Throw and mow Chicory?

[Jason Broom]

It's been nine days since the last report...I'm betting that chicory is up and growing by now.

I prefer to start it in the fall, with red and white clovers and a grain for a nurse crop. Due to my light soils and northern climate, I stick with winter rye. I usually include oats, but have not observed a preference for them by deer. Where I'm at, the deer are beggars, not choosers.

 

[Charlieyca]

I was at the farm with the tractor last weeked, but didn't walk to the back and check. Last monday we got about 3 inches of rain so I hopeful when I go back it has popped up nicely. My rye went from thigh high to head height .

 

[Charlieyca]

I didn't read all the thread, but I for sure have over seeded chicory into clover and alfalfa and even sprayed fescue from early March to June. Has always worked great but I do try to do before rains. Hope yours does good, bet it will.

It got 3 inches of rain last monday, hope to get up there this week to get some pictures!

 

[Charlieyca]

It's been nine days since the last report...I'm betting that chicory is up and growing by now.

I prefer to start it in the fall, with red and white clovers and a grain for a nurse crop. Due to my light soils and northern climate, I stick with winter rye. I usually include oats, but have not observed a preference for them by deer. Where I'm at, the deer are beggars, not choosers.

I used wheat because it was the only grain my guy had in stock. I also mixed equal parts of med red clover when I seeded. Saved some seed to overseed the plot this fall depending on how thick it stays.

 

[Charlieyca]

Stopped by after turkey hunting and checked to see if any birds got lost on my property. Saw a few tracks, but no luck. Did check the Chicory throw and mow plot and germination has been slow. Had good rain last monday, but with a good thick layer of thatch, only the low spots have germinated and the spots with heavy thatch have nothing. Hopefully its just moving slow with the heavy thatch, but the wheat and med red clover that was mixed in has sprouted much quicker, so not conclusive just yet. Will keep it updated.

 

[IkemanTx]

Any update?


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[Charlieyca]

Little bit of chicory, little rye, crabgrass and dogfennel. This was first time planting this shooting lane and it is not the best soil around. It was a success as I saw some signs of browse, which after a month may be why I don't see a lot of it! Will do it again but believe it will do better fall planted like clover.

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[Charlieyca]

I think 2 weeks with no rain, then 4 plus inches in 2 days caused some spotty germination. This ended up being more of a throw and pray rather than throw and mow. Going to mix the rest of my seed into my fall plot with white clover that will have a true throw and mow.

The rye in the back half of this field will get throw and mow clover and chicory, Front half that is weeds will be crimson clover and rye.

 

[Jason Broom]

You might walk through those "weeds" and look for signs of browsing. Are those trees in the tubes? Do you have fabric and gravel around them, or something to keep the competition to a minimum?

 

[Charlieyca]

There is some browse and wheat stubble, mostly crabgrasd. Trees are tubes matted and munched. Alternating hazelnuts and chinquapins.

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[Charlieyca]

Broom, that pic with the tree tubes is a different area where I plan to try throw and mow this fall with chicory and white clover mix. This spring I didnt have nearly enough thatch, and that limited my germination.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

Have you done a soil test and added any lime/fert to your fields?

 

[Charlieyca]

The 3 main plots yes. Needed more NPK than i could afford, but i added about half of what it called for. pH was low, added lime to all 3 plots. Organic matter was good. I have not done soil test on the shooting lanes that I am starting to plant. I am planting the lanes in an effort to keep the sweet gums, blackberry, and other fast growing plants from blocking the view of the lanes. I added 100 lbs of lime and 80 lbs 10-10-10 to each 1/4 acre lane. I assumed as close as they are to the plots that they are similar in soil structure, but you know what happens when you assume.

 

[Charlieyca]

Crimson, this wasnt a true throw and mow as I had very little thatch to cover seed. Most of the thatch you see in the picture was from where the lane was mowed down last september. So essentially I was planting between a heavy thatch layer on bottom and thin thatch layer on top, far from ideal. How would you go about getting seed under old thatch layer? I was thinking seed really heavy on the rye and crimson clover this fall before mowing down the standing plants that are left.

 

[Jason Broom]

A cultipacker can be a valuable addition to any throw n' mow approach. The heavy wheels bouncing along existing thatch, or the stuff you mowed down on top of the seed and amendments you spread, helps "settle" those granules and seeds down into the whole works. If your cultipacker has some star wheels, those poke holes in the thatch, which is beneficial in a variety of ways.

The 5 things you can really put to good use, in creating food plots, are as follows:

1) Quality sprayer
2) Quality spreader (a tow-behind and a handheld, like an Earthway 2750)
3) A means of mowing (trail mower or brush hog)
4) An old, but serviceable, cast-iron cultipacker
5) A quad or something to help tow/use all of the above

Whether it's a throw n' mow chicory plot, or the entire LC rotation, the above can help you get the job done.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

Crimson, this wasnt a true throw and mow as I had very little thatch to cover seed. Most of the thatch you see in the picture was from where the lane was mowed down last september. So essentially I was planting between a heavy thatch layer on bottom and thin thatch layer on top, far from ideal. How would you go about getting seed under old thatch layer? I was thinking seed really heavy on the rye and crimson clover this fall before mowing down the standing plants that are left.

If you don’t have enough thatch to cover the seed then I would recommend that you either drag in a heavy seeding like you’re talking about putting out or lightly disk just enough to scratch up the old thatch on the surface. From that point then concentrate on growing the next crop nice and heavy so that you’ll get that first covering across the soil like we’re looking for. First step…..cover the bare soil.



One of the only things that’s gonna get you there to that heavy biomass crop in the beginning is by adding the soil amendments that need to be added. If budget constraints are an issue then I would recommend that you redistribute the way your spending the funds available. From a seed standpoint….initially stick with a basic cereal rye mix in the beginning. Take the money spent on the alfalfa….the chicory….etc..etc….and instead put that money toward lime, K, P, and routine application of N.

Once you’re 2 or maybe even 3-4 years down the road and your soil conditions are much different……..then you can take and transition that lime money toward clovers, vetches, winter peas, radishes, etc……and plant those seeds into the right environment for them to thrive. If you’ve got a field with low Ca levels and a low pH…..funds need to go to fixing those things first before the money is spent on clover seed for example.

One other thing to keep in mind......soil OM is not something any of us will likely quit working on. You said your OM was good. Even if it's 3% then we want to work on getting it to 4%....once we get to 4% then we work on going to 5 and so on. We also work on taking it deeper into the soil profile through soil roots. There may be some folks out there will really high OM% soils where this will not be the case....like some peat bog or something.... but that won't represent the norm. If that crop of natural vegetation is what you're gonna grow this summer....then grow the best crop of biomass and roots that you can grow.