Plowing food plot

[czechsonofagun]

I plowed a food plot this year, we used to just till it, but it was time to really turn it over. After that, I plowed it one more time and than used 3pt tiller to smooth it over, it worked reasonably well, but it is far from smooth, there are lower and higher areas in the field.

For future reference, what is the recommended procedure. Say I plow it - we have single 14" plow - and now what? Disk it? Drag it with harrows?

This food plot is more like a small farm field, not your typical clearance in the forest.

 

[Egon]

Get the soil cultivated and loose. Plough, disk, and then harrow. As time goes on the soil will get more crumbly and the plot smoother. The first disking pass should be the same direction as the furrows. Not near so bumpy a ride. Then start angling the passes as it gets smoother.

For levelling.
Think grader blade performance on the cheap. Then make a drag about eight feet long from a piece of heavier timber ( 8x8 ) or so and put a couple of skids on it so it stays flat and does not roll. These skids also help in levelling as they cut the high and drop in the low. Attach a chain at each end and pull with the chain. You can angle the skid by just moving the hitch point on the chain. Then start draging the skid from different directions and at different angles till your satisfied.

Of course there is always a length of chain link fence or bed springs that seem to work for some.

 

[jeff9366]

Plow just once, then repeat only once every eight years.

Roto-till annually Fall or Spring. Overworking the soil is not good.

(PTO powered Roto-tillers and Disc Harrows are two different forms of soil mixing tillers.)

((After roto-tilling, if you want to redistribute soil to smooth, a Chain Harrow is good, as is a Landscape Rake with gauge wheels.)) (( A framed Chain Harrow, with 1/2" diameter mat wire is the berries.))

WINGFIELD CHAIN HARROWS: 7' 2" 3pt MaxiLift Harrow

Sow seed. Pack with a heavy Cultipacker, which should smash the clods as it rolls in the seed.

Most food plot mixes have perennial Clover and other very small seeds which require direct sun to germinate. If you drag, few of the small seeds will germinate.

Dragging is fine for medium and large seeds.

The key is keeping the seeds CONTINUALLY moist until they are established as plants.

One of these cheap China produced sprinklers, set on top of a 10' T-post and allowed to turn in a full circle, will moisten a lot of seed. T post sprinkler | eBay

Tractor Supply Company sells these T-post sprinklers for $14.00 plus tax.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Thanks, guys.

I planted clover, the bag actually said to do it before the rain and the rain will bury seeds deep enough.

 

[Steave]

Thanks, guys.

I planted clover, the bag actually said to do it before the rain and the rain will bury seeds deep enough.

Clover is a good food plot plant. I usually have a clover mix of I think 4 different clovers all planted together. About every 4 years I turn, then double disc, then drag a pole with a chain, sow the clover then run over with the cultipacker. Don't use nitrogen fertilizer or the weeds will outrun the clover and shade it out. Finding fertilizer with no nitrogen is difficult in my area so I have to use 2-8-18. That's the lowest percentage of nitrogen that's readily available for me. Once the clover is established I cut it about 6-8" high if weeds are present, and they usually are, just to give it some sun. Once a season I cut it low just before a good rain is predicted. Don't cut it low if its dry weather.

A good stand will feed a lot of animals but I've found it slowly dies off after a few years so I replant. You might have good results in your area by overseeding every year. I find I'm just wasting seeds when I do this. The deer, birds, rabbits, turkeys and everything else has found the area and I think they eat the seeds as quick as I try to overseed. A grain drill would do better but don't have one.

Food plots are interesting projects and I've tried about everything that will grow at one time or another. Can't do sunflowers around here, the deer will never let them grow past 5 inches.

Do you have deer in your area?

 

[MF283]

Food plots are interesting projects and I've tried about everything that will grow at one time or another. Can't do sunflowers around here, the deer will never let them grow past 5 inches.

Do you have deer in your area?

I've always had great results with sunflowers here & we have plenty of deer, now corn is another story.

Ronnie

 

[Steave]

I've always had great results with sunflowers here & we have plenty of deer, now corn is another story.

Ronnie

The crows and red birds go after the corn as soon as it breaks through the ground. Others around me grow sunflowers too but usually in larger fields for dove shooting. I planted 1/2 acres 3 years in a row and have never seen a sunflower. They sprout and start growing a pretty stand then about the time the plant has a few leaves on top and 1 layer of leaves close to the ground the deer nip them off and all that is left is the 2 bottom leaves then the plant dies. Simular to how they eat okra plants.

When I plant sunflowers the deer that are here call in reinforcements to clean them up. I give. Quail like grain sorgum (milo) to raise their young close to it. The young can eat grubs and worms and be sheltered from predators such as hawks and be able to walk around freely instead of in tall grass.

 

[Buty]

I have a lot of deer that visit my property on a daily basis. I also plant food plots for my bees. I've had good luck using Milorganite when I first put down the seeds. The deer seem to stay away which allows the seedlings to mature.

 

[yomax4]

With my food plots I switched to the coated seeds like what you get from Wildlife Institute. You get less qty for you money but being coated, The critters and birds don't eat any seed. I've been at this for 20 years and tend to get more simple as I go. I use Slay and Arrest to kill broadleaf and grass in my plots and they turn out beautiful every year. I lightly over seed in the 3rd year and spray it and disc it up every 4-5. I don't have a cultipacker but I built a water tank roller that smooths and sets my seeds. Be careful when buying seed mixes. Too often they have plants that need to be mowed mixed with plants that will die if you mow them. They look good on the bag and in the plot but not so much after they get mowed. I can't say enough about getting a soil sample tested and follow the testers instructions to get am optimum plot.