Spring/Summer plots ?’s

[bearcat]

Last spring was my first time with plots on the new farm. Some areas had been planted a few years prior and some were new. Due to lack of equipment I went with throw n mow in both the spring and fall. I went with buckwheat and sorghum for the spring and cereal grains, turnips and clover this fall.
After a dry fall, the plots are looking pretty great now!

I almost hate to terminate/ spray them too soon. The clover is really coming on strong and the cereal grains are growing very well.
Being in southern OK, the clover won’t make it through the summer.
I wanted to see what you’d recommend.

Thanks to a forum member, I’ve got access to a cultipacker and disc this year.
I’m going to go back with buckwheat and sorghum, but I’ll add in some sunflowers and cowpeas.
I was thinking about setting the disc pretty straight and just doing a light discing when the time comes.
I wanted to see how you guys would recommend going about transitioning from my fall plots to my spring plots.



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[Drycreek]

Setting the disc almost straight is exactly what I’ve been doing for the last three or four years. The soil I have can be planted by just making grooves around an inch or two deep. I can’t afford a drill and I can’t see how I’m hurting the soil with my minimum tillage. I’ll plant IC peas using the disc, a three point seeder, and a homemade tire drag. They do pretty good too ! When I transition from fall plots to spring plots I used to just disc the fall plot under. Since I’ve adopted the minimum tillage I usually spray with gly, wait ten days or so and plant

 

[bearcat]

Sounds good. Thanks for the feedback
Are you spraying, seeding, then discing in?


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[SwampCat]

I dont know what your deer density is. I am in SW AR, and I cant grow any type of bean, pea, or sunflower due to deer browsing and hogs rooting. I just leave my durana clover. Yes, it often dies out in late aug/sep - but if the plot is a fairly weedy or some trees to provide some shade - the deer can use it almost all summer. They can for sure use it while the fawns are sucking and antlers are growing. I mow a month before october planting and lightly disk - disturbing about half the soil surface - and plant wheat so I have fall greenup to hunt while clover comes back. The wheat is for me to hunt and the clover is a high protien food source for the deer in the summer.

 

[Drycreek]

Sounds good. Thanks for the feedback
Are you spraying, seeding, then discing in?


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Spraying , discing, seeding, and dragging. I wind up with a bunch of grooves an inch or two deep and very little else disturbed. Usually my wheat looks like I drilled it. If I plant medium red clover with it I just sow it on top after dragging and let the rain beat it into the ground. SwampCat is right if you have lots of deer. IC peas are an “ice cream” food for deer, they will stay in it. What saves me is low deer density and I plant every little spot that I can in the spring, even openings where we don’t hunt. We don’t plant those places in the fall, just the places where we hunt. We also have a pipeline R. O. W. in the center of our lease where we planted Whitetail Institute clover. It’s gonna show its potential this year.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Have cereal grains growing to maturity in the spring and creating straw sets up the perfect throw and mow conditions for the fall crop.

 

[bearcat]

Have cereal grains growing to maturity in the spring and creating straw sets up the perfect throw and mow conditions for the fall crop.

The cereal grains would be a better option than to terminate and plant a cover crop?


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[jlane35]

The cereal grains would be a better option than to terminate and plant a cover crop?
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The cereal grains are a cover crop.

 

[Mennoniteman]

The cereal grains would be a better option than to terminate and plant a cover crop?


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Yes, way better. Like @jlane35 said, they are a cover crop. And a principle with farming is that you don't spray or till if you don't have to, because each one has side effects. One of the basic foundational methods of growing food plots for deer is to plant a cereal grain (rye, winter wheat, zone 8 or warmer; oats& barley) into the mix in late summer to hunt over in the fall, this planting is an amazing multipurpose tool that accomplishes ten different things no other plant species can; fall attractant, winter food, the first available early spring food, cover crop, carbon balancer to offset nitrogen from legumes, fawning cover, seed heads for deer and turkeys, allopathic weed control, saves money and fuel from not needing to plant in the spring, and the perfect density of straw cover for a throw and mow in late summer to restart the cycle again. One key is to seed the grain very heavy along with normal rates of brassica and clover (maybe a light addition of oats, they won't survive the winter) so it can accomplish all of this better. A dose of glyphosate right before the throw and mow is the only opportunity to control weeds in this cycle, besides the allopathic control.

 

[bearcat]

Yes, way better. Like @jlane35 said, they are a cover crop. And a principle with farming is that you don't spray or till if you don't have to, because each one has side effects. One of the basic foundational methods of growing food plots for deer is to plant a cereal grain (rye, winter wheat, zone 8 or warmer; oats& barley) into the mix in late summer to hunt over in the fall, this planting is an amazing multipurpose tool that accomplishes ten different things no other plant species can; fall attractant, winter food, the first available early spring food, cover crop, carbon balancer to offset nitrogen from legumes, fawning cover, seed heads for deer and turkeys, allopathic weed control, saves money and fuel from not needing to plant in the spring, and the perfect density of straw cover for a throw and mow in late summer to restart the cycle again. One key is to seed the grain very heavy along with normal rates of brassica and clover (maybe a light addition of oats, they won't survive the winter) so it can accomplish all of this better. A dose of glyphosate right before the throw and mow is the only opportunity to control weeds in this cycle, besides the allopathic control.

Fantastic info. I have some broadleaf weeds in there now, but I’m sure they will die off as the temps warm up.


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[Drycreek]

There’s only one possible fly in this ointment. Hogs. If I broadcast any grain seeds into a standing crop without covering them the hogs will literally destroy the crop looking for the grain seed. YMMV

 

[SwampCat]

Any wheat, oats, that I plant in the fall will not even be noticeable come the following fall. Everything down here eats the seed heads - deer, coons, hogs, birds. The whole field will be eaten and trample flat by mid summer. Wheat and oats here would be a good cover crop for a summer tnm planting if that process works for you. That method is not consistent enough for me to depend on.

 

[bearcat]

I’ll see how it does. Our density is not crazy high and the hogs are there, but not overwhelming. I’ve got 1 or 2 plots that’s didn’t do as well. I may terminate them and do a comparison between those and the others where I’ll leave the cereal grains.


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[bearcat]

Everything thing is looking pretty good. I’m going to do what you guys recommended and let these continue through the spring and summer.

I wanted to see what would be recommended for some of the bare spots or areas with less coverage?


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[Mennoniteman]

Everything thing is looking pretty good. I’m going to do what you guys recommended and let these continue through the spring and summer.

I wanted to see what would be recommended for some of the bare spots or areas with less coverage?


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Is this all the same field? The pictures look really good, except for the thin spots, they look like poor soil or low seeding rates. Tilling or spraying in a thin stand is counter-productive, and broadcasting seed into hard dirt is going to lead to a poor germination. If you are minded to seed, you could broadcast some seed into the existing growth, and then set the disc lightly just to give the seed a bit of a foothold. But I think for me I'd let the weeds and grain and clover grow and then do a throw n mow later on after the summer drought has passed.

For future reference, when soil and growth looks like those thin spots in the pics, it has frost seeding written all over it.

 

[bearcat]

2 different fields. One looks great on 1 side and has bare spots on the other. The other field isn’t near as lush. It also didn’t do as well last spring /summer. Ill leave them be for now and spray any weeds that come up
The first soil test is for the plot that is doing better

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[Letmgrow]

Spraying , discing, seeding, and dragging. I wind up with a bunch of grooves an inch or two deep and very little else disturbed. Usually my wheat looks like I drilled it. If I plant medium red clover with it I just sow it on top after dragging and let the rain beat it into the ground. SwampCat is right if you have lots of deer. IC peas are an “ice cream” food for deer, they will stay in it. What saves me is low deer density and I plant every little spot that I can in the spring, even openings where we don’t hunt. We don’t plant those places in the fall, just the places where we hunt. We also have a pipeline R. O. W. in the center of our lease where we planted Whitetail Institute clover. It’s gonna show its potential this year.

This method intrigues me. I have a couple places this method might work. After seeding I could use my chain link fence drag behind my ATV to move the seed into the grooves. Hmmmm, another plan.
Hogs are no problem around here. They all gather at the corner bar.

 

[Drycreek]

This method intrigues me. I have a couple places this method might work. After seeding I could use my chain link fence drag behind my ATV to move the seed into the grooves. Hmmmm, another plan.
Hogs are no problem around here. They all gather at the corner bar.

That method has worked for me for the last 3/4 years. I used to disc the hell out of my plots, spent lots of time and fuel. I began to read about the down side of tilling your soil and figured since I don’t have a drill this was as close as I could come. It seems to be the best solution if you can’t drill. TnM I can’t use, too many porkers, I wish I could though, be less work !