My Summer Plot Experiment

[BradB]

Last year I decided it was time to make a real effort at summer plots. Have made a couple of half hearted attempts at soybeans which were failures due to neglect and overgrazing. The bottom 3 AC of my only remaining open field had been fallow for about 4-5 years, which was my last failure. My initial plan was to do 3 AC of beans and 2 ac of corn. Two motivating factors were a Cogongrass infestation in the fallow areas and hog problems related to the Nutgrass in the fallow areas. Here is the field to start.

This is what it looked like to start.

Looking a little better now

Got the south 3 ac planted and fenced. Plan was to plant the north 3 ac in corn in early June

Got a few rains and the bean/corn field got going.

And it looks like this today.

Ended up with 3 ac on north end because my buddy got a little carried away with the sprayer. No problem bigger is better. Was unable to get up to the farm in time for corn so drop back and punt. Mixed up Red Ripper peas, Sunn Hemp, WGS, Buckwheat and Sunflowers and got them in the ground about 3 weeks ago. Got an update today.

Looks good but there is one problem. You can see peas, WGS, sunn hemp and buckwheat, but no sunflowers. There is not a sunflower in the field per my buddy and I planted 50 lbs. A mystery.

At this point I think I can rate this a successful experiment and one that will continue into the future.

 

[scott44]

Looks good! The sunflowers might have been eaten first before they amounted to anything.

 

[BradB]

I guess it is possible but for none of them to be left this fast and with this much food on the plate I just do not know.We had about 5 lbs of sunflower seed left so I will get my buddy to do a germination test on them. I will be planting a large patch of sunflowers next year and e-fencing them.

 

[momatt]

Looks good. Looks like a familiar view looking over the hood of a JD 4020

 

[Weasel]

Nice work! Looks great.

 

[Eggman]

You beans look great!

 

[BradB]

Don't know the difference but my tractor is a 2240. Have never been able to figure out how they come up with the model numbers.

 

[BradB]

Got another update today and things are looking pretty good. Rain has been plentiful and the plots are happy. Please excuse the ugly fella in the pic, I only keep him around to send me pictures and such.

This is looking SW with the bean/corn plot in the foreground. No pics but the beans are about 6' now and about over the top or the corn.

The area between the two plots has always been a pretty heavily used nighttime travel corridor but was wide open so not so much in daylight.I hope I will have enough cover after dry down to get a little daytime activity across this field. It should be a jungle by the fall

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Awesome fields!

 

[H20fwler]

Looks great!

 

[broom_JM]

Those are some big, beautiful plots! Excellent work. In what state are these located?

 

[D Hunter]

I can only dream of such large flat areas for food plots.

 

[BradB]

My place is in SE Alabama.

 

[BradB]

Pretty amazing what enough water will do for a summer field. Makes an amateur like me look like he knows what he is doing. This is from Friday, about a week since the last pic posted showing my buddy. I think there has been a little growth in the pea/hemp/buckwheat/sorghum field planted first of July.

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The soybeans seem to have slowed down and are busy producing pods. The corn appears to be starting to dry down which I guess is about right since it was 113 days corn planted the first part of May.

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[Eggman]

Great looking plots! Are you seeing any usage or browsing on the sun hemp?

 

[BradB]

Not seeing a lot but I think that is probably because of the sheer quantity of food right there now. I have tried SH in small plots without protection and have never got it established because of browsing. I was really looking more for cover and soil improvement with this plot anyway. I hope the SH, Buckwheat and Peas will result in minimal fertilizer inputs next year.

 

[buckvelvet]

Ended up with 3 ac on north end because my buddy got a little carried away with the sprayer. No problem bigger is better. Was unable to get up to the farm in time for corn so drop back and punt. Mixed up Red Ripper peas, Sunn Hemp, WGS, Buckwheat and Sunflowers and got them in the ground about 3 weeks ago. Got an update today.
Looks good but there is one problem. You can see peas, WGS, sunn hemp and buckwheat, but no sunflowers. There is not a sunflower in the field per my buddy and I planted 50 lbs. A mystery.

Brad not sure where your located. Just curious what you'll do in the hunting season with this plot, will this be turned into green fertilizer and plant something else in that spot for the cold months to hunt over?

 

[BradB]

I am in SE Alabama so winter is not a big stress time for me. I will leave the north 3 ac plot as is until next spring. I had originally planned for it to be in corn this year but did not get up to the farm in time to plant. I did the mix primarily for soil building since the Sunn Hemp, Buckwheat and Peas are all nitrogen fixers. Hopefully the Sunn Hemp will get 8-10 feet tall and also provide screening. My house is about 300 yards north of this field and our main N/S road runs right along the west edge of it so the hope is that this field and the adjoining bean field will screen the house and especially the road from the wood line on the east edge of the field. Ultimately the goal is to be able to plant 3 ac of beans and 3 ac of corn and just rotate the fields year to year, with the beans providing the needed nitrogen for the corn. I have another 5 ac of plots I plant for fall/winter nutrition and killing.

 

[BradB]

Well my buddy in Bama sent another update. The sunn hemp/pea field is growing gangbusters and serving its purpose. He has seen and heard more Quail than ever and saw a fawn run into it while riding around.

And the bean field is doing its job too. Prior to fence removal the beans had been up to the top of the corn throughout the whole field. After 5 weeks they seem to be shrinking.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

That's awesome man. You guys are gonna keep on with these fences until I have to get one too.