So you have sand to grow on?

[Peeps]

I often hear guys lose all hope of growing anything when they say their plot is "sandy". All hope is not lost, you just need to plant the right seed and begin increasing the OM over time. Here are some before and after pics to show you that stuff will still grow that deer love. This was forest at the beginning of July. I had a Dozer completely strip and level it after I had cut down the big trees. The Dozer and root rake scraped off the little top soil that I had leaving sand that would make a beach goer proud. No worries. No lime or fertilizer used. I broadcasted WR at a normal rate and also a cheap mix of various other seeds I had left over after I lightly dragged the WR seed in. The first pic is after the Dozer was done. The next pic is 2 weeks after seeding. The plot is full of deer tracks. This area will eventually have some apple trees planted in it.

 

[Peeps]

 

[Peeps]

 

[wiscwhip]

That is about the same as what our plots looked like after 28 years of trying to "improve" them. I just couldn't convince my old man to stop plowing and discing them every year(up until about 2 years before he sold the place). I can tell you right now, if you want to see any improvement at all in that dirt, take all your "steel" as far away from those areas as you can. The only thing you "might" need moving forward is a short-toothed drag harrow of some type, and that is a big "might". Scratching the surface is the most "tillage" I would recommend in that soil. Do you know what the "name" of that soil that is? How far down is your "normal" water table? Soybeans would do ok in there, but the plot looks small so they would likely need to be e-fenced.

 

[MoLandOwner]

Looks like good sand! If you know sand like I do, there can be some big time variation.

 

[wiscwhip]

With birches growing around the plot, the water table has to be much closer to the surface than what I dealt with in Juneau County.

I believe I may have inquired about this/point this out in another thread with the same picture. I would have to agree with you stu. Our water table was not all that far down, but far enough that birch wouldn't just grow there naturally.

 

[wiscwhip]

Winter rye, hairy vetch, buckwheat, red clover...3-5 years...zero tillage...totally different appearance of that soil

26 years of continuous tillage = just as bad, if not worse appearance of that soil. :( I will add that PPT, GGT, DER, GFR, and other(hybrid) brassicas will grow in that plot as well, but it will look nothing like the brassica plot in stu's recent thread posts.

 

[Peeps]

I have not done a soil test in this exact spot. The test I did about 100 yrds away in a diff plot had a surprising ph of 6.2 I think. Not sure what the water table is exactly but most of my neighbors sand point wells only go down 16-18 feet. The only tillage I will do will be with my drag. I have had good luck with clover chicory and brassicas in my other plots with the deer hammering the brassicas rt now. No ag in the area mostly forest. This is all a work in progress as we have only had the place for a year. When we got it the closest thing to a food plot was nothing. It has been a lot of fun learning on this site and putting some work in. It's always neat to see deer but it's really special to see them eating in plots that you made.

 

[MoLandOwner]

With a native ph of 6.2 you'll be in great shape. I'd wager with the info you can glean here and elsewhere, you could turn that plot into a thick alfalfa and/or white clover plot in a few years.

I would try it right now if it is 6.2 or better.

 

[wiscwhip]

Not a bad idea Mo. Just get one of the cheaper, old standby varieties like Vernal and give it a go. It wouldn't hurt to try it, and once established you would be doing one of the best things you could possibly do for soil building. Good root system for underground OM and tons of above ground biomass as well. Might need some micro nutrients to give it the best chance of thriving. When you list crop on your next soil test, use alfalfa for the "crop" and a high tonnage per acre and it will give you maximum recommended inputs, you can adjust from there.

 

[MoLandOwner]

Yep, I try and push Vernal to the sand guys. It is a great alfalfa for the sand, I would throw in a little med red clover and or some Alsike in with it. No way can you lose seeding that on top of the ground right now. Unless the faucet shuts off completely.

 

[sandbur]

Yep, I try and push Vernal to the sand guys. It is a great alfalfa for the sand, I would throw in a little med red clover and or some Alsike in with it. No way can you lose seeding that on top of the ground right now. Unless the faucet shuts off completely.

Have people had luck with broadcasting alfalfa?
I have one former client that plants rye in the fall on the Anoka Sand Plain. Then they come through and seed alfalfa in the spring. It works great for them and I know MO drives right by their place. I think they hit it with roundup shortly after seeding the alfalfa. Their Dad told me he wishes he had know this trick many years ago.

 

[younggun1849]

I have some sandy stuff at both farms. No till beans, rye/oats when leaves turn, rye comes up the next fall, spray it, no till beans into it. I'm hoping to improve the soil over time as well. It's a great deal if it works!

 

[MoLandOwner]

Have people had luck with broadcasting alfalfa?
I have one former client that plants rye in the fall on the Anoka Sand Plain. Then they come through and seed alfalfa in the spring. It works great for them and I know MO drives right by their place. I think they hit it with roundup shortly after seeding the alfalfa. Their Dad told me he wishes he had know this trick many years ago.

Small Plot is easy to broadcast and Pack! Then pray for some water!

 

[dipper]

Do u know what your souls generally lack, as far as p and k? I've put in of food plots in my area and they almost always are high in p and really low in k.
Get red clover in there, it grows anywhere too

 

[foggy]

Broadcasting and running a cultipacker over it has worked well on some of my sandiest soils.