Building Organic Matter

[dogghr]

If you don’t have enough buckwheat then I would till about an inch or two this time.
Your grain and clover need to be in soil for your area mid-late Aug
I would use your grain as you said but I would do RC. It is a quicker growing clover w deeper roots than WC. Overseed next spring w red and white and you can do a buckwheat rotation if you like and then replant grain and clover end next summer. Good luck.
Here is a pic of my couple of my plots today and the thatch that’s needed for a good TnM. These will be brassica

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[ansayre]

when i started a couple of years ago i couldn't find a good post that covered my particular situation:

The following is what I have distilled, in good measured from your replies yoderjac. Thanks for the suggestions!

New Food Plot created with a Forestry Mulcher

The goal is to get wildlife food plot going starting with a food plot cleared with a forestry mulcher. The forestry mulcher
will incorporate a lot of biomass which will consume nitrogen as it decomposes. Therefore at all times a legume will be
part of the cover to supply nitrogen to grain cover. The forestry mulcher may bring dormant weed seeds in the seed bank
into growing so initially be prepared to chemically control.

Be prepared for the soil conditioning affects of the winter rye (WR) and buckwheat (BW) coupled with perennial white clover to take
3 years before the soil is conditioned so that alternative forage crops (brassicas, peas, etc.) may be grown. Before
the soil has been improved trying to grow other crops is likely a waste of time and money and missed opportunities.

Very important: Soil test ASAP. Begin adjusting pH. Apply other conditioners (fertilizers as indicated)

If cleared by August 1st:

August 1st-15th
100#/A WR, 25#/A; 10#/A White Clover, 2#/A PTT and 2#/A Daikon

Reason:
The winter rye becomes the early attractant as well as the Daikon tops. As the season goes on, the Daikon tubers get hit. After a frost or two
(coincidentally, not causally) deer begin to use PTT tops. After the season, in late Jan and Feb they
hit the PTT bulbs hard. The winter rye gets hit in early spring again before it becomes rank. By then
White Clover is in full swing and deer use it until I'm ready to cycle back to buckwheat and sunn hemp.

After 4 weeks 100#/A 19-19-19
This will feed the WR and initial clover boost

Following Spring:

Spray with glyphosate early May after beginning greenup. 2 qts glyphosate + 1 qt 2-4D + 2# AMS
Kill all grasses weeds that have been released from the seed bank.

Late May/Early June - 20 lbs/ac Buckwheat with 20 lbs/ac Sunn hemp.

Reason:
This provides summer food and the sunn hemp fixes a lot of N into the soil.

Back to August 1st:
Spray with Clethodim to control grasses (if necessary)
Mow to control annual grasses/perennial weeds.
Overseed w/ 50#/A WR, 25# Forage Oats; 5#/A White Clover, 2#/A PTT, 2#/A Daikon. Adjust based on clover health
Brassicas (PTT) should be planted every other year.

Shouldn't be necessary to fertilize. Adding nitrogen will boost competitive cold season weeds.

Following Spring:
10# BW + 10# SH /A. Adjust based on clover health

 

[yoderjac]

when i started a couple of years ago i couldn't find a good post that covered my particular situation:

The following is what I have distilled, in good measured from your replies yoderjac. Thanks for the suggestions!

New Food Plot created with a Forestry Mulcher

The goal is to get wildlife food plot going starting with a food plot cleared with a forestry mulcher. The forestry mulcher
will incorporate a lot of biomass which will consume nitrogen as it decomposes. Therefore at all times a legume will be
part of the cover to supply nitrogen to grain cover. The forestry mulcher may bring dormant weed seeds in the seed bank
into growing so initially be prepared to chemically control.

Be prepared for the soil conditioning affects of the winter rye (WR) and buckwheat (BW) coupled with perennial white clover to take
3 years before the soil is conditioned so that alternative forage crops (brassicas, peas, etc.) may be grown. Before
the soil has been improved trying to grow other crops is likely a waste of time and money and missed opportunities.

Very important: Soil test ASAP. Begin adjusting pH. Apply other conditioners (fertilizers as indicated)

If cleared by August 1st:

August 1st-15th
100#/A WR, 25#/A; 10#/A White Clover, 2#/A PTT and 2#/A Daikon

Reason:
The winter rye becomes the early attractant as well as the Daikon tops. As the season goes on, the Daikon tubers get hit. After a frost or two
(coincidentally, not causally) deer begin to use PTT tops. After the season, in late Jan and Feb they
hit the PTT bulbs hard. The winter rye gets hit in early spring again before it becomes rank. By then
White Clover is in full swing and deer use it until I'm ready to cycle back to buckwheat and sunn hemp.

After 4 weeks 100#/A 19-19-19
This will feed the WR and initial clover boost

Following Spring:

Spray with glyphosate early May after beginning greenup. 2 qts glyphosate + 1 qt 2-4D + 2# AMS
Kill all grasses weeds that have been released from the seed bank.

Late May/Early June - 20 lbs/ac Buckwheat with 20 lbs/ac Sunn hemp.

Reason:
This provides summer food and the sunn hemp fixes a lot of N into the soil.

Back to August 1st:
Spray with Clethodim to control grasses (if necessary)
Mow to control annual grasses/perennial weeds.
Overseed w/ 50#/A WR, 25# Forage Oats; 5#/A White Clover, 2#/A PTT, 2#/A Daikon. Adjust based on clover health
Brassicas (PTT) should be planted every other year.

Shouldn't be necessary to fertilize. Adding nitrogen will boost competitive cold season weeds.

Following Spring:
10# BW + 10# SH /A. Adjust based on clover health

You got it in large part. Just a couple things. I typically use an annual clover rather than perennial when doing this rotation. Perennial clovers take longer to establish so fix less N in a short period. Since I'm replanting with this cycle, I don't get the benefit of persistence and annual clover is less expensive. In my area Crimson works well but the choice will depend on region. An alternative might be medium red clover. It is a perennial but it is short-lived and establishes faster.

As for the burn-down herbicide, it largely depends on your specific weed issues. Keep in mind that plants that farmers call "weeds" are great deer food. One of my weaknesses is my ability to ID weeds. I'm getting better, but it takes time. I like a healthy mix of weeds in my food plots, especially perennial clover plots, but even in these annual plots. Most broadleaf plants are not a problem, so unless you have a specific weed issue, I'd skip the 24d. The only other thing I'd say about burn-down herbicide is that you don't want to keep using the same herbicide over and over. That is what encourages resistance. I now switch between glyphosate and a generic version of Liberty. I also only spray if I need to. If I got a nice thick crop of buckwheat and sunn hemp in the summer and have few cool season grasses emerging, I may skip spraying in the fall.


Best of luck!