Deer Food Plots and Attatchments

[LeadPoison]

I plant about 18-20 acres of food plots every fall and I want to do about 10-12 acres in the spring. My property is located in southwest Mississippi in the delta area. No rocks. Near the the river. Very fertile. We have a Kubota M4900 with a six foot Tufline disk and a 6 foot cutter and spreader. My cousin has a 3600 Ford as well. I do need to get some soil tests done. For the past 20 years everything has grown fine.

I want to be able to plant corn, beans, peas, peanuts, and clover in the spring. I plant wheat, oats, and peas in the fall. My disk does get the job done, but doesn't really help with weed control or a smooth planting surface. Very lumpy. I was thinking about getting a rototiller or possibly buying an 8' rake to smooth the field after using the disk. Would this work? On the other hand I thought the rototiller would help with weeds more? Or is a sprayer the only way to go?

I also want to get a 2 or 3 row planter. I have looked on ebay at the JD 71 flex planter. I almost bought one, however I am concerned about not having a fertilizer hopper. I looked at the Covington and Cole planters. I like the idea of having the cultivator for non-RR crops.

Money is of concern. The way I have it figured now is I get a 110 gallon sprayer, an 8' rake to smooth after disking, and a planter. It seems it would be the cheapset route.

Thoughts?

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Buy a sprayer, kill the area you want to plant (preferably in the fall) and let the grass die completely. When everything is dead you could plow it and that would put most of the root bases under the surface layer and when you disc you will have a much smoother field. If you spray in the fall the grass and roots will pretty much be done in the spring when you turn the ground over.

Spraying is the only real good way to knock down weeds and keep them down for a little while.

I know money is an issue with you but here is what I do for my crops as well as food plots. I spray the field in the fall, plow it in the spring, disc twice (usually a day in between discing), then I run the cultimulcher over the field (this helps firm the seed bed as well as level some small areas). When the field is ready after the cultimulcher I am planting.

I have found a 4 row corn planter is usually cheaper then a two row planter now a days as everyone wants the 2 row unit for what you do. A 4 row unit is too big for most people but if you have the land and the equipment to pull it then go for it, you will be done twice as fast for about the same money. The only down side is you have twice as much to clean up but that is easily offset by the time saved planting.

The rototiller will chop up things fairly well but they are slow and you tend to have to go over things twice. It isn't great for weed control either as it mixes the ground but if you don't do anything with the spot for a week you will see all the grasses and weeds growing back up. Get a sprayer and if thats all you can afford this year then so be it but it will help a lot with your food plots.

Also, mow your food plots before things go to seed as that will usually take care of the weeds that made it to that point (and there will be as there is a lot of weed seed in the ground).

Best of luck to you.

 

[john_bud]

Rototilling won't help with weeds. If there are seeds in the soil, they will sprout after tilling. A 16" bottom plow will flip the weed seed containing soil down where the plants can't reach the surface after they sprout.

For ease and effectiveness, you are on the right track with spraying.

jb

 

[MarkV]

Before investing in the rake have you tried a simple drag such as a log with fencing attached to smooth after disking? Even using a tiller I find a drag leaves a nicer planting bed. I like and use my tiller often but 18 to 20 acres would take a very long time.

MarkV

 

[LeadPoison]

I have thought about a drag. I am considering using three rows of train track followed up by three rows of tires. I can get the train track and tires for free. All it would cost is the chain. I can weld the chain or torch some holes to attach it.

So perhaps just a sprayer and a planter. Thoughts on these?

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Do you want a simple method to plant just about everything?

Get a sprayer and a Kasco Vari-slice no-till planter.

Kasco.com website

I've seen the results at a couple different hunt clubs where they've gone this route. Very impressive.

Rows can be blocked off to plant row crops. Since it's a food plot and no harvesting equipment needs to be considered, corn can even be planted "solid stand".

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Just make sure you don't plant corn too heavy as it will not grow very well. I warned my father about this but he didn't believe me and used a vicon to plant corn. He had some in the spreader at the end of the plot so he figured he would go over the field once more. Well, the corn all grew up to about 4' high and never developed any ears. It looked like he planted grass when the corn popped out of the ground

Now he just uses our corn planter on the food plots and we have great stands for the deer and turkeys. The stand behind my new house has 3-4 ears per stalk. So hopefully the deer and turkeys will be well fed over the winter.

 

[LeadPoison]

I beleive the Kasko is out of the question at $7000 - $8500. Sticker shock for sure.

Any recomendations for sprayers?

 

[jcsinc]

There's a fantastic planter now on the market that will plant 4 rows. It is based off the John Deer Flex-71 planter manufactured by Yetter.

See this site for more information:

Best Outdoors LLC

I just saw this unit at the Lansing, Michigan Deer and Turkey Expo, and it looked incredible.

It's also available in a two row, ATV unit:

Best Outdoors LLC

The manufacturer had one of these there too, and it looked as good as the four row, three point mounted unit.

 

[WarrenF]

Don't know if I completely understand what you are trying to accomplish. However you might look at this website for an attachment to use after you disc your ground. It will smooth out the field and make the seed bed ready to plant
TractorByNet.com | John Deere, Kubota, New Holland, and more!

For weed control....you might check with your local herbicide dealer. With your wheat, why don't you simply spray it with 2-4-D just before it starts to bolt. That will kill all the broad leaf and depending on moisture and soil, the wheat should smother out the rest of the weeds.

If you are planting in rows as opposed to drilling your crop like wheat....why don't you invest in a cultivator. That will help beat the weeds back in the rows.

It is my opinion that if you remain diligent for a few years on weed control....things will be easier each year. Remember the old saying "one year of weeds....seven years of seed." Therefore if you have a field that is particularly invested with weeds...I would suggest that you pay attention to what crop you are planting. If you are planting corn, you can use a pre-emergent herbicide that will keep it clean. Or if you plant wheat, it tends to help clean up a field.

Just some suggestions.