I shreded my standing corn #$!^%* Now what!

Brokenbear

Brokenbear

Active Member
The problem:4AC bottom ground standing corn ..70% double ears ..corn is GONE ...50/50 raccoons n deer ...sad because this corn has always been part our winter over protein provision.

Surrounding the 4AC: 3 sides CRP ground and then 5AC soybeans (deer mowed knee high but putting on beans) and that field has PTT,Kale n Dikon Raddish already well established amongst the beans

The Now What: this thinking is litterly 2 hours old as I just walked the corn this AM after going to the farm to spot spray cocklebur and decided to walk the corn as I had noticed some damage from a distance 3 weeks ago ...I saw ONE ear of corn after shredding ONE ...OK the 2 hour old plan That I would really like to have improved/changed etc. ...Since stalks were slightly green at bottom let the biomass dry 7-10 days ...disc to get good percentage of dirt showing ...10-14 days after disking then do a chemical burn down and follow with a broadcast or drilled Cereal Rye? {above timetable would have me replanting 3rd week of September}

Keep in mind I will have to go in the following spring and mow, burn down then disc as I do not have a notill drill or planter ....this field is scheduled for beans for the 2018 crop year

All ideas and suggestions are welcome!

Bear


 
I think your problem has oats written all over it. About the number one small grain preferred by deer for grazing when in the tender stage, best time to plant is around labor day, and should self terminate in midwinter.
 
Corn doesn't have a lot of protein in it, so I'm not sure what you meant when you said it's part of your "winter over protein provision". Corn is a good source of carbohydrates for deer, but it's not a good, overall winter food source for them, especially up north.

You have too many deer, if they wiped out a 4 acre corn field AND have kept a nearby 5 acre bean field knee high. You don't need more food plot acres, you need more bullets.

We see this a lot on the forums, but you're approaching wildlife food plots like a farmer, with monocultures of corn and soybeans. Swat1018 gave you the best advice, by far. Knowing that you'll be rotating these right back into beans next year, (making the same mistake again) it doesn't really matter a whole lot what you do this fall. If you get to the point where you want to improve wildlife habitat, versus strictly improving your odds of hunting success, there are lots of ways to get there that are FAR more effective than what you're currently doing. Heck, they even cost less and take less time, you just have to adjust your methods and your expectations.
 
Jason Broom said:
Corn doesn't have a lot of protein in it, so I'm not sure what you meant when you said it's part of your "winter over protein provision". Corn is a good source of carbohydrates for deer, but it's not a good, overall winter food source for them, especially up north.

You have too many deer, if they wiped out a 4 acre corn field AND have kept a nearby 5 acre bean field knee high. You don't need more food plot acres, you need more bullets.

We see this a lot on the forums, but you're approaching wildlife food plots like a farmer, with monocultures of corn and soybeans. Swat1018 gave you the best advice, by far. Knowing that you'll be rotating these right back into beans next year, (making the same mistake again) it doesn't really matter a whole lot what you do this fall. If you get to the point where you want to improve wildlife habitat, versus strictly improving your odds of hunting success, there are lots of ways to get there that are FAR more effective than what you're currently doing. Heck, they even cost less and take less time, you just have to adjust your methods and your expectations.
Click to expand...
Spot on points and advice.
I'll add one more thing...develop natural browse. It's the best winter forage. A chainsaw is the best feeder.
 
I agree with Jason. Go read up on the Lick Creek method and adapt it to your location and then start slinging some lead and broadheads. If you don't have enough tags, get your friends involved for a few years. Take some kids hunting and get them involved. Find a trapper that is interested in coons, coyotes and bobcats and let him come in and help you also(unless it's something you like to do). You work it around to where they have more food than they need once you get the deer in check.
 
Last edited:
Jason Broom said:
Corn doesn't have a lot of protein in it, so I'm not sure what you meant when you said it's part of your "winter over protein provision". Corn is a good source of carbohydrates for deer, but it's not a good, overall winter food source for them, especially up north.

You have too many deer, if they wiped out a 4 acre corn field AND have kept a nearby 5 acre bean field knee high. You don't need more food plot acres, you need more bullets.

We see this a lot on the forums, but you're approaching wildlife food plots like a farmer, with monocultures of corn and soybeans. Swat1018 gave you the best advice, by far. Knowing that you'll be rotating these right back into beans next year, (making the same mistake again) it doesn't really matter a whole lot what you do this fall. If you get to the point where you want to improve wildlife habitat, versus strictly improving your odds of hunting success, there are lots of ways to get there that are FAR more effective than what you're currently doing. Heck, they even cost less and take less time, you just have to adjust your methods and your expectations.
Click to expand...
1. Agreed deer count too high so our tags will allow us to remove 12 does which that will be for sure plus wives n kids
2. I am a farmer at heart ...love to see groceries grow
3. I can't do swat1018 proposal ...if you read the post ...the litter matter is already on the ground 3 or 4 inches deep
4. I'm pretty sure just chopping the weed plants will inhibit growth but not necessarily kill the roots
5. "Far more effective" ...like what
Bear
 
DocHolladay said:
I agree with Jason. Go read up on the Lick Creek method and adapt it to your location and then start slinging some lead and broadheads. If you don't have enough tags, get your friends involved for a few years. Take some kids hunting and get them involved. Find a trapper that is interested in coons, coyotes and bobcats and let him come in and help you also(unless it's something you like to do). You centurion it around to where they have more food than they need once you get the deer in check.
Click to expand...
I'll be your friend. ..and I have kids!!
Sounds like you have some good options Bear. I think you'll be fine. Do your deer eat turnips in the winter? Some do. Some don't
 
Tap said:
I'm not really sure that there is another term for "allelopathic", but to sum it up, it means the plant (rye, for instance) gives off compounds (?) that inhibit weed growth.
Click to expand...

Yes I understand the principal but where or how do you determine which new planting (oats/Rye etc) attack the target plant such a cocklebur, mares tail, golden rod ...and is it as effective as a chemical burn down

Bear
 
Brokenbear said:
1. Agreed deer count too high so our tags will allow us to remove 12 does which that will be for sure plus wives n kids
2. I am a farmer at heart ...love to see groceries grow
3. I can't do swat1018 proposal ...if you read the post ...the litter matter is already on the ground 3 or 4 inches deep
4. I'm pretty sure just chopping the weed plants will inhibit growth but not necessarily kill the roots
5. "Far more effective" ...like what
Bear
Click to expand...
I'm no expert, but I had the same fear planting into sericea lespedeza. I had 2,3 inches of mowed down SL on the ground when I broadcast Rye into it. See session a little heavy and it came up fine.
 
Jeff H said:
I'll be your friend. ..and I have kids!!
Sounds like you have some good options Bear. I think you'll be fine. Do your deer eat turnips in the winter? Some do. Some don't
Click to expand...
Yes ...really Erie to walk a turnip field in late winter. ..they eat just the interior. ..there then lies 2 million giant tennis ball halves everywhere

Bear
 
Tap said:
I'm not really sure that there is another term for "allelopathic", but to sum it up, it means the plant (rye, for instance) gives off compounds (?) that inhibit weed growth.
Click to expand...

To be just a little more specific, those allelopathic chemicals are emitted from the roots of certain plants and inhibit the germination of seeds from other plants. I know that the roots of winter rye plants emit these chemicals and apparently oats do too, but if they freeze over winter, then they won't be inhibiting the germination of warm-season grass and weed plants the following year, the way winter rye does.
 
Brokenbear said:
1. Agreed deer count too high so our tags will allow us to remove 12 does which that will be for sure plus wives n kids
2. I am a farmer at heart ...love to see groceries grow
3. I can't do swat1018 proposal ...if you read the post ...the litter matter is already on the ground 3 or 4 inches deep
4. I'm pretty sure just chopping the weed plants will inhibit growth but not necessarily kill the roots
5. "Far more effective" ...like what
Bear
Click to expand...

1. I'm glad you are open to harvesting more does, bringing the population into line with the habitat; that's key to any kind of measurable success.
2. As a farmer, you have the tools and means to be a very effective manager of land for wildlife, but you can't go about it the way a farmer does. The two have quite different objectives.
3. You would be really surprised at what you CAN do, once you look at things a little different. If the intention is to plant these fields for crops, and to harvest them, there isn't much we can tell you about how to do that effectively. (Although, a fall-planted winter rye cover crop followed by beans and corn the next summer is an option worth considering.)
4. The timing of when you "chop" something (before it seeds, yet too late in the season for regrowth) can have a huge impact on the success of certain types of plots. Timely mowing of clover, for example, is the best way to control broadleaf weeds. Mowing or crimping rye stems before the seed hardens and becomes viable will keep rye from becoming a "weed" in the next thing you plant.
5. "Far more effective" is a subjective term, but it basically means working WITH nature to provide the kind of diversity and abundance of tree/plant life throughout your property that favors all forms of wildlife. Just as you can't build a strong house by erecting only one wall correctly, building wildlife habitat requires attention to numerous aspects of your land, not just food plots. Two examples, of many, would be strip-discing land that has been properly amended, and the artful application of a chainsaw. Both are a lot less expensive than planting 10 acres of corn or beans, and they have the potential to benefit a host of wildlife, year 'round.

Deer need a lot more than "groceries" to survive. A holistic approach to soil conservation and permaculture habitat management is a completely different world than the remarkably effective clean farming techniques that feed our human population. Please know that I'm not bashing farmers or their methods, but they aren't the best way to manage deer habitat, by a long shot.
 
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