Keystone Krops

[Mennoniteman]

We wanted a small food plot at one of our secondary hunting spots that was mostly brush and woods, so I cleared an acre this past winter and got a soil test. The test asked for fertilizer and a ton of lime but that wasn't in our time and budget. We frost seeded Regal Graze ladino clover in February and broadcast oats in mid-March, sprayed 2,4-DB in April, and hoped for the best, expecting the worst. How would you guess this plot turned out?

View attachment 19129

This first year plot without soil amendments has definitely exceeded my expectations. Here's a short video of this field;

The deer are really hitting this stuff;

The oats were broadcast rather unevenly;

There's still a few weeds to clean up in the future;

 

[cutman]

Beautiful.

 

[MarkDarvin]

That came together quickly!

 

[Mennoniteman]

That came together quickly!

A soil test is so important in telling the story of how well your dirt will grow something. If you look at the soil test for this field on the prior post, Ca, K, and PH are all low, which would say that by not doing any amendments crops won't grow well. However, there's two other important numbers on there that are very good, and that's CEC and OM. Those two high numbers by themselves will just about make up for the low nutrients.

 

[dogghr]

Looks really good especially how you did it. Your soil test is interesting as your OM is higher than mine some but my CEC is double yours. And I’m comparing unmanaged fallow fields. Since you do so well w this planting you should bring me your no till u will no longer need. And I’ll need your big tractor too please. Good stuff thanks for showing.


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[MarkDarvin]

A soil test is so important in telling the story of how well your dirt will grow something. If you look at the soil test for this field on the prior post, Ca, K, and PH are all low, which would say that by not doing any amendments crops won't grow well. However, there's two other important numbers on there that are very good, and that's CEC and OM. Those two high numbers by themselves will just about make up for the low nutrients.

My soils are all in that 8 CEC range and somewhere around 4% OM. I'm opening up some new ground later this summer and will be trying reduced inputs on virgin ground. I'm pulling back to only managing with lime and gypsum. I wanna see how long it takes to get biological cycling going with just plants and bugs. My whole property is covered in trees that host both beneficial fungi, so I'm going with naked (no innoculant) clover seed along with a bunch of other stuff.

 

[Mennoniteman]

My soils are all in that 8 CEC range and somewhere around 4% OM. I'm opening up some new ground later this summer and will be trying reduced inputs on virgin ground. I'm pulling back to only managing with lime and gypsum. I wanna see how long it takes to get biological cycling going with just plants and bugs. My whole property is covered in trees that host both beneficial fungi, so I'm going with naked (no innoculant) clover seed along with a bunch of other stuff.

Soils biologists say that it's difficult to raise OM much more than a tenth of a percent per year. What's your opinion on this?

 

[Mennoniteman]

Looks really good especially how you did it. Your soil test is interesting as your OM is higher than mine some but my CEC is double yours. And I’m comparing unmanaged fallow fields. Since you do so well w this planting you should bring me your no till u will no longer need. And I’ll need your big tractor too please. Good stuff thanks for showing.


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You are very observant to remember that I have a notill drill! Of course, I guess I tend to rub it in every chance I get. Just like a noo yawker, us no till drill owners sometimes develop an ego, and I apologize for that on behalf of all notill drill owners. If I decide to donate it to a good cause you are on top of the list since you suggested it first, but beware of the ego that comes with it. Actually, the problem is that I have the same difficulties that every other food plot guy has, either not enough equipment or having it at the wrong place at the right time. My tractor and no till drill are 125 miles away from this field at my other place, and I cannot move both together without an 18 Wheeler with a flat bed and a telehandler to load it, and I have neither. Plus I actually enjoy messing around with things like throw and mow, and other interesting soil building concepts, and using small equipment to attain big results. This spinner seeded project has grown better ground cover faster than 7" on center drilled rows anyway.

 

[MarkDarvin]

Soils biologists say that it's difficult to raise OM much more than a tenth of a percent per year. What's your opinion on this?

I think it's partially true.

In a production system, where you're harvesting something, I think that's probably the case. However, if your only goal and end product was to raise organic matter, I think it's possible to go faster, but you have to do everything right. Crimson 'n Camo has some pics from many years back where he turned his light brown sand to a thick black layer in a year or two. Hopefully he can chime in here, but I believe his only goal at the moment was to rehab his soil. The more I read about this, I don't believe he grew 4" of black topsoil in 2 years, but what I think he did do is accumulate and keep a lot of humus and humic acid (and a host of other beneficial acids). I think that is what turned his sand black and brought it into biological production.

There was quite a bit of a debate a couple years back or so about this very topic where the "point one percent" crowd did a biomass analysis to calculate OM creation based on tonnage and then carbon weight within that tonnage. Mathematically they were correct if that was the only way to accumulate organic matter.

Then came the liquid carbon pathway crowd and they were testing places where people have raised OM much faster, proven and replicated. But they also have a management program with a primary objective of raising OM, vs traditional no-till, even with cover crops. In a harvest situation, at some point the current model dictates that the harvest crop needs a period where it's the only thing growing or it'll suffer competition loss.

In a high-diversity, always-green, functioning (big biomass production, equal biological biomass consumption, no multi-year buildup, no bare soil) soil, you can raise it faster. It brings with it lots of disciplines. You've got to manage your C:N ratio in the cool season and the warm season. You've got to represent legumes, broadleaves, and grasses in all seasons so you capture as much sun as possible. Those plants capturing sun are pumping liquid carbon (sugar) and necessary organic acids into your soil and charging your system all season long. The soil biology is consuming all season long, so it makes sense that we've got to feed all season long, or there will be a draw down or burn rate. Some organic acids only persist in the soil for a few hours. If a plant dies or is killed, that commodity is now missing. The one plant producing that specific acid may have been the key to solubolizing manganese in July for example. One small part of a very complex system.

I've read and watched a lot of Dr. Christine Jones. She's one of the pioneers pulling together the missing links to advanced biological farming. This is a great short article that summarizes her research on the liquid carbon pathway. There are many more elements to this, but this is really the capstone concept to being able to increase and sustain OM. Pay special attention to the detrimental effects of synthetic inputs on OM. A person has to choose whether they are chemical growing (bag fertility and glyphosate) or biological growing (AMF, humus, bugs, plants, and sun). You cannot do both.

http://vernoux.org/agronomie/Liquid_Carbon_Pathway_Unrecognised_Dr._Christine_Jones.pdf

 

[Mennoniteman]

I think it's partially true.

In a production system, where you're harvesting something, I think that's probably the case. However, if your only goal and end product was to raise organic matter, I think it's possible to go faster, but you have to do everything right. Crimson 'n Camo has some pics from many years back where he turned his light brown sand to a thick black layer in a year or two. Hopefully he can chime in here, but I believe his only goal at the moment was to rehab his soil. The more I read about this, I don't believe he grew 4" of black topsoil in 2 years, but what I think he did do is accumulate and keep a lot of humus and humic acid (and a host of other beneficial acids). I think that is what turned his sand black and brought it into biological production.

There was quite a bit of a debate a couple years back or so about this very topic where the "point one percent" crowd did a biomass analysis to calculate OM creation based on tonnage and then carbon weight within that tonnage. Mathematically they were correct if that was the only way to accumulate organic matter.

Then came the liquid carbon pathway crowd and they were testing places where people have raised OM much faster, proven and replicated. But they also have a management program with a primary objective of raising OM, vs traditional no-till, even with cover crops. In a harvest situation, at some point the current model dictates that the harvest crop needs a period where it's the only thing growing or it'll suffer competition loss.

In a high-diversity, always-green, functioning (big biomass production, equal biological biomass consumption, no multi-year buildup, no bare soil) soil, you can raise it faster. It brings with it lots of disciplines. You've got to manage your C:N ratio in the cool season and the warm season. You've got to represent legumes, broadleaves, and grasses in all seasons so you capture as much sun as possible. Those plants capturing sun are pumping liquid carbon (sugar) and necessary organic acids into your soil and charging your system all season long. The soil biology is consuming all season long, so it makes sense that we've got to feed all season long, or there will be a draw down or burn rate. Some organic acids only persist in the soil for a few hours. If a plant dies or is killed, that commodity is now missing. The one plant producing that specific acid may have been the key to solubolizing manganese in July for example. One small part of a very complex system.

I've read and watched a lot of Dr. Christine Jones. She's one of the pioneers pulling together the missing links to advanced biological farming. This is a great short article that summarizes her research on the liquid carbon pathway. There are many more elements to this, but this is really the capstone concept to being able to increase and sustain OM. Pay special attention to the detrimental effects of synthetic inputs on OM. A person has to choose whether they are chemical growing (bag fertility and glyphosate) or biological growing (AMF, humus, bugs, plants, and sun). You cannot do both.

http://vernoux.org/agronomie/Liquid_Carbon_Pathway_Unrecognised_Dr._Christine_Jones.pdf

Thanks for the interesting article and link. You have a lot of good insights on soil management, and I enjoy reading about dirt. I'm still on a quest for the magic bullet of food plot management for deer, LC seemed to be on the right track but I feel like there's still room for new innovations, but there's a lot of obstacles. Back to OM, what's your opinion on how to transition from one rotation or crop to another? Tillage is bad, chemicals are bad, and T&M or crimping doesn't always work. Do you like a combination of the three, or something else?

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[MarkDarvin]

Thanks for the interesting article and link. You have a lot of good insights on soil management, and I enjoy reading about dirt. I'm still on a quest for the magic bullet of food plot management for deer, LC seemed to be on the right track but I feel like there's still room for new innovations, but there's a lot of obstacles. Back to OM, what's your opinion on how to transition from one rotation or crop to another? Tillage is bad, chemicals are bad, and T&M or crimping doesn't always work. Do you like a combination of the three, or something else? Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Right now, I don't own a sprayer, any meaningful piece of tillage equipment, nor a means to pull it if I did. The last time I sprayed was the fall of 2017. When I cut open my most recent plot, I had rented a skid steer to level it, dig stumps, and push some trees off that I cut down. At the end of that process, I borrowed my brother's homemade drag which is fairly heavy, and pulled with the skid steer to make a few more passes and beat the remaining vegetation to death. Somehow, a person does need to make an opening, whether with tillage or chemical, but then I think you can get away from it for a long (years) time.

I'm not 100% up to speed on LC, but I do know we have lots of similarities. What it boils down to for me is preventing problems by mimicking nature. There are exceptions, as with anything, but nature doesn't do monocultures, and soil isn't meant to be bare, ever.

I don't believe we have to spray or dig a plot to transition. There are seasonal timings and growth stages in plants that give windows to mow them or crimp them to get at an open slate long enough to try to get something coming next. What I'm working on right now is getting my spring barley going ahead of the clover. I know the clover doesn't come on strong until the soil warms up. I spread that barley on frozen ground and it came very well.

As we roll past the summer solstice, there comes a period where the barley is done and will be getting eaten up by the deer, and the clover is vulnerable to heat stress. We normally avoid mowing clover in the heat of summer because it doesn't bounce back. Turns out (in my opinion) that is the perfect time to mow it, specifically so it doesn't come back right away. It gives a window for something else to possibly punch through it, without anything getting dug or sprayed. When I say mow, I'm saying within an inch of the dirt, vaporized, and evenly spread.

That spent barley straw should lay down with the rest of the unintended grasses. My hope is all that barley straw and grass laying on the soil will slow down any additional grass from coming. I'm gonna spread barley again, but this time mix it 50/50 with a forage oat. I'll also put on a full rate of brassicas.

I'm still working my way through this as well. I've beaten the weeds so far the past two seasons, this being the third with no chemical or tillage. I am pushing all kinds of stuff into my plot now. Lots of it doesn't take, but some does. It'll end up being species heavy in places and quite diverse looking, and that's ok. I've been chasing grain sorghum the past few years. If I don't get it this year, it isn't going to happen. I'll be back up at camp next weekend, and I'll get some updated pics. I've got high hopes for a sea of barley heads, native flowers, and numerous broadleafs (buckwheat, flax, dandelion, plantain, willowherb, fleabane, potentilla, daisey and more). I'd describe it as clover dominant with lots of intended allies mixed in.

 

[MarkDarvin]

You really have to write down your goals and work towards them within a framework that keeps things green all year and doesn't cause more problems. My primary crop is medium white clover and all my actions are driven by a goal of promoting that clover. Can't spray, can't till, won't fertilize with anything other than gypsum from here. The rest has got to be done by other plants. It's gonna take a lot of diversity to fill all those roles.

 

[Mennoniteman]

You really have to write down your goals and work towards them within a framework that keeps things green all year and doesn't cause more problems. My primary crop is medium white clover and all my actions are driven by a goal of promoting that clover. Can't spray, can't till, won't fertilize with anything other than gypsum from here. The rest has got to be done by other plants. It's gonna take a lot of diversity to fill all those roles.

So you depend heavily on cereals to stave off grass?

 

[MarkDarvin]

So you depend heavily on cereals to stave off grass?

Yep, to use up nitrogen while they're growing, and tie it up when the straw is laying on the ground. The jury is still out if barley alone can cut it. If it can't, I may try black oats next spring. Black oats are supposed to meet or exceed biomass accumulation of winter rye. So I've read anyway.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Yep, to use up nitrogen while they're growing, and tie it up when the straw is laying on the ground. The jury is still out if barley alone can cut it. If it can't, I may try black oats next spring. Black oats are supposed to meet or exceed biomass accumulation of winter rye. So I've read anyway.

Keep me posted on the black oats. I've got the same goals as you, most of my plotting revolves around ladino clover, and cereals are my favorite weapons. Whenever I'm totally baffled what to do next with a field, I plant a bin run cereal grain. Rye and oats in the fall, and oats in the spring. I'm trying to wean myself off of the chemicals, but it's a difficult habit to break. I'm going to get a better mower to try to use that option more effectively.

 

[MarkDarvin]

Keep me posted on the black oats. I've got the same goals as you, most of my plotting revolves around ladino clover, and cereals are my favorite weapons. Whenever I'm totally baffled what to do next with a field, I plant a bin run cereal grain. Rye and oats in the fall, and oats in the spring. I'm trying to wean myself off of the chemicals, but it's a difficult habit to break. I'm going to get a better mower to try to use that option more effectively.

I fall planted black oats last year. They all got eaten. I wasn't worried about that part. I'm pursuing the biggest tonnage oat that won't head out, and here I forgot to put up an exclusion cage.

I hadn't considered them for spring planting until this year. They've beat winter rye in biomass trials. I've got some grass peaking through my clover and barley and that has me thinking about trying to push the cereals even harder in the spring. Barley is great, but it's not 5 star when it comes to biomass.

Take a look at this USDA sheet on black oat. It could really be a game changer when it comes to fall tonnage or pumping carbon and humus to your clover spring into summer. In the sheet they also mention a lower C:N ratio than rye which I'd take as a quicker break down period, and more palatability later in it's growth cycle.

Pay no attention to the "not frost tolerant" part. Green cover says they'll live down to 10 degrees. Expect to pay twice as much for the seed (like any forage oat) vs feed or VNS oats. But if you can get it from a cover crop dealer, it's still half the price of BOB oats.

https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_avst2.pdf

 

[MarkDarvin]

If I could eek out an extra 1,000 lbs/ac of fall forage, I'd pay that premium.

 

[Triple C]

Holy Cow! Just spent the past hour reading from page 1. Great info and great, great thread!!!

 

[Mennoniteman]

Holy Cow! Just spent the past hour reading from page 1. Great info and great, great thread!!!

This may be a covid19 sign that you are running out of things to do.

 

[Mennoniteman]

My March 13th oats drilled no-till into an existing ladino clover field, after 3 1/2 months the oats are going to start to ripen shortly. I'm going to let them expire on their own, turkeys and deer will eat this grain all summer and the straw will be carbon food for the clover next summer. One downside is that the tops of the clover is looking a little old because I can't mow it to rejuvenate it like I would normally do. But I should get a heavier reseeding by not mowing. It'll be interesting to see how this clover field does next year. It was four years old and just starting to look like it needed something to rejuvenate it, that's why I drilled the oats into it this spring.

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