.  Kenland tolerates most soil types from loam to clay.  It will reportedly return about one hundred pounds of nitrogen per acre to the soil.  Exhibits resistance to a number of fungal infections.

Because 'Kenland' turned out to be so well adapted, not only to soil types but to climates as well, it became the most commonly planted clover variety in the U.S.  Seed production for it increased from 110 metric tons in 1949 to nearly 1400 metric tons in 1954.  By this time, the majority of its seed production was being carried out in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.  According to the late Dr. Normand Taylor of the University of Kentucky, "Eighty-five percent of the 1954 production of certified seed of red clover was Kenland. No red clover variety has been so dominant in the US seed trade since that time." ^[3]

It was bred and released by the University of Kentucky in 1947 and has been used as a parent for several newer clover varieties.  USDA GRIN Accession Number G 12580.  The seeding rate is about eight ounces per 500 square feet.  Each packet contains one ounce, which is approximately 16,800 seeds.

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