deer patch
Well-Known Member
Your corn field looks great. Do you have anymore pictures of deer using your protein tubs? I’ve always heard they wouldn’t touch them.
Keystone Krops
- Thread starter Mennoniteman
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Mennoniteman
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The oats that I drilled into ladino clover in early spring is doing fantastic. I'm torn between mowing and letting them ripen. If I let them ripen our wildlife will eat every kernel, but the clover would do better if it was mowed. In a holding pattern on this one.
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Mennoniteman
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You are so right. The protein tubs were a major fail. I started them with some apples on top and threw in a handful of corn now and then, and my tactacam showed that the deer were coming in and licking every evening even when there was no attractant, but it slowly fizzled away to nothing. Don't waste your money on cattle lick tubs for deer, they don't work.
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KSQ2
Well-Known Member
I’ve tried broadcasting spring cereals a couple times, they’ve NEVER looked anything like that! I’m most definitely going to have to try out my buddies no-till drill next spring! Maybe I wouldn’t be battling grass so much now in the lower barn plot.The oats that I drilled into ladino clover in early spring is doing fantastic. I'm torn between mowing and letting them ripen. If I let them ripen our wildlife will eat every kernel, but the clover would do better if it was mowed. In a holding pattern on this one.
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BenAllgood
Well-Known Member
That looks great. What do you think about doing both? Mowing strips to see how it works out for the future?The oats that I drilled into ladino clover in early spring is doing fantastic. I'm torn between mowing and letting them ripen. If I let them ripen our wildlife will eat every kernel, but the clover would do better if it was mowed. In a holding pattern on this one.
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MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
Those oats in clover are simply amazing looking. If I had a vote, It'd be to let the oats stand. I think the longer those oats go, your clover will come even faster afterwards. I see the oats as a pump injecting boat loads of liquid carbon into the soil right now, and turning free nitrogen into more carbon, both good things for clover.
Even if the clover is behind and thin right now, now isn't clover time. I think the shade, carbon, and grass presence are far more important for stand health. My clover is getting absolutely swamped by other things right now. Some good, some not so good, but I'm letting it go until we get past the hottest day of the year, which is 15 days away.
Even if the clover is behind and thin right now, now isn't clover time. I think the shade, carbon, and grass presence are far more important for stand health. My clover is getting absolutely swamped by other things right now. Some good, some not so good, but I'm letting it go until we get past the hottest day of the year, which is 15 days away.
MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
Mennonite, Do you think drilling other spring cereals into clover could work?
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Well, I also have fall rye growing in my clover plots. I see no reason why barley and wheat wouldn't work.
I actually have mowed strips in the past. They do much better short term for clover, but not as good long term
Broadcasting spring cereals into clover won't work unless there's a lot of soil exposed between the clover, which is usually not the case. Cereals need soil to seed contact for germination.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Our April 22nd field corn is 75 days into the 113 day growth window and looking good even though the area is hot and dry. Is I've said before, the key to growing corn in drought prone areas such as on shale ridges is to plant early and get shaded ground coverage before the heat of summer.
deer patch
Well-Known Member
I was hoping you would prove me wrong because they are cheap and high in protein. I’ll just keep feeding mine to the cattle and not drag one out into the deer woods.
BTW…plots look amazing.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
I'm doing a little land clearing the easy way today (first a logger, then, matches) and will have another 2 acre field in a strategic area of the woods. There were 2 deer watching us working in 90 degree heat.
MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
Those are some nice dinosaur eggs that came up outta that soil!
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Well, here's the final goodbye to the oats that I drilled into clover in March. After getting some great input from the group I had decided earlier to let the oats ripen and go into seedheads, which now appears to be a good choice. As you can see in the picture, our wildlife has eaten most of the grain heads and all that's left is some straw that will supply carbon to feed the clover. If you see lines in the clover in the second picture that's because I drilled rye into the oats stubble right before mowing it. The wide green clover strip was a tractor track from driving through earlier, just driving down the oats in July made them totally disappear a month later.
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KSQ2
Well-Known Member
Looks amazing! I like looking at pictures of green, need to be reminded what it looks like.Well, here's the final goodbye to the oats that I drilled into clover in March. After getting some great input from the group I had decided earlier to let the oats ripen and go into seedheads, which now appears to be a good choice. As you can see in the picture, our wildlife has eaten most of the grain heads and all that's left is some straw that will supply carbon to feed the clover. If you see lines in the clover in the second picture that's because I drilled rye into the oats stubble right before mowing it. The wide green clover strip was a tractor track from driving through earlier, just driving down the oats in July made them totally disappear a month later.
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deer patch
Well-Known Member
Well, here's the final goodbye to the oats that I drilled into clover in March. After getting some great input from the group I had decided earlier to let the oats ripen and go into seedheads, which now appears to be a good choice. As you can see in the picture, our wildlife has eaten most of the grain heads and all that's left is some straw that will supply carbon to feed the clover. If you see lines in the clover in the second picture that's because I drilled rye into the oats stubble right before mowing it. The wide green clover strip was a tractor track from driving through earlier, just driving down the oats in July made them totally disappear a month later.
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This has been on my mind since you posted this, so I decided to post about it. I have a 1/2 acre plot of clover that I always plant winter grains in and then in the spring I let the cows eat the grains down in mid April or early May. Well this spring we had so much rain I didn’t want the cows to trample my clover into the ground and then I had shoulder surgery in mid May and couldn’t bush hog it when I should have. The grain thatch was to much for the clover and chocked some of it out. I see the same thing in your first picture. Sure there is still a lot of clover but then there are some areas where the thatch has chocked out the clover. For me, I don’t see the benefit in letting the grain self terminate. Going forward I will terminate with cattle, mechanical or chemical.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
I can sympathize with the shoulder surgery part, I had a shoulder surgery several years ago and lost 3 months of my life trying to get back, and am now contemplating going to have the other one done...
Actually in my first picture the thick thatch strips are deceiving, there is as much clover in the oats thatch strips as there is in the open strips that I created by driving my tractor through a month earlier, it's just not very visible. Once I take my next photo it's going to show this entire plot in solid clover from one end to the other.
We always started our new seeding clover fields in grain intentionally because grain is such a good nurse crop for clover, so the fact of your grain thatch being so thick that it is choking out your clover is a bit of a puzzler for me, I have always observed these two crops co-existing very well, the grain seeding in this instance must have been extremely thick, or by chance did you have other grasses present as well? Grasses of course will definitely choke out clover very quickly, so it stands to reason that grain, being in the same family, could do so as well, although several reasons that grains work so well in combination with clover is that the individual plants are usually spaced further apart, letting in more sunshine and not competing with the clover as much for sunshine, nutrients, and water.
I don't think this oft asked question about small grain in food plots: "self terminate or terminate by mowing" has any "one size fits all" answer, but rather comes down to management goals and circumstance. To allow growth to maturity limits mowing and grazing, and using herbicides for weed control. To mow before maturity takes away higher OM in the soil, bedding cover, future carbon potential, and feeding wildlife mature grain. I have done both in the past, and will continue to do so.
I have taken this particular field in the picture frim poor dirt to rich dirt in a 6 year period, mainly by soil testing and adding the correct amendments of lime and fertilizer, and growing combinations of soil builders such as grains, radishes, and clover. Right now it's raining and we are just coming out of a drought, I had another rye/radish combination planted into the clover a week and a half ago, so the next few weeks will show how well this field bounces back from this past dry August. I will post pics in several weeks.
deer patch
Well-Known Member
I had a volunteer crop of rye grain that was my culprit. Clover was doing good until it laid over onto the ground and the chocked it out due to no sunlight is all I can figure out.
On the shoulder, I go to my doctor Thursday and should get released then. I had my rotator cuff anchored with 4 screws and then they reattached 3 tendons, all courteous to a fall. When I do something, I do it all out. If you have surgery, I hope it goes well for you and you have a speedy recovery.
On the shoulder, I go to my doctor Thursday and should get released then. I had my rotator cuff anchored with 4 screws and then they reattached 3 tendons, all courteous to a fall. When I do something, I do it all out. If you have surgery, I hope it goes well for you and you have a speedy recovery.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
This is a clover, rye, and brassica mix. The fall rains and a timely shot of 0-20-20 have rescued this plot from the summer drought
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Mennoniteman
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