> Can anyone recommend a seed mixture that would compliment
> both bees and large farm critters? The use of the pasture
> will be mainly beef cattle and/or horses.

Unless you have an existing large hayfield or pasture, you'd
get more blossoms from a few of the more popular nectar-producing
trees than from an acre of plants.  (Consider the number of
blooms in the "blooming spherical volume" of a tree versus the
"blooming planar surface area" of a field.)

Dollar for dollar, your best investment for both bees
and browsing mammals would be in a decent mix of overseeded
early and late-blooming clovers.  A mix of "White Dutch",
"Ladino", and a sweet clover (white or yellow) simply
spreads out the bloom periods to further extend the
nectar production period.  For the mammals alone, toss
in a light overseeding of alfalfa.  The bees won't care,
but horse owners love to see it in the bales.

I spent the past 5 years overseeding a 550 acre hayfield
to both "make hay" and "extend the nectar flow" for colonies
not hauled up into the mountains for Sourwood.

The first 4 years were drought, and the 5th year was a
spring washout in Virginia. Lousy weather for beekeeping.

But this year has been rewarding.  Everything came up,
and the colors were vivid. The hay from the first cutting
alone sold out quickly at a very nice price (in square bales
for horses), generating much more revenue than the honey
ever could.

That said, uncontrolled browsing/feeding on clovers can cause
some problems for both cattle and horses:

Horses can get liver damage from excessive red clover consumption,
with the only external symptom being rashes on the lighter areas
of their coats.  Any type of clover can cause "the slobbers",
a harmless, but socially unacceptable condition for riding horses.

Cows can get "bloat" from excessive clover, but this varies from
farmer to farmer. My neighbor is a dairy farmer, and would have
been happy to buy my entire hay crop in the event that rain ruined
it for the horses during the drying period.  He overseeds his
hayfields with giant red clover as a protein booster for his cows.


      jim (Good judgment comes from experience.
           Experience comes from bad judgment.)

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