The nurse crop has completed its job

[Native Hunter]

The wheat has done its job and left me with this. Planted last fall in a drought.

Saw almost nothing last fall during the drought except for a few grains and lots of brassicas. No clover or chicory until this spring.

 

[Brokenbear]

Awesome!

 

[Chainsaw]

Native your field looks as close to perfect as we can get. It is amazing that it grew so well having been planted in drought conditions.The wheat did indeed do its job.Rye is used here versus wheat just because it is cheaper (local seed) and I didn't realize wheat had similar weed inhibiting tendencies as in rye.
Years ago chicory was not planted in food plots;today I wouldn't plant clover here without it. The two grow together nicely and help keep the deer well fed and content.

 

[Native Hunter]

Native your field looks as close to perfect as we can get. It is amazing that it grew so well having been planted in drought conditions.The wheat did indeed do its job.Rye is used here versus wheat just because it is cheaper (local seed) and I didn't realize wheat had similar weed inhibiting tendencies as in rye.
Years ago chicory was not planted in food plots;today I wouldn't plant clover here without it. The two grow together nicely and help keep the deer well fed and content.

Dave, I totally agree that I wouldn't plant clover without chicory. The deer just go crazy over it here.

I experimented with some Rye last year for the first time in one area of the plots. I like it okay but think I will stick with the wheat from now on. The price of the two were almost the same.

 

[David]

Is it your experience that a clover nurse crop usually lasts till this time of year?

I had it in my mind that it would have been done 45 days ago.

 

[dogdoc]

Looking good. Looks like you went a little heavy on the chicory. I did the same thing. Chicory is a great late summer forage.

 

[Native Hunter]

Is it your experience that a clover nurse crop usually lasts till this time of year?

I had it in my mind that it would have been done 45 days ago.

David, I tend to think of the grains (wheat, rye and oats) as the nurse crop. They provide the deer something to eat quickly and help hold the soil. They will also take some browsing pressure off the clover and chicory early on. My deer also eat the wheat heads after they mature like they are shown in my pictures, so that is an extra benefit I get from wheat.

Now that the grains have run their course, I should get several years out of this clover and chicory at this spot.

Thanks - Steve

 

[Native Hunter]

Looking good. Looks like you went a little heavy on the chicory. I did the same thing. Chicory is a great late summer forage.

Thanks Todd. Yes, that chicory is a little heavy just because of how heavily I see it grazed here. I see it eaten hard even after it has flowered, and some stalks will be browsed enough that they will flower very late.

 

[farmhunter]

Looks great - would really like to see it 2 weeks after mowing as well -

 

[Native Hunter]

Looks great - would really like to see it 2 weeks after mowing as well -

Thanks.

I'm one not to mow plots much, but I might mow it later this fall. Right now I don't see any weed problems, so if that continues I will just let the chicory bolt and flower.

 

[Turkish]

Native, what's your typical planting protocol in the fall?

 

[Native Hunter]

Native, what's your typical planting protocol in the fall?

I generally plant around Labor Day.

• I use both oats and wheat for my grains. This year I also used some rye, but got it too thick in some places. I will post a pic later of where I had to mow it in the area that was too thick. It now looks much better with a nice plot coming on.
• I mix red and white clover together. One year I also added some alfalfa just for experimentation, and it did better than I expected.
• Two years ago I started adding some brassicas. I will keep doing that, because they are now being eaten well. I've also learned that if we go into a drought that the brassicas will germinate and grow well with nothing but the morning dews. The other stuff won't do that, except that maybe some of the grains will come on partially.
• If we get good rains, I will see everything I planted in the fall. If not, I will have brassicas and some grains in the fall and then get my clover and chicory the next spring.
• I did a test "no till" straight clover plot during the middle of the summer last year. I will post a pic of that later too. It was odd that the rains were good during the summer and established this test plot, and the clover was established enough to do well by fall when we hit the drought conditions.
• I use mixing rates that are consistent with those in the food plot manual that QD sells. But with adding the brassicas to all the other stuff, I just had to guess. And I've found its easy to get too many brassicas.

I

 

[Native Hunter]

This is the spot I got the rye too thick and had to mow it with a bushhog. Food plot is responding well now.



This is a place where I got the clover a little thicker than the chicory. This has not been mowed yet.



This is the straight white no till plot I put in last summer. I recently mowed this close. The grass you see is Vernal Sweetgrass and should disappear soon. But it will come back from seed next spring. This is the only plot I seem to have a problem with that stuff. This plot should look much better in about 2 weeks.

 

[Turkish]

Were you disking, using a drill, or TnM?

 

[Native Hunter]

Were you disking, using a drill, or TnM?

I did a little spraying on some Orchard Grass and Fescue clumps, and then waited about a week. After that I disked it, sewed the seed and turned the disk blades straight and ran back over the seed one time. I don't have a cultipacker, but wish I did. I've been known to drive the tractor around in circles to pack seed in, but don't always do that.

 

[Buckeye]

I planted clover,alfalfa and chicory mix the deer not eating the chicory like I thought they would.

 

[Native Hunter]

I planted clover,alfalfa and chicory mix the deer not eating the chicory like I thought they would.

I don't have that problem here:

 

[dogghr]

Native, do your deer eat the chicory year round? I see little browse on mine till late summer /fall. I just don't see it browsed as much at my place as the clovers and alfalfa. And they seem to like the flowers even more than the leaves. They do browse it, but the other they just hammer nearly year round. But I do like it especially for drought and yours as usual look amazing.
As for the WW, my deer love it. My only complaint of WW over WR is the WW tends to tiller more and makes crop rotation alittle more work when usuing tillage. Now that I don't use tillage, its not a problem. I remember the long arguments by somewith Lickcreek on the old forum over his preference to WR. I use both and sometimes intermix in same field. Great stuff.

 

[Native Hunter]

Native, do your deer eat the chicory year round? I see little browse on mine till late summer /fall. I just don't see it browsed as much at my place as the clovers and alfalfa. And they seem to like the flowers even more than the leaves. They do browse it, but the other they just hammer nearly year round. But I do like it especially for drought and yours as usual look amazing.
As for the WW, my deer love it. My only complaint of WW over WR is the WW tends to tiller more and makes crop rotation alittle more work when usuing tillage. Now that I don't use tillage, its not a problem. I remember the long arguments by somewith Lickcreek on the old forum over his preference to WR. I use both and sometimes intermix in same field. Great stuff.

Yep, they like it spring, summer and fall! Recent pics below:

 

[THE LLC]

My deer would NEVER stand for a plot of chicory to look like that. NEVER.