Throw N Mow thread...

Well after fighting with myself I broke down and tried the T&M. After my early success with my first plot it was hard to try something different, but I keep telling myself it's a experiment. I sprayed about 1/2 acre on Friday, looks like a good kill started and we had about 1" rain last night so with the ground damp and rain forcasted for the next 2 days I broadcast 50#WR, 25# AWP, and 2# lidino clover and mowed. My brush hog wind rowed pretty bad so when I was done I raised it up and mowed the wind rows at a higher rpm it spread the thatch out nicely. Being my first time I am sceptical but I did notice the seed had fallen through to the moist ground below so I am hopeful.
What I've noticed with this method be patient with it, every time I use this method I think it's not looking so good because it takes a little longer but my plots have always turned out good. Sounds like you've got good moisture, good luck
 
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Three plots, three parent crops, three mixes... all doing well.

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One of those pics ^^^ is of volunteer buckwheat, it wasn't supposed to be there. This one should have:
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I planted 9 oaks around my throw and mow plot yesterday, so I took a couple pics of the plot. The plot is looking good.









Just a pic of how high the plot is.

 
Checked on my throw and mow plot today, 1 week after seeding. WR is coming up nicely, dig under the thatch and the clover is everywhere! I was sceptical but now I'm a believer. It has rained all day today. Field should be green by the weekend 20161012_135152.jpg
 
This plot was planted Sept 21 (oats, wheat and rye), got a little rain Sept 26 but that is all. The sides were planted as throw n mow because I did not want to till around the pear trees. Middle was tilled and then hit with chisel plow, which created rows or furrows. I then ran a drag harrow over the field, hoping most of the seed would enter the furrows. That seems to have worked great, even with minimal rain. Rows almost look like I planted with a grain drill, which I wish I had. Nothing is growing in T n M pear tree area.

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Here is a better picture of the side by side comparison. Hopefully both methods get some more rain soon. I will continue to monitor.

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This is LC mix throw n now. Everything was mowed July 1st.
I sprayed everything the morning of August 15th, and seeded the brassicas that afternoon, and then mowed. I went back on the 28th of August and seeded the grain mixture and mowed.

Everything appears to have worked beautifully. My only regret was maybe waiting a little longer on the grains since they are now taller than what I really wanted at this point.

This is my third year with the throw and mow, and I will likely never disk again. Too fast, and too easy.

You wouldn't believe the people that come close to calling me a liar when I tell them how it was planted. It definitely opens some eyes to this planting method.
 
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This is LC mix throw n now. Everything was mowed July 1st.
I sprayed everything the morning of August 15th, and seeded the brassicas that afternoon, and then mowed. I went back on the 28th of August and seeded the grain mixture and mowed.

Everything appears to have worked beautifully. My only regret was maybe waiting a little longer on the grains since they are now taller than what I really wanted at this point.

This is my third year with the throw and mow, and I will likely never disk again. Too fast, and too easy.

You wouldn't believe the people that come close to calling me a liar when I tell them how it was planted. It definitely opens some eyes to this planting method.
Looks amazing. I usually don't plant grains till first Sept. But I wouldn't complain. Funny about the liar comment, I understand. Mine laid dormant for 6 weeks with no rain, then with rains past week exploded into a green field. Even brassica planted first of Aug and no rain, have decided to bust loose. My fields went from gly sprayed brown the last 3 months to a carpet of green in just a few days. Tiller never made it out of barn this year. Thanks for showing, I'll get some pics of mine this weekend.
 
It definately takes more rain to get T&M growing, but with a drought like we're in, i don't want mine to sprout until we get good rain, because it could die. We've gotten 1 small shower since 9/10.
 
It definately takes more rain to get T&M growing, but with a drought like we're in, i don't want mine to sprout until we get good rain, because it could die. We've gotten 1 small shower since 9/10.

Yeah, I'm a little jealous. It hasn't rained here in over a month. All my seed and fertilizer is still setting in the shed.


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Pic from the stands last night, earlier this summer I did a throw and mow rye and clover micro plot here. This might be 10 yards by 10 yards, I was trying to get them to stop and maybe take a bite before heading off the the food plots. There is quite a bit of grass in there because all I did was throw and mow , no spray.



 
I've had a camera by this stand but facing more out in the field so the last time I pulled cards I turned it to overlook this little plot, no the ladder is not that crooked it must have taken a pic while moving it. Looks like they are coming in pretty close now all I need is a daytime pic.





 
last spring was the first time this plot had been mowed in at least 6 years. I mowed it in feb then sprayed with GLY april, planted BW and Sunflowers in may, mowed it again in August and planted WW, clover and PTT. I added one bag of 10-10-10 and a few bags of soluble lime last fall. The first photo is what it looked like before, the second photo was taken a few days after I mowed the WW last week.
 

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I am hoping to do a throw and mow plot with my mostly failed clover/chicory plot this fall. This plot is in zone 7b, in southeast Oklahoma. I am thinking of first spraying at the very beginning of August, then spot spraying again 2 weeks later (very tall Bermuda grass), and then throw N mow two weeks after that at the very beginning of September. That gives it 4 weeks to get a good germination before archery season opener.
I am considering spraying cleth this next week to get the grass down a bit, but worried about that dropping all my thatch down to nothing for the fall.


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Not sure if this pic will be helpful but I have a rocky field that needs to be throw and mow. Disking it is really not an option. My question is...the growth is not all that high so I'm wondering about the thatch if I spray and mow. Seems like it won't be enough but I've never done this before and clearly don't know what I'm talking about. Any thoughts about that? Thank you.
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I appreciate all the talk about thatch, but have you guys thought about going with an easy to germinate grain to start, like barley? I had a high, dry, compacted plot I started on last year. Put down a heavy rate of barley, and after I hooked one rain, it all took and thrived. That's also with proper fertility applied though too. Barley should take heat and drought better than oats or wheat. Rye would be an obvious choice for fall, but this time of year, it's barley for this guy.
 
Not sure if this pic will be helpful but I have a rocky field that needs to be throw and mow. Disking it is really not an option. My question is...the growth is not all that high so I'm wondering about the thatch if I spray and mow. Seems like it won't be enough but I've never done this before and clearly don't know what I'm talking about. Any thoughts about that? Thank you.
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A great looking field! Looks like nice black dirt, maybe a few of those rocks could be hand picked off the top. I see ferns growing, is your soil a little acidic? You could try spreading some small grain seed now then do throw n mow in late summer. Check what grows well in your area and then go to the feed mill and get a hundred lb bag, such as buckwheat, rye, oats, barley, or wheat. A cheap cover crop! Your local ag extension agent can also be a good source of information on grain species for establishment and soil building. The thing with soils is that the crop that works best for me in Pennsylvania may not work very well in your dirt in Maine. Even if your soil is too rocky to till it would still be well worth the twenty dollars for a soil test, you save way more money on fertilizer by knowing exactly what you need. If it were my field I'd pick rocks, spray, and notill drill buckwheat, oats and millet combo into it yesterday. Whatever you do, keep something green growing in it all the time, even if its only what's there now. Don't spray it dead in the middle of summer when you can't get anything else established.
 
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A great looking field! Looks like nice black dirt, maybe a few of those rocks could be hand picked off the top. I see ferns growing, is your soil a little acidic? You could try spreading some small grain seed now then do throw n mow in late summer. Check what grows well in your area and then go to the feed mill and get a hundred lb bag, such as buckwheat, rye, oats, barley, or wheat. A cheap cover crop! Your local ag extension agent can also be a good source of information on grain species for establishment and soil building. The thing with soils is that the crop that works best for me in Pennsylvania may not work very well in your dirt in Maine. Even if your soil is too rocky to till it would still be well worth the twenty dollars for a soil test, you save way more money on fertilizer by knowing exactly what you need. If it were my field I'd pick rocks, spray, and notill drill buckwheat, oats and millet combo into it yesterday. Whatever you do, keep something green growing in it all the time, even if its only what's there now. Don't spray it dead in the middle of summer when you can't get anything else established.
Thank you so much! It shouldn't be acidic. Did a soil test last year and applied the requisite amount of lime. And yes I do plan on clearing some of those rocks but that field is a rock fest. I have 3 others that hardly have a rock but that one makes up for it. So are you saying that even that short of grass, weeds and clover etc will suffice as potential cover for a throw and mow?
 
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