One Straw Farm

[Hoosierhunting]

After years of following property threads on the old QDMA boards and now on here I’ve finally decided to start one. I never did because I felt like the level of mgmt is so low relative to what most you guys do and because at 40 acres I’m not working with much. Still feel that way, but the notebook that I used to keep each years planting dates, rates, settings etc got accidentally thrown out so I decided having a thread should hopefully provide a more permanent solution (I can hear chuckles from those that lost info on the old board).


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[Hoosierhunting]

As a bit of background, I’m in North Central Indiana. Ag fields and woodlots dominate the landscape. One thing that’s kind of different to this area is the size of parcels. There are so many small fields, woodlots, etc. most still joined by fencerows. The amount of edge this creates is huge and I think from a whitetail habitat perspective it’s as good as anyplace in the country. The downside is our population density and the amount of hunting pressure we have.


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[Hoosierhunting]

Like several other states, Indiana has had an unseasonably wet and cooler spring than normal. I was able to finally get some burning done on April 13th.


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[Hoosierhunting]

Drilled Eagles Large Lad forage beans into the 3 acre bowling pin plot on May 28th. First time using Great Plains NT Drill. Drive Type 3, seed rate ~27. Drill wasn’t perfectly level (discussed on other thread) so had some seed on surface. Plenty of moisture so think I should be fine even if seed is a little shallow.


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[Hoosierhunting]

Drilled into standing WR and crimson clover. Plan on increasing WR seeding rate in my fall blend to get a thicker stand. The delayed planting dates this spring allowed for weeds to establish in the WR. Next year the plan is to completely eliminate the use of gly.


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[Hoosierhunting]

Drilled the south plot with Eagle Midwest wildlife managers mix and some conventional RR 3.4’s. I’ve always planted late maturing beans and manage to have green forage into the season and plenty of pods for late season.


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[Hoosierhunting]

Hit a snag with the wheel disk. Time for some fabricobbling...


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[Hoosierhunting]

Planted four acres of summer mix on June 4th. The mix has been an ongoing experiment for four years. My goals are to keep it cost effective, have a lot of diversity and build the soil. Typically broadcast the mix, this was my first year drilling it. Seeding rates are probably on the high end this year as I’m normally planting a little more ground with the same seed, wet spots cut the planting down a bit this year:

Lbs/acre
12 - 4010 forage peas
12 - cowpeas
4 - sun hemp
8 - sunflowers
12 - buckwheat
10 - milo


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[swat1018]

View attachment 16028

Planted four acres of summer mix on June 4th. The mix has been an ongoing experiment for four years. My goals are to keep it cost effective, have a lot of diversity and build the soil. Typically broadcast the mix, this was my first year drilling it. Seeding rates are probably on the high end this year as I’m normally planting a little more ground with the same seed, wet spots cut the planting down a bit this year:

Lbs/acre
12 - 4010 forage peas
12 - cowpeas
4 - sun hemp
8 - sunflowers
12 - buckwheat
10 - milo


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Have you planted this mix before here in the midwest? Where did you get the cow peas? What County, Madison here, although most of my efforts are in NE MO.

 

[Hoosierhunting]

Have you planted this mix before here in the midwest? Where did you get the cow peas? What County, Madison here, although most of my efforts are in NE MO.

Yes, the cowpeas came from Welter Seed. I'm in Marshall County. This is only the second year for the cowpeas, they replaced soybeans in the mix. I have sandy ground and the cowpeas did good last year even with an earlier planting date. I like that they'll do well in dry/drought conditions but the seed cost is high and I'll probably replace it with more 4010's or go back to soybeans. Believe the cowpeas were $57/50lb this year. Everything else in the mix is under $30 for 50 except for the sun hemp which was $2/lb.

 

[Hoosierhunting]

Despite my worries about planting a little shallow, germination looks pretty good. Have some areas where populations are too high but browsing will cure that I’m sure. The local fab shop that’s building my roller crimper says they’re still weeks out. I can’t really complain cause it’s a mates rates kinda deal but that meant I had to mow off the rye instead since the roller crimper Ive borrowed before isnt available to me this year. One positive is it’ll be interesting to see the difference, if any, from where the tractor tires acted as a roller crimper and where there’s just mowed thatch.


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[Mennoniteman]

View attachment 16021View attachment 16022View attachment 16023View attachment 16024View attachment 16025

Drilled Eagles Large Lad forage beans into the 3 acre bowling pin plot on May 28th. First time using Great Plains NT Drill. Drive Type 3, seed rate ~27. Drill wasn’t perfectly level (discussed on other thread) so had some seed on surface. Plenty of moisture so think I should be fine even if seed is a little shallow.


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Nice drill! I always set my drill to Drive 2, rate 40-50 for beans, but I'm thinking that your setting might be more consistent for spacing than mine is...

 

[Hoosierhunting]

Nice drill! I always set my drill to Drive 2, rate 40-50 for beans, but I'm thinking that your setting might be more consistent for spacing than mine is...

Thanks Mennoniteman, that drill is actually a rental from our local soil and water conservation district. $50 + $6/acre and almost no one uses it. I had it for three weeks waiting for things to dry out and they just let me keep it and said they'd call me if anyone else wanted to use it. It's an awesome deal for a small acreage guy like me, even though I'd love to own one. That drill and New Holland of yours is one sweet set up.

 

[Mennoniteman]

View attachment 16067View attachment 16068View attachment 16069

Despite my worries about planting a little shallow, germination looks pretty good. Have some areas where populations are too high but browsing will cure that I’m sure. The local fab shop that’s building my roller crimper says they’re still weeks out. I can’t really complain cause it’s a mates rates kinda deal but that meant I had to mow off the rye instead since the roller crimper Ive borrowed before isnt available to me this year. One positive is it’ll be interesting to see the difference, if any, from where the tractor tires acted as a roller crimper and where there’s just mowed thatch.


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I like the title of your thread, and see a connection to the "straw" in this picture. Straw is considered invaluable in modern no-till farming, having amazing properties for soil protection and moisture retention. In some far eastern countries straw is almost worshipped as a conservation practice. You probably could have named it "El Muchos Straw Farm"

 

[Hoosierhunting]

I like the title of your thread, and see a connection to the "straw" in this picture. Straw is considered invaluable in modern no-till farming, having amazing properties for soil protection and moisture retention. In some far eastern countries straw is almost worshipped as a conservation practice. You probably could have named it "El Muchos Straw Farm"

Haha, el muchos straw farm might’ve been more appropriate. The title was a nod to the book One Straw Revolution by M. Fukuoka. My interest in regenerative farming and overall health of the land is as much a priority as anything Whitetail related nowadays.



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[Mennoniteman]

Haha, el muchos straw farm might’ve been more appropriate. The title was a nod to the book One Straw Revolution by M. Fukuoka. My interest in regenerative farming and overall health of the land is as much a priority as anything Whitetail related nowadays.



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Aha! I was wondering if One Straw Revolution had a bearing on the name but forgot to ask. I read most of it and could agree with a fair portion of it. I think agriculture could use a big breakthrough, and the ability to farm no-till and organic in unison would be that breakthrough. At this point there's a missing link and no one is quite sure what it is, but straw seems to have a connection somewhere.

 

[lakngolf]

Great to see a new property tour. Looks like some healthy land and your approach will preserve. Like the deal on the drill. That is one piece of equipment that could help us all but most have to improvise a bit.
Looking forward to tagging along

 

[Baker]

I like everything I'm reading here. Will be fun to follow. Love the philosophy

 

[Hoosierhunting]

Aha! I was wondering if One Straw Revolution had a bearing on the name but forgot to ask. I read most of it and could agree with a fair portion of it. I think agriculture could use a big breakthrough, and the ability to farm no-till and organic in unison would be that breakthrough. At this point there's a missing link and no one is quite sure what it is, but straw seems to have a connection somewhere.

Would be fantastic to see that happen or at least to see the amount of inputs go down....would love to see farm profits increase and the environment benefit at the same time.

 

[Hoosierhunting]

Great to see a new property tour. Looks like some healthy land and your approach will preserve. Like the deal on the drill. That is one piece of equipment that could help us all but most have to improvise a bit.
Looking forward to tagging along

Thanks Lak! The drill is an awesome deal, really happy the local soil and water conservation district still offers it. A few counties around us used to do the same thing but gave up on it.