Food plot plan

[westonwhitetail]

Hey everyone, just wanted to get some opinions on what I'm testing in a small plot behind my house this year l, that I may look at doing at a larger scale on my hunting land next year.

I soil tested and have a PH of 6.7. Soils are somewhat heavy, silt or clay loam. I planted crimson clover, buckwheat and Australian winter peas this spring. The clover and peas were intended to fix some nitrogen and the buckwheat to scavenge phosphorus. The buckwheat was planted at a low rate so it didn't overtake everything else. See the pics below.

I plan on discing this in in about a month and planting LC's mix of oats rye peas radish and clovers. The short term plan is to attract deer to hunt this fall. Long term plan is to establish a nice perennial clover plot for years to come. I have an adjacent plot that I will plant in a brassica mix.

So I'm asking your expertise on what you think of the overall plan and how I could improve it next year as I plan to implement this same strategy on a larger 2 acre plot next year. Anything I could add or change to the summer mix to better improve the soil and provide more nutrients to my fall planting? Is there another option for the fall planting that would produce a better clover plot the following year? Thanks for your advise.

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[scott44]

Looks good! Lots of biomass there. Sounds like a good plan, fall planted clover are the easiest to start IMO.

 

[Mibowhunter91]

Looks good and I agree I've had good luck with clover plots in the fall


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[westonwhitetail]

Thanks guys. We had a clover plot at my hunting land in the past but it wasn't established very well and grass and weeds took over fast. So Im hoping this approach will produce a better stand in the long run


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[j-bird]

I stumbled across a red clover that if you can work it into your system I think you would be happy with. It's called Barduro red clover.....it's an awesome red clover. I stumbled across it in a BOB bag of seed I planted last fall and my deer this year have just hammered it. As I understand it's a perennial red clover, so it should last me for a few years now, but if you can get your hands on some of it - it may be well worth the effort. Most "perennial" clovers are white clovers, but they tend to do well more in the cooler times of the year....having a strong red clover in that mix that handles the heat better could be a nice addition. I'm not an expert on this seed, so do your homework.....but from what I have seen, it's pretty great stuff.

The summer plot you have there offers plenty of goodies for the deer and should be doing good things for your soil as well. Fall planted clover tend to not do much for you the planting year but will come on strong the following spring. I prefer to plant clovers in the fall as well.

 

[pointer]

Might want to consider doing what you are planning to, but without the disking. I had great luck broadcasting winter rye and clover into standing buckwheat (and weeds) then rolling them down and spraying them with glyphosate. It germinated well and is a pretty darn clean plot now. Just a few iron weed and poke salat, but not enough I'm worried about it. I plan on either rolling the rye down or using the weedeater to cut it down the first of September. Hope some of the rye reseeds itself and may add some oats for youth season attraction. This pic was taken back in May.

 

[westonwhitetail]

I stumbled across a red clover that if you can work it into your system I think you would be happy with. It's called Barduro red clover.....it's an awesome red clover. I stumbled across it in a BOB bag of seed I planted last fall and my deer this year have just hammered it. As I understand it's a perennial red clover, so it should last me for a few years now, but if you can get your hands on some of it - it may be well worth the effort. Most "perennial" clovers are white clovers, but they tend to do well more in the cooler times of the year....having a strong red clover in that mix that handles the heat better could be a nice addition. I'm not an expert on this seed, so do your homework.....but from what I have seen, it's pretty great stuff.

The summer plot you have there offers plenty of goodies for the deer and should be doing good things for your soil as well. Fall planted clover tend to not do much for you the planting year but will come on strong the following spring. I prefer to plant clovers in the fall as well.

I'll have to keep an eye out for that clover. Sounds like it'd fit in well. I'll check my coop for it, thanks for the tip


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[westonwhitetail]

Might want to consider doing what you are planning to, but without the disking. I had great luck broadcasting winter rye and clover into standing buckwheat (and weeds) then rolling them down and spraying them with glyphosate. It germinated well and is a pretty darn clean plot now. Just a few iron weed and poke salat, but not enough I'm worried about it. I plan on either rolling the rye down or using the weedeater to cut it down the first of September. Hope some of the rye reseeds itself and may add some oats for youth season attraction. This pic was taken back in May.

I was wondering how everyone plants after buckwheat. I may do this, if I can get my plot to look like yours next summer I'll be happy!

One question I have does discing incorporate organic matter into the soil better than spraying to kill buckwheat or any cover crop? I mean do you lose anything by spraying and letting it die and dry out when it's standing or on top. Rather than when you disc it breaks down underground?


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[Ben Glantz]

I was wondering how everyone plants after buckwheat. I may do this, if I can get my plot to look like yours next summer I'll be happy!

One question I have does discing incorporate organic matter into the soil better than spraying to kill buckwheat or any cover crop? I mean do you lose anything by spraying and letting it die and dry out when it's standing or on top. Rather than when you disc it breaks down underground?


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From what I know and read, discing hurts the soil OM more than helps. It speeds up the decomp of the OM in the soil. Your best bet is to broadcast seed, then roll or cultipack it. The rolling will knock down the standing rye, buck wheat etc.

 

[westonwhitetail]

From what I know and read, discing hurts the soil OM more than helps. It speeds up the decomp of the OM in the soil. Your best bet is to broadcast seed, then roll or cultipack it. The rolling will knock down the standing rye, buck wheat etc.

Ok thanks


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