Summer No-till Plot - Buckwheat & Sunn Hemp

[yoderjac]

Yoder how tall did the buckwheat get before it started seeding

About waist heigh.

 

[victory]

Yoder that's awesome how tall will the sunn hemp get. Your OM must be high

 

[yoderjac]

I have a Kioti DK45 with cab. Last year when I mowed the sunn hemp for my fall plant, it was above the cab of the tractor.

 

[yoderjac]

The sunn hemp is just starting to outgrow the buckwheat:

 

[Drycreek]

That’s a good looking plot Jack. If I had known we were going to get this much rain in July I would have terminated my spring plot about two weeks ago and planted a buckwheat plot.

 

[ansayre]

The buckwheat is going to seed, and the sunn hemp is catching up and will soon take over:

That's a beautiful stand of buckwheat! The deer hammered my buckwheat. There isn't much left already. Any suggestions for a cover that the deer won't over browse with a goal of trying to improve soil OM. I have sorghum on part that does well, but seems to grow best where it gets partial shade.

 

[ansayre]

I am asking for next years planning and it will have to be broadcast.

 

[yoderjac]

That's a beautiful stand of buckwheat! The deer hammered my buckwheat. There isn't much left already. Any suggestions for a cover that the deer won't over browse with a goal of trying to improve soil OM. I have sorghum on part that does well, but seems to grow best where it gets partial shade.

Generally, deer use, but don't abuse buckwheat. Unless you are planting a tiny plot in poor habitat, you likely have bigger problems. It could be too high of deer density. Deer will sometimes abuse ice cream crops like soybeans, sunflowers, or cowpeas, but if they are abusing buckwheat in a multi-acre plot, it says something about your habitat. Deer generally won't hit sorghum until the seed heads ripen.

Crop choice depends on your situation and objectives.

 

[yoderjac]

The sunn hemp is now dominating the plot. It is now hard to see the buckwheat blooms.

 

[ansayre]

Generally, deer use, but don't abuse buckwheat. Unless you are planting a tiny plot in poor habitat, you likely have bigger problems. It could be too high of deer density. Deer will sometimes abuse ice cream crops like soybeans, sunflowers, or cowpeas, but if they are abusing buckwheat in a multi-acre plot, it says something about your habitat. Deer generally won't hit sorghum until the seed heads ripen.

Crop choice depends on your situation and objectives.

Thanks!

My objectives for the summer months are to only build soil health. The soil is pretty heavy clay and has been in food plots (3 acres) for 3 years now. It has a pretty good stand of white clover and I over seed with winter rye which does pretty well. I can't get a drill into because of access limitations. The top few inches are high 6 ph, but below that the soil is acidic (low 5's). Since it is heavy clay I limit the lime to 100#/A calcitic and per soil test 50#/A rock phosphate per year, otherwise I believe that it will just sit on the surface.

I would agree that the primary problem is high deer and turkey density and no neighboring food sources.

 

[yoderjac]

Thanks!

My objectives for the summer months are to only build soil health. The soil is pretty heavy clay and has been in food plots (3 acres) for 3 years now. It has a pretty good stand of white clover and I over seed with winter rye which does pretty well. I can't get a drill into because of access limitations. The top few inches are high 6 ph, but below that the soil is acidic (low 5's). Since it is heavy clay I limit the lime to 100#/A calcitic and per soil test 50#/A rock phosphate per year, otherwise I believe that it will just sit on the surface.

I would agree that the primary problem is high deer and turkey density and no neighboring food sources.

pH was an issue for us with acidic heavy clay, but there is an upside. Our soils needed 4tons of lime per acre, but the max is 3 tons in one application and then 6-9 months before you add the rest. The good news is that it moves slowly through clay and it is a long time before I need to add maintenance lime.

I find buckwheat and sunn hemp to be a good soil building combination for summer. They don't require good pH or fertility and are good deer food. I then like to rotate into a fall plot with about 100lbs/ac winter rye and 10 lbs/ac of crimson clover. Again, they both tolerate poor soil fertility and pH. I typically add a small breassica component at a low rate 2lbs/ac of PTT.

The crimson clover comes up in the spring in my zone and covers the early part of spring until I'm ready to cycle back to buckwheat and sunn hemp. Both buckwheat and sunn hemp do better when soils warm up later in spring. In my area 7a, I like to plant them from late-May to mid-June depending on that year's conditions.

 

[yoderjac]

I posted this same video to the Turkey Time thread (so you don't bother watching it twice). I thought it was well related here as turkey love buckwheat seeds. The poults are big enough to use them by this time of year and my buckwheat/sunn hemp fields has become quite popular.