Always covering the soil

BobinCt

5 year old buck +
I learned years ago that you always wanted something growing in your plots year round to benefit deer and soil, but I guess I interpreted it wrong after watching a video on Grant Woods. He was evaluating a property in Northern Kansas ( in February 2020) and this owner had a big alfalfa field. He requested for the owner to drill in wheat after the last cutting to benefit the soil and deer through the winter months. The alfalfa was clearly brown and dead at that time. He also said that Soybeans would be another good option cuz there would be pods still. If he is promoting his Beans, it makes no difference to me, he has lots of knowledge. But after he advised to drill wheat in after the last cutting of alfalfa, made me think of my perennial plot of clover, alfalfa an chicory. Should I try to broadcast Winter Rye into it in early September ? I know the Rye will grow in very low temps, but very little. I thought “ covering your soil” meant to always have a crop there and not to just have dirt. So in that case, having a perennial plot of clover, alfalfa and chicory is not good since nothing is growing. What is growing in plots in February anyway in cold climates? Other than Winter Rye and Wheat, I don’t know of anything else and once you get down into the 20s, those aren’t growing. Nothing is growing in a brassica plot either in February. Does this mean to mix Rye in with brassicas too? I’ve always kept my brassicas separate with the exception of the LC Mix. So after all this, I take it that perennial plots should be covered every year with a cover crop. I’ve only used a cover crop to get my perennial plots established the first year I planted them.
 
It's not alfalfa but I put wheat in my clovers every fall. Never want bare soil and usually strive to have both warm and cool season crops on all my plots. Living roots and shielding are goals for our place, as well as year round nutrition.

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I think it's important to remember that good practices in Missouri do not necessarily apply in other regions...in this case, the Northeast. By mid Sept. perennial clover and chicory plots around here are dormant. Rye will persist and grow until mid October. But but by November nothing is actively growing, and by December it's all burried by 2 feet of snow until early April. There is no possible way I can provide year round nutrition in NW Mass. I do always have something in the soil though. Not to feed deer, but to prevent soil erosion.
 
I learned years ago that you always wanted something growing in your plots year round to benefit deer and soil, but I guess I interpreted it wrong after watching a video on Grant Woods. He was evaluating a property in Northern Kansas ( in February 2020) and this owner had a big alfalfa field. He requested for the owner to drill in wheat after the last cutting to benefit the soil and deer through the winter months. The alfalfa was clearly brown and dead at that time. He also said that Soybeans would be another good option cuz there would be pods still. If he is promoting his Beans, it makes no difference to me, he has lots of knowledge. But after he advised to drill wheat in after the last cutting of alfalfa, made me think of my perennial plot of clover, alfalfa an chicory. Should I try to broadcast Winter Rye into it in early September ? I know the Rye will grow in very low temps, but very little. I thought “ covering your soil” meant to always have a crop there and not to just have dirt. So in that case, having a perennial plot of clover, alfalfa and chicory is not good since nothing is growing. What is growing in plots in February anyway in cold climates? Other than Winter Rye and Wheat, I don’t know of anything else and once you get down into the 20s, those aren’t growing. Nothing is growing in a brassica plot either in February. Does this mean to mix Rye in with brassicas too? I’ve always kept my brassicas separate with the exception of the LC Mix. So after all this, I take it that perennial plots should be covered every year with a cover crop. I’ve only used a cover crop to get my perennial plots established the first year I planted them.

I've done something similar with perennial clover. In early fall, deer have plenty of food options. I will often take a well established cover field and suppress the clover. I'll then use my little Kasco no-till drill to drill strips of WR or GHR into the suppressed clover. Timing is important. I want a good rain in the forecast to help the drilled crop to germinate quickly and the clover to bounce back from the root system. If the clover field is not old, I will suppress it by using a bushhog mowing it flat to the ground almost scalping. If field is older and has a high percentage of grass, I'll spray it with 1 qt/ac of gly. This will kill the weed and top kill the clover. The drilled crop germinates and gets above the rebounding clover where it can get light. It continues to grow and the perennial clover fills back in.

There is always a risk doing this. You are stressing the clover, so if the rain does not materialize and you get a drought period, it can kill the clover. In my area, rain is reliable enough that it is not a big risk. I don't do it every year, but I do it from time to time. The drilled crop also used up some of the N banked by the clover making the clover field less attractive to grasses.

I don't think you interpreted the concept wrong. Disking soil in the winter and letting it bare with nothing growing is a double whammy. First you introduce oxygen burning OM when you till as well as disrupting the soil tilth. More importantly, you expose the soil to wind and rain erosion. That is primarily what them mean when they say keep the soil covered.

Beyond that, there are techniques like drilling into clover that can benefit deer while keeping the soil covered.

Thanks,

Jack
 
I usually plant WR in all my plots in the fall, but I am in northern Wisconsin, and like Natty, nothing is growing here from October to April. I like it because it greens up early, and out competes the weeds in the spring.
 
We gotta plant cool season stuff, or we'd only grow stuff for 90 days/year. Heat units just collapse after labor day up here.
 
There is no possible way I can provide year round nutrition in NW Mass. I do always have something in the soil though. Not to feed deer, but to prevent soil erosion.
Deer will eat alfalfa after it has gone dormant and turned brown. They will even paw through some snow to get to it. I have deer every year paw trough a foot or more of snow to get to brassica. Beans will get used with deep snow. They easily are 2' tall and will feed deer in the winter. Corn cobs are at an even higher level than the tops of the beans. I cant see you could get to much snow that deer couldn't eat corn. (unless your plot is in an area where it drifts severely.

Plant them all in strips in the same plot and have a good rotation plan so they can take advantage of the crops that were grown prior to planting. Cor can be planted with wide row spacing to allow for other crops to be planted between the rows. It may take some special equipment or some good old fashon redneck ingenuity but where there is will there is always a way.
 
Deer will eat alfalfa after it has gone dormant and turned brown. They will even paw through some snow to get to it. I have deer every year paw trough a foot or more of snow to get to brassica. Beans will get used with deep snow. They easily are 2' tall and will feed deer in the winter. Corn cobs are at an even higher level than the tops of the beans. I cant see you could get to much snow that deer couldn't eat corn. (unless your plot is in an area where it drifts severely.

Plant them all in strips in the same plot and have a good rotation plan so they can take advantage of the crops that were grown prior to planting. Cor can be planted with wide row spacing to allow for other crops to be planted between the rows. It may take some special equipment or some good old fashon redneck ingenuity but where there is will there is always a way.

Thanks S.T. Appreciate that. Yes...I am working on that. I should have also mentioned that those were just my very local observations and experiences. I am only on 30 acres...most of which is spruce/fir swamps. My land is better moose habitat than it is deer. I have some of the worst soils in the U.S. Very low pH. And my plots are all small....no bigger than 1/3 of an acre or so. I am trying to build my soil to eventually grow beans and brassicas.

So far, I am only doing rye, clover, and chicory and by October, the game is over. Even if I have nice standing rye in November, the freeze and thaw cycles we get turns the snow pack into a solid boilerplate.

I might try beans this spring after a soil test. With a solar fence early it is my hope I can have standing beans into November and December.
 
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