yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Well, there's a whole bunch of ways to look at the many philosophies behind fertilizer applications. From a production point of view, one way to look at the soil is like a mine. This is just me, but what I heard the accomplished gentleman in the video say was, "I'm going to mine the soil until most all the nutrients are gone. Then, I might consider applying soil amendments. Other producers understand it's important to replace the P & K carried off in the harvest. That gets to the true cost of production. Low levels of nutrients probably do no harm to yield under ideal circumstances. He mentioned all the different kinds of weather. An inadequate soil nutrient level when weather conditions are cold and wet will bang the heck out of yields.
Which brings us to habitat management and food plots specifically. My question is, and its a probing question - "What are we trying to accomplish and will fertilizer and lime get us there?" My thinking is, if you're a rookie and you're asking me, I'd say fertilize. You want to see something grow and lime and fertilizer takes on variable out of the "possible failure" equation. Now, if you have buckets of experience and have logged many hours of study (reading these forum threads is studying), and have time and patience, then, you are ready to initiate, to use yoder's words, "long-term sustainable nutrient cycling and permaculture.
There are many ways to think about all of this. Dear reader, I'd encourage you to understand yours!" I can't leave it there. i know many of you long time contributors and readers get it, but, I guess there are a lot of people interested in food plotting that don't post and lots of times don't understand what the heck we're writing! Tip of the cap to you....
Great summary! Start with realistic goals and apply the methods and techniques that most effectively achieve them. Most of us started in the middle anxious to dirt under our nails and plant a food plot. There is certainly something to be said for building the long-term interest and dedication you need by getting planting something and watching deer eating what you planted. Having said that, I did more long-term harm to my place with a 2-bottom plow as a result. We will all make mistakes like this. I wish I understood 10 years ago what I understand now. On the other end of the argument is that in 10 years I'll probably say the same thing and if you don't start somewhere, you don't get anywhere.
Thanks,
Jack