Food Plot Time

[lakngulf]

We finally got some rain in the southland, pretty rough in some places. I am taking off from work this afternoon to do some "good" work---plowing my food plots with chisel plow and disc. I bushhogged a couple of weeks back and it has been hot and dry until TS Lee brought us some rain.

I will probably go with the regular feed wheat and Marshall rye, and maybe throw in some oats or turnip seed. Or maybe I will go the easy route and buy the mix from the feed store. Even then, I always throw another layer of rye for a full stand.

What are others using this year? At the big Buckmasters event in Montgomery this year Pennington was pushing their "Trophy Radishes" Any exerpience with these?

 

[Agrantina]

I am using this mix for the plots this year...

Winter Rye 50-80 lbs per acre (56lbs = bushel)
Winter Oats 80-120 lbs per acre (32lbs= bushel)
Austrian Winter peas 20-80lbs per acre (4010-6040 field peas also work fine ｽ cost)
Red Clover 8-12lbs per acre/or white clover at 6lbs per acre (together ｽ reduce)

I am hoping that this is the ticket for me... Will post some pics in a few days.. I planted about 90% last weekend before the rain...

AndyG

 

[Western]

To dry here, maybe I could plant some "watercress" and grow moisture?:laughing:

It is so dry here, the deer would probably help with the planting just to have a local cafe'.

 

[clemsonfor]

We finally got some rain in the southland, pretty rough in some places. I am taking off from work this afternoon to do some "good" work---plowing my food plots with chisel plow and disc. I bushhogged a couple of weeks back and it has been hot and dry until TS Lee brought us some rain.

I will probably go with the regular feed wheat and Marshall rye, and maybe throw in some oats or turnip seed. Or maybe I will go the easy route and buy the mix from the feed store. Even then, I always throw another layer of rye for a full stand.

What are others using this year? At the big Buckmasters event in Montgomery this year Pennington was pushing their "Trophy Radishes" Any exerpience with these?

A little early for wheat isnt it? Esp in your area.

 

[clemsonfor]

I am using this mix for the plots this year...

Winter Rye 50-80 lbs per acre (56lbs = bushel)
Winter Oats 80-120 lbs per acre (32lbs= bushel)
Austrian Winter peas 20-80lbs per acre (4010-6040 field peas also work fine ｽ cost)
Red Clover 8-12lbs per acre/or white clover at 6lbs per acre (together ｽ reduce)

I am hoping that this is the ticket for me... Will post some pics in a few days.. I planted about 90% last weekend before the rain...

AndyG

You want Rye the grain, not the winter Rye grass seed that folks put on their lawn. The will browse but do not really like to eat it.

 

[Agrantina]

You want Rye the grain, not the winter Rye grass seed that folks put on their lawn. The will browse but do not really like to eat it.

I planted Gulf annual rye

Gulf Annual Ryegrass in the United States, with about 90 percent used for winter pasture in the Southeast. About 80 percent of this ryegrass pasture is established by overseeding into warm season perennial grasses to extend the grazing season. Annual Ryegrass is also grown for silage and hay on poorly drained soils where small grains are not adapted

 

[Western]

Winter rye is ok for cows here, mine would eat it, but not if they had anything else. I have seen deer browse it, but seem to care for rye less then my cows.

It is easy to grow, fairly cheap, but I go with oats hands down and feed oats planted for deer is real cheap.

Your a 1000 miles away, so your deer eating habits are probably different.

 

[Agrantina]

It us used for a good nurse crop for clover and deer browse. It grows quick and helps take a lot of the pressure off the clover when its first coming up. I have planted everthing in the mix above and deer really like it, but they do really hit the clover and I have had bare spots because of it. The guys over on the QDMA food plot forums have really done alot of talking about establishing clover with a nurse crop.. I added it to the mix this year so I will see. Peas and clover they will hit early, oats they do not eat until it gets a good frost on it.. So rye is a happy medium?

AndyG

 

[forgeblast]

So wet here we were thinking about kelp.

 

[lakngulf]

Lessons Learned

Some things you should never forget. Having grown up on a farm with various equipment, I remember that there was always something to be fixed. I got to the farmland yesterday to run the chisel plow through my food plot areas, trying to take advantage of the recent rains. A few things that I have always know but had to be reminded about:

(1) Always check nuts and bolts on "new" equipment. I had used the chisel only a few hours prior to yesterday. The pre-game checkup showed that three 5/8 inch bolts that hold the chisel pivots had lost their nuts, and one of them was about to come out altogether. Always check nuts and bolts before using equipment
(2) I am not stronger than those springs on the chisel plow
(3) When trying to pry the unit back in place to reinstall the bolt, my nuckle is not match against the plow metal when the crowbar slips
(4) Always keep spare parts for the equipment
(5) There is no way to get a stiff grease gun pistol onto a zerk that is a little bit offline. That is why you need a flexible attachment
(6) The differential pedal will not engage if you are have the crowbar under it.
(7) Bermuda grass roots and runners will clog up a chisel plow every time, even having been mowed two weeks earlier, and dry weather. In one patch I had to let it clog, drag to selected spots in the field so that all rows "clogs" were in same place, then push the whole mess to the woods. Actually worked fairly well.

All in all it was a good afternoon. The plow did a great job breaking up the soil, even in some areas that had been pastureland for years. Going back on Sunday to hit it again, this time with flexible grease attachment, replacement bolts and nuts, and a hurt nuckle.

P.S.
(8) An afternoon on the tractor beats a day in the office anytime.