Establishing new food plot

CrowWingZeik

Buck Fawn
Planning on putting in two 1 acre food plots this spring. Both areas are cleared of brush and trees and relatively flat just very uneven rough ground with weeds waist high by mid summer and very old pasture like in appearance. Plan for the future is to have these as throw and mow no till plots since getting equipment to the land is a challenge but I really think it needs a light tilling just to establish and level all the gopher mounds etc.. I have access to a skidloader and was planning on renting a tiller attachment but I am concerned about how long it will take to till 2 acres of native ground with skid loader, i would need to be able to get work done in a weekend or 2. I also could rent a harley rake but not sure how it would get through the thatch, anyone ever used a harley rake for new plots? I am planning on burning the ground at least once with gly before tilling or using rake.
 
If it was me I wouldn't even till it. Just level it with the skid loader, Hit it with gly a time or two and broadcast the seed before some good rain.
What do you plan on planting?
 
If you till or level the soil the soil, you will unearth a latent seed bed that will take over anything you plant. First year if you till, at 1st green up spray gly, then wait 2-3 weeks & repeat. For tilling old field, would do this at least 3 times. Then plan on seeding brassicas red clover in July and overseed WR in early Sept.

If you don't till, I would still spray wait at least 2 times. Brassicas/clover then WR would be a good choice as WR/clover will green up next spring and WR will suppress weeds/grasses in the spring.
 
Before you do anything I’d soil sample the field by taking not just one sample either, but like 7-8 from different areas of the field, mixing it together and send into the lab. This will give you a good idea of what your foundation is. I would still go ahead and spray the field will Gly and maybe even mix some 2-4D in there as well to really toast the broadleafs.
 
If it was me I wouldn't even till it. Just level it with the skid loader, Hit it with gly a time or two and broadcast the seed before some good rain.
What do you plan on planting?
Thanks thought about this as well just thought it would be beneficial to get it as flat as possible to start with. I plan on planting brassicas on half and oats & rye other half in fall, and will probably experiment with some buckwheat spring plantings
 
You have a few options..

- Depending on your climate zone, if you still have some decent frosts left - You could lightly till (just to expose the soil) and frost seed clover, chicory, etc now. Maybe even spring oats in another few weeks to help suppress weeds.

- Doing a spring plot is the toughest as it will involve spraying initially and possibly repeatedly due to the flush of weeds, grasses. Then you can plant any warm season annual.. Maybe something more slanted to soil building as you're going the TnM route.. Buckwheat, Sun Hemp, sunflowers, maybe even a sorghum would be good options. Or a mix of some sort..

- If you want to establish for the fall, you can just wait - let it grow up over the summer and then spray, seed and mow (in that order) to establish for deer season.

Good luck!
 
Here are some thoughts and options to consider...

The main benefit of T&M is that it does not use tillage which introduces O2 into the soil burning OM while destroying the natural soil tilth. The more soil is tilled, the more water infiltration becomes a problem. The better soil you have (Fertile rich loam rather than heavy clay or very sandy), the more it can tolerate tillage.

Rather than running a tiller deep, consider using a box blade. You can set the tines very shallow (just an inch) or not use them at all. Make sure the soil is dry (especially if it has a high clay content). Hold the box blade high and make a pass around the field. Drop it a little at a time in subsequent passes, just enough to knock down big high spots. You can do this with a rear blade too but I like a box blade better. This should get the field plenty even enough for T&M techniques. As you plant and cultipack it over time, it will even it out more.

If you do use a tiller, hold it high so the tines don't go deeper than the top inch.

The next question to consider is what is currently growing there. When you say "Pasture Like" it makes me think of some kind of fescue. If you have canary grass, fescue, or a few other things as the dominate species, you will need to eliminate that first. That could take your first growing season depending on what is there. Do you need to use fire, specific herbicides, specific timing, or something else to eliminate a problematic dominate species? Planting can be a part of this control plan. For example crops like buckwheat are very fast to germinate and grow and can act to smother some problematic weeds.

If you have a healthy mix if weeds, you may not need to do anything specific and one or two sprayings of gly may be enough.

I like to focus on soil health first for long-term sustainable and cost effective deer plots. Attraction is largely a function of risk/reward, so human presence like hunting pressure and what alternative foods are available will largely drive daytime use of your plot more than what you plant. A smart mix/rotation of crops balancing carbon and nitrogen helps build organic matter over time and improves natural nutrient cycling. Learn to become weed tolerant with deer plots. Many plants farmers consider "weeds" are great deer food. While some noxious weeds can be problematic and need to be dealt with, weeds can even enhance deer use by providing cover in the plot.

Best of luck,

Jack
 
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Thanks for the replies much appreciated. Update: I have removed all the tree debris and soil test results came back Ph: 6.7, P: Very Low, N: Low, and K: High. Plan is to spray gly and lightly till top inch just to expose soil may go deeper in a few spots where leveling is necessary and add fertilizer as recommended for a spring buckwheat planting. Below are some before photos and hopefully Ill have some pics of buckwheat in a few months!
PLOT 2.jpg
PLOT 1.jpg
SOIL.jpg
 
That is going to be a great plot.
 
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