First try at no-till soybean mix and brassicas into rye

scott44

5 year old buck +
Ok I've been waiting to try this for awhile and did it today. I have a couple LC cereal grain rye plots and took one and broadcast a soybean mix into it, ran a cultipacker over it and sprayed it, right next to this I disced up a plot and planted it the old way for comparison. The mix I planted was some LC cereal mix I had left over from last year with soybeans and alittle corn added. Radar looks like there is a good shot of rain coming tonight so this should help.

This is the mix, a farmer friend gave me the soys and the corn from broken bags.



I used my quad with a cultipacker and sprayer



Before





After







Not sure about broadcasting the mix into the rye but thought I would give it a shot, hopefully the rye keeps the moisture in and allows the seed to germintate.
 
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Great side by side test. Keep us posted.
 
Great side by side test. Keep us posted.

Thanks, will do
 
Interesting! I'll be curious how this works out.
 
keep us posted it will be neat to see the results.
 
No rain last night or this A.M. as predicted, the storm that was in WI came across Lake Michigan and broke up and what did hit land went south of me. 3 weeks ago we had all the rain we wanted and now it's starting to go the other way, hope this isn't a trend for the summer.
 
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I would be happy for you to take some of ours. My dang toes have started to web.
 
We got a 1/4" of rain today and it looks like more on the way, maybe. Just took a walk back to this plot and took a couple pics. It looks like I have a decent kill on the rye but the clover might be another story. I set up a trail cam on this and had alot of pics of deer making themselves at home.





Maybe they are just eating the soys under the rye

 
Scott, I commend you for trying something different. It will be interesting to see if the newly planted crop compete with that thick clover. It appears to be white clover and you seeded it generously. Were you intending on killing the clover? What herbicide did you use?
When I plant my rye/clover like you did last year, I cut back on the clover seed. Sometimes I have to spray for invasive grass, some times I don't. That way, the plot you just planted has alot more breathing room. By the next year that clover really thickens up because you haven't cut it, and all that seed germinates. It is the only true 365/ year plot. You'll also notice the clover dries up after the plant matures, but come fall it sends up tender new growth, just in time for hunting season. When you have these plants working together, it is a win-win.
Please keep us posted on the results. Soybeans have no problem growing on the surface, I've never messed with corn. I am interested to see how the warm season plot competes with that thick clover. Thanks for sharing with us.
 
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What's all in your mix. Almost looks like rye? It will have no problem germinating. What's the dark colored seed?
 
You guys have me convinced. Next year I'm trying a mix of some sort. I just ran short on time this year.

I did drill straight beans into the rye then rolled it. Thanks DGallow for teaching me that trick.

Scott,
You have to get good germination with all that wet thatch laying on the seed.


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Scott, I commend you for trying something different. It will be interesting to see if the newly planted crop compete with that thick clover. It appears to be white clover and you seeded it generously. Were you intending on killing the clover? What herbicide did you use?
When I plant my rye/clover like you did last year, I cut back on the clover seed. Sometimes I have to spray for invasive grass, some times I don't. That way, the plot you just planted has alot more breathing room. By the next year that clover really thickens up because you haven't cut it, and all that seed germinates. It is the only true 365/ year plot. You'll also notice the clover dries up after the plant matures, but come fall it sends up tender new growth, just in time for hunting season. When you have these plants working together, it is a win-win.
Please keep us posted on the results. Soybeans have no problem growing on the surface, I've never messed with corn. I am interested to see how the warm season plot competes with that thick clover. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks Dipper!
There is alittle bit of everything in these plots I planted last year, first the clover was ladino, crimson and red. I usually plant red with this in the fall but I ran out and had some partial bags of ladino and crimson so I just mixed them together. My original plan was to mow this plot and till it under to plant brassicas. The mix I just planted has rye, oats, soybeans, corn, buckwheat, 4010 forage peas and trapper peas.

I have a brassica plot I planted last year after rye, I mowed it and tilled it July 4th weekend, the brassicas came up decent but I had a ton of voluntary rye and know I have another rye plot I can try somthing with.
7/6/13



Pic on 5/4/14

 
You guys have me convinced. Next year I'm trying a mix of some sort. I just ran short on time this year.
I did drill straight beans into the rye then rolled it. Thanks DGallow for teaching me that trick.

Scott,
You have to get good germination with all that wet thatch laying on the seed.

I wish I had a no-till drill but I don't so that's why I tried the broadcast method. I almost pulled the trigger on a 6' tiller this spring but didn't, kinda glad I didn't if this works. I also tried this because of people like DGallow,Dipper and others who no-till like this.
Yours looks good Bill!
 
I've been finding that rye doesn't need to be terminated when you plant into it. In fact, it's better to leave it. I'll say it again, we're not farmers. Farmers need to terminate the rye so it doesn't interfere with the harvest of their crop. Food plotters don't. The allelopathic effects of rye are overblown. Rye is coming to the end of it's like so it demands little moisture, letting your current crop grow into it's massive root system. Taking advantage of the soil moisture the roots are holding. The tall rye helps conceal deer, especially big bucks, making them feel safer feeding in our plots.

The tall rye also forces deer to work for their food a little, which is criticial in high density areas. This isn't anything new for many people who prefer broadleafs in their soybeans. Heavy browse isn't as intense.
I've been preaching about loosing a "farmers" mindset when we plan and manage our foodplots. We don't have to play by their rules. We don't have the same handicap of "harvest" a farmer does. So we can do different things to benefit our crops and encourage increased deer usage.

It isn't fully accepted in the consultant world, but they do talk about just providing food plots during the hunting season. I see the pros and cons of the strategy, because I know what it's like to attract too many does. I also see some things "the fall plotter" can do make things easier and cheaper for himself. 1-when you are only planting plots late summer, you leave alot of time for weeds and nasty grass to invade, you need to supress them. One of my clients makes me till his plots multiple times during the spring and summer, so he can plant his brassicas in July. Having the bare soil exposed for months. He only wants brassicas and he wants them his way. The customer is aways right, so we do it his way. Now if that was my plots, at a minimum I'd be planting spring oats. That way the soil is protected/ unwanteds supressed. When the oats matures, a light discing, and you have a free fall oats crop to accompany the brassicas. Your saving money and protecting your soil, who doesn't like that?

What I'm getting at is, food plotters don't always need to buy seed. They can grow the right crops at the right times of the year to take advantage of the seed.

These are just some quick things I think about when I'm on my tractor, day dreaming. I'm glad to see guys are "opening up their minds", and always thinking of better ways to get things done. For me, that's the challenge and it puts more fun into it. I never seek advice from a salesman, and this case follow the directions from a BOB company.
 
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I've been finding that rye doesn't need to be terminated when you plant into it. In fact, it's better to leave it. I'll say it again, we're not farmers. Farmers need to terminate the rye so it doesn't interfere with the harvest of their crop. Food plotters don't. The allelopathic effects of rye are overblown. Rye is coming to the end of it's like so it demands little moisture, letting your current crop grow into it's massive root system. Taking advantage of the soil moisture the roots are holding. The tall rye helps conceal deer, especially big bucks, making them feel safer feeding in our plots.

The tall rye also forces deer to work for their food a little, which is criticial in high density areas. This isn't anything new for many people who prefer broadleafs in their soybeans. Heavy browse isn't as intense.
Steve B-if you are looking for a "new" topic to write about I'd be happy to show you some things. I've been preaching about loosing a "farmers" mindset when we plan and manage our foodplots. We don't have to play by their rules. We don't have the same handicap of "harvest" a farmer does. So we can do different things to benefit our crops and encourage increased deer usage.

It isn't fully accepted in the consultant world, but they do talk about just providing food plots during the hunting season. I see the pros and cons of the strategy, because I know what it's like to attract too many does. I also see some things "the fall plotter" can do make things easier and cheaper for himself. 1-when you are only planting plots late summer, you leave alot of time for weeds and nasty grass to invade, you need to supress them. One of my clients makes me till his plots multiple times during the spring and summer, so he can plant his brassicas in July. Having the bare soil exposed for months. He only wants brassicas and he wants them his way. The customer is aways right, so we do it his way. Now if that was my plots, at a minimum I'd be planting spring oats. That way the soil is protected/ unwanteds supressed. When the oats matures, a light discing, and you have a free fall oats crop to accompany the brassicas. Your saving money and protecting your soil, who doesn't like that?

What I'm getting at is, food plotters don't always need to buy seed. They can grow the right crops at the right times of the year to take advantage of the seed.

These are just some quick things I think about when I'm on my tractor, day dreaming. I'm glad to see guys are "opening up their minds", and always thinking of better ways to get things done. For me, that's the challenge and it puts more fun into it. I never seek advice from a salesman, and this case follow the directions from a BOB company.

Here's a pic of the volunteer rye plot last night and some of the beds in it. I didn't walk very far in and found probably 5-6 beds and trails.
Thanks for your post Dipper, I am leaning to doing more of this type of ploting.



 
We received our first substantial rain today in awhile 3/4", looked it up last night and we've received 1/2" since 5/21. Maybe not so good of a time to try this expirament but oh well.

I guess I got a better kill on the clover than I thought. The green on the tilled side is the oats/rye coming up good.





The peas and soys are starting to show themselves pretty good on the tilled side nothing on the mulch side yet, not sure how long these will last because I think they have figured out something has been planted. I have never tried a e-fence and I gave up on soys a few years ago because they would just get wiped out. Apparently this is the nursery.



 
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We put exclusion cages on these plots today, no phone so no pics. We received 1 1/2" of rain this last week so everything was starting to take off. I also pulled the card on the trail cam and they are hitting these plots hard so I'm not expecting much from them, the cages will tell.
 
Scott-might have to broadcast some rye and brassicas in there. The last thing you want is bare soil, and your gonna have that if the deer keep the beans/peas leveled. Than you will have a failed plot, especially when we get to fall. Broadcasting a vulnerable plot is a good insurance policy where there is intense browse pressure. The beans also should have a good head start on the rye, so competetion won't be as much of an issue. Planting it early like this will also increase your odds they won't destroy the rye too. Maybe protect the beans/peas alittle too.
 
Scott-might have to broadcast some rye and brassicas in there. The last thing you want is bare soil, and your gonna have that if the deer keep the beans/peas leveled. Than you will have a failed plot, especially when we get to fall. Broadcasting a vulnerable plot is a good insurance policy where there is intense browse pressure. The beans also should have a good head start on the rye, so competetion won't be as much of an issue. Planting it early like this will also increase your odds they won't destroy the rye too. Maybe protect the beans/peas alittle too.
Thanks Dipper! I was thinking I'm going to have to do something, I picked up my brassica seed this last week, not sure on the rye. Last year the elevator I buy my seed at didn't have it until Aug., I'll have to check around for some.
 
Ya I spiced up a couple plots already. There isn't much supply of rye until after it is harvested. I grow alittle rye seed for myself and keep it for this reason Use them brassicas too, only use like a pound or 2 an acre.
 
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