Got my soil sample results-suggestions on a plan

[John D]

I started a thread on here this spring looking for advice
http://deerhunterforum.com/index.ph...-looking-for-some-advice-on-my-property.5766/

Needles to say, I got too busy and never got anything planted except the septic field area. That was a pretty easy plant as I had to import almost 100 yards of topsoil. Needless To say, everything is growing great in that area. I used a product called Bucks Banquet from my co op with some oats. Didn't get it planted till early June but it took off and is growing great.

So today I got the lab results back from Whitetail Institute Which show the following
PH 5.7
Phosphorous 5 ppm
Potassium 68 ppm
Calcium 1189 ppm
Magnesium 153 ppm

I stated I wanted to grow imperial clover and the recommendation was 3750 lbs of lime, 15lbs of nitrogen,120 lbs of phosphate and 120 lbs of potash per acre

After talking with my guy at the co op, he told me that I should put all the lime in and till it. Seed it and spread 250 lbs of 6-24-24 fertilizer per acre and hit it again with another 250 lbs of the 6-24-24 fertilizer in the spring. Thoughts and recommendations?

I just did sprayed everything with glyphosate last week and probably going to kill the remainder off one more time. I'm going to spread the lime with a skid steer and shake it in place, then I'll till with a rototiller attachment. I'll probably have to wait a week or two before I plant as I'm crazy busy with work.

My plan is to use clover and Oats this fall and get everything planted by late August or Early September. I'm probably going to try an acre or so of the imperial clover to see what the fuss is all about and see if it's worth the money. I'm going to be planting 3 acres this time and the plots have some dividers like a stream and a driveway between them. Going to try a few different clovers and see which one does the best as I may have to frost seed if one doesn't do well in my area. So far I'm thinking Ladino, Durana, and Imperial and maybe even the Jumbo Ladino. Guy at the coop said I should plant at least two different clovers in each plot and he suggested a red clover. So each plt would be one of the whites and some red mixed in. Thoughts please?

I'm also wondering if I should add a Chicory in my plots? Not sure if it's going to get too busy with each area having two different clovers, oats and chicory?

Any advice would be appreciated. I've been doing a lot of planning and work to get this property ready.

 

[KSQ2]

I’ll let the other guys chime in on your fertilizer/lime plan. If it were me, I’d add winter wheat or winter rye, or both, to suppress weed and grass growth next year.

 

[John D]

I bought a boat load of forage oats on sale at TSC for dirt cheap, so I'm going to use it up. Planned to use it in the spring but it never happened. So I'm using it for a cover crop.

 

[KSQ2]

You can use them and a winter grain too, the oats won’t survive your winter. I only add oats because the deer like them early, I’m farther south than you, so a few of them survive the winter, but not many. The oats won’t do much for you in terms of grass/weed suppression.

 

[Elkaddict]

I also think you should use rye or triticale, at least 50% with your oats. It will feed the deer later through the winter and be the first thing to green up in the spring. It will also cut down on weeds. I try to add a pound of chicory with all clover plantings. I also like mixing red and white. If you’ve got 3 acres to plant, I’d also put atleast an acre of brassicas in. Clovers really don’t provide a lot of food through the winter.

 

[T-Max]

I bought a boat load of forage oats on sale at TSC for dirt cheap, so I'm going to use it up. Planned to use it in the spring but it never happened. So I'm using it for a cover crop.

Glad you got in on those oats. A guy in front of me bought every bag our store had...

 

[Mennoniteman]

I think that your plan sounds great if that amount of supplies and work is doable for you. Oats and Clover is a wonderful combination. In the past I've gotten some of those crazy low numbers back on soil tests, and just couldn't afford the amendments so I went with half, half will grow clover and oats just fine, both of those are scavengers that don't need perfect soils. So consider how much fertilizer and lime you can afford, if budget isn't a problem I'd put on what they call for, if slimming down, go with an equal percentage of each. If you can work your fertilizer and lime in that's a bonus, I'd work most of the fertilizer in too if it were my plot. Chicory seed is expensive, again, depends what your budget is. I often don't do chicory in a new field, I like to get the soil in shape before getting fancy, sometimes a new field needs replanted several times in the first few years until it gets going.

 

[John D]

I think that your plan sounds great if that amount of supplies and work is doable for you. Oats and Clover is a wonderful combination. In the past I've gotten some of those crazy low numbers back on soil tests, and just couldn't afford the amendments so I went with half, half will grow clover and oats just fine, both of those are scavengers that don't need perfect soils. So consider how much fertilizer and lime you can afford, if budget isn't a problem I'd put on what they call for, if slimming down, go with an equal percentage of each. If you can work your fertilizer and lime in that's a bonus, I'd work most of the fertilizer in too if it were my plot. Chicory seed is expensive, again, depends what your budget is. I often don't do chicory in a new field, I like to get the soil in shape before getting fancy, sometimes a new field needs replanted several times in the first few years until it gets going.

It's a lot of work and money but I've been planning for it. I wanted to do this in the spring but never got all the earth work done so it had to wait. At this point, I'll put all the lime on it. Just have to find a way to gauge how much lime to put on as I'm going to be shaking out of a tracked skid steer bucket. The area is difficult to spread so I'm not going to be able to get a spreader truck in the area.

The fertilizer I'll use half what they recommend now, maybe a little more and follow up first thing in the spring.

I'm also going to mix it up a bit and see what food plot plant works the best in my area.

 

[Mennoniteman]

It's a lot of work and money but I've been planning for it. I wanted to do this in the spring but never got all the earth work done so it had to wait. At this point, I'll put all the lime on it. Just have to find a way to gauge how much lime to put on as I'm going to be shaking out of a tracked skid steer bucket. The area is difficult to spread so I'm not going to be able to get a spreader truck in the area.

The fertilizer I'll use half what they recommend now, maybe a little more and follow up first thing in the spring.

I'm also going to mix it up a bit and see what food plot plant works the best in my area.

It seems like each food plot person has their own favorite small grain and clover type. Mine are rye and oats, based on growth in my soil type and deer use, and ladino.