The Throw n’ Mow Method

[nchunter1989]

Thanks for the response. Not sure if you caught it but in my first post I mentioned I don't have a grain drill and that I have already watched all the videos, read these threads (even the two 20 pages threads).

I like what Grant has to say but our worlds are really different. He has an unlimited budget, sponsors etc I think I even recall reading where they trucked in loads and loads of antler dirt.

So really what I was looking for was opinions from folks that have been using this for awhile. Obviously throw and crimp is less violent than throw and mow. Sure it will terminate the cover crop but will it be enough action to get the seed where it needs to be? I have a cultipacker so I can probably get away with a throw mow and roll method and may not need a Crimper at all. But as mentioned I found a good price one and was just curious was people thought.

Sorry, did not see where you stated you had seen his videos. The principles are still the same though.

I completely understand a limited budget,heck all I have is an atv, sprayer,$50 antique drag & handtools. I handcast seed from a 5 gallon bucket. Finish off with the drag.

One thing I've learned is I have to tailor my expectations to my property . I realize with my sandy soil & a landowner that doesn't follow through on the plans we set every year , I'll probably never have a high 6-7ph or be able to plant whatever I want.

So, just give it a shot. If you can afford the crimper jump on it. But there are plenty of guys out there & on here that don't use them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Rit]

Sorry, did not see where you stated you had seen his videos. The principles are still the same though.

I completely understand a limited budget,heck all I have is an atv, sprayer,$50 antique drag & handtools. I handcast seed from a 5 gallon bucket. Finish off with the drag.

One thing I've learned is I have to tailor my expectations to my property . I realize with my sandy soil & a landowner that doesn't follow through on the plans we set every year , I'll probably never have a high 6-7ph or be able to plant whatever I want.

So, just give it a shot. If you can afford the crimper jump on it. But there are plenty of guys out there & on here that don't use them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I am definitely going to give it a try. This will be the 3rd year for a plot on this 1 acre section. I have also had one about 300 yards away. Both were done with tillage, broadcasting, and a cultipacker. Same story every year the initial germination and growth is great. But well drained soil and lack of rain makes for a worthless plot. I really have nothing to loose. I do know my soil needs major improvement and hoping this will help.

Deer density has went way down on my property. I have a 9 acre hay field that is going on its 5th year. I lease it out and it used to be a deer magnet. It has not been fertilized in 4 years and the deer don't really touch it anymore. Next year it's going to 6.5 acres of switchgrass and a 2.5 acre throw and mow destination plot.

Here is the brassica plot from last year. I put too much seed down and it just didn't turn out very good.

 

[35-acre]

I am definitely going to give it a try. This will be the 3rd year for a plot on this 1 acre section. I have also had one about 300 yards away. Both were done with tillage, broadcasting, and a cultipacker. Same story every year the initial germination and growth is great. But well drained soil and lack of rain makes for a worthless plot. I really have nothing to loose. I do know my soil needs major improvement and hoping this will help.

Deer density has went way down on my property. I have a 9 acre hay field that is going on its 5th year. I lease it out and it used to be a deer magnet. It has not been fertilized in 4 years and the deer don't really touch it anymore. Next year it's going to 6.5 acres of switchgrass and a 2.5 acre throw and mow destination plot.

Here is the brassica plot from last year. I put too much seed down and it just didn't turn out very good.

WOW! Those plots look great to me! I'm just trying my hand at this process. It's the only process I can do.

• My land is 3 miles into the hardwoods.
• There are no fields (except for the 2 acres I had put in).
• I only have a 220 ATV and a drag harrow.
• I definitely don't have a mower that can tackle a field.

I was starting to follow another program. It was a throw and grow plan. But it didn't have the roll and re-plant cycle. So I had sprayed my field with Glysophate to kill off the native grasses and weeds. I did this over about 10 weeks (2 sprays). This had my field killed off giving me "thatch or biomass" (PHOTOS: field sprayed image).

Then I read this thread thread. So I built what I'll call a "dirt buster" (PHOTOS: dirt buster 1 and dirt buster 2) that I used once to break up just a little of the harder crusted soil (the only time that I plan to use this device). Lucky for me, it rained really well the week prior, so this implement held together and allowed me to scratch up the soil a little (not a till or something drastic - just a bit of soil to help with seed to soil coverage).

I then planted the entire 2 acres (just under 2) with 50 lbs of buckwheat last weekend. We've had good rain (hopefully not too much). That might be a little on the light side, but the soil here isn't that great. There is no way to get enough lime and fertilizer into the field. As not only is my property 3 miles into the woods, but the field is a half mile uphill via an old logging road (creeks and ditches and all). The final picture I have shows the thatch/biomass, after the field was planted then dragged with my steel harrow rake (which I'm not posting a photo of as I think everyone know what it is - if not, ask and I'll post it.).

Buckwheat germinates in 3-5 days. It's been 7 and I'm dying to drive the hour and a half to see how it's doing. My plan will be some time in late July/August is to broadcast brassica/turnip/rape into the buckwheat and then "roll down" the buckwheat. Followed by a September planting of winter wheat. Looking for some feedback on this portion of my plan (rolling the buckwheat and overseeding the winter wheat later). BTW - I'm in southern NY.

 

[Rit]

I tried my hand at establishing a 1-acre section of CIR switchgrass. To this point I have zero germination. The seed was frost seeded in March after it spent a month in my freezer. Soil temps could be the issue but I thought it would have germinated by now. Does anyone else have new seeds that have sprouted? I had outstanding weed control but some minor flooding in part of the area.

Trust me I swear this is related. So if this is indeed a failure I have an acre of completely bare soil that gets pounded with the sun. My question is if I was to transform this to a throw n mow plot could I toss out buckwheat and Oats now and then cultipack in prep for a fall WR/Clocer/Oats? I have zero bio-mass now. The other factor is that I sprayed with Simizine a month ago so not much of anything is growing.

 

[MojoRisin]

35-acre - welcome to this site. I believe it was me that showed you this thread from Bowsite but I post under a different name there. This is a great site with many knowledgeable people. Good luck with your plot. I agree you might have been light on the buckwheat. Your plans for the fall plot sound good to me. You may want to add some clover too with the wheat. You'll have that growing next spring then. Try to get some lime and fertilizer in there.

 

[Bill]

I tried my hand at establishing a 1-acre section of CIR switchgrass. To this point I have zero germination. The seed was frost seeded in March after it spent a month in my freezer. Soil temps could be the issue but I thought it would have germinated by now. Does anyone else have new seeds that have sprouted? I had outstanding weed control but some minor flooding in part of the area.

Trust me I swear this is related. So if this is indeed a failure I have an acre of completely bare soil that gets pounded with the sun. My question is if I was to transform this to a throw n mow plot could I toss out buckwheat and Oats now and then cultipack in prep for a fall WR/Clocer/Oats? I have zero bio-mass now. The other factor is that I sprayed with Simizine a month ago so not much of anything is growing.

I don't think oat or WR will be liking the simazine any time soon. Where are you located? I wouldn't write the switch off just yet unless your in the south. Any good frosts after you spread the seed?

If it were still bare by the end of June I'd try and figure out how to plant some 60 day sweet corn.

 

[Rit]

I don't think oat or WR will be liking the simazine any time soon. Where are you located? I wouldn't write the switch off just yet unless your in the south. Any good frosts after you spread the seed?

If it were still bare by the end of June I'd try and figure out how to plant some 60 day sweet corn.

Hello Bill!

I am located in NW Ohio. I have heard before to be patient with switch it's just so hard to look at bare earth everyday. There was a 3-4 inch snow after I seeded and a few days of below freezing weather. I probably should have gotten it out earlier but had some seed delivery issues. Does anyone know off the top of their head how long Simizine hangs around? I put it on pretty hot twice.

 

[Bill]

Does anyone know off the top of their head how long Simizine hangs around? I put it on pretty hot twice.

Be patient is the truth. You really can't call it a failure until the second summer. That hard seed needs to freeze and thaw to soften up. No expert with herbicide but my local sprayer once told me the annual max that can be applied per acre on the atrazine label isn't because it will hurt this years crop. it so when you rotate to beans the next Spring it won't still be around and affect the beans. So with two hot doses I'd say look for something simazine resistant if you can't stand looking at bare dirt this year.

That's why I mentioned sweet corn. You will still have time to get a crop with 60 day sweet corn. But I wouldn't give up on the switch.

 

[Rit]

Be patient is the truth. You really can't call it a failure until the second summer. That hard seed needs to freeze and thaw to soften up.

Somehow I failed to mention it was in my freezer for about 3 weeks then inside the garage for a day before I broadcast it. Then the snow and some freezing days. I'll keep looking for some switch seedlings.

It has been dry lately but we have some 90 degree temps and rain looming for next week. Thx!

 

[35-acre]

35-acre - welcome to this site. I believe it was me that showed you this thread from Bowsite but I post under a different name there. This is a great site with many knowledgeable people. Good luck with your plot. I agree you might have been light on the buckwheat. Your plans for the fall plot sound good to me. You may want to add some clover too with the wheat. You'll have that growing next spring then. Try to get some lime and fertilizer in there.

Thanks. Yes, you got me hooked over here. This is what things look like today. I am pumped.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[StickTime]

an update on my T&M plots- so far so good- my buddy went to the farm and took two pics for me so didnt see them in person. Lots of BW but I'm not sure I see any sunflowers. He said there were lots of tracks though, so if they found them early they'll never have a chance!

 

[Barndog56]

A couple good days of rain in the forecast so spread some seed i had laying around into my winter rye.

Here's a before pic from the rifle stand.

Some of it was a full 6 foot tall. Might have to go with winter wheat this fall as it should be a little easier on the riding mower.

Lots of red clover and alfalfa growing in the rye.


I had about 20 pounds of sunflowers that I broadcast in a strip in the back of the first pic, just on the other side of the fruit trees. Then put 10 pounds of peas in the thickest rye so it will have more thatch, just this side of the fruit trees. And 7 pounds of buckwheat where the rye was thinnest, in the near righthand of the pic. Started to rain just as i was finishing the mow and drag, so will get after pics tomorrow.

 

[Rit]

A couple good days of rain in the forecast so spread some seed i had laying around into my winter rye.

Here's a before pic from the rifle stand.
View attachment 13491
Some of it was a full 6 foot tall. Might have to go with winter wheat this fall as it should be a little easier on the riding mower.

Looks like a good stand of rye . Did you just broadcast into that first picture then mow? Just curious what you had growing in that field prior to putting the seed down. I put down 100 lbs of Oats yesterday with 150 lbs of 6-24-24 before the rain gets here.

 

[Rit]

I currently lease this field to a local guy for hay production. His lease expires this fall and I am taking over the field. I am planting 7 acres of Switch and 2 acres of throw and mow along the woods. I want to spray and kill the field this fall. My thoughts are to drill the 2 acre area with WR then broadcast brassica and maybe some clover.

 

[Barndog56]

Prior to the rye? It was an old field of just grass. Sprayed it, spread the rye, and mowed the first weekend of September. Rye came in thicker in areas where I had the heaviest thatch layer after mowing. Transitioning this whole area to the LC mixes.

 

[Barndog56]

Here's an after pic.

About 2/3 of it has a real good layer of thatch.

The other 1/3 looks kind of slim. But with 4.4" of rain in the last 24 hours I'm hoping the peas will go ahead and germinate.

 

[Rit]

Here's an after pic.
View attachment 13505
About 2/3 of it has a real good layer of thatch.
View attachment 13506
The other 1/3 looks kind of slim. But with 4.4" of rain in the last 24 hours I'm hoping the peas will go ahead and germinate.
View attachment 13507

Those thatch photos are night and day. Seems a mixed bag on who sprays and who doesn't. I think I'll spray at first to get a kill on some weeds. Eventually hoping to eliminate spraying all together.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

I don't spray anymore......just transition with the natural termination of my summer forage around the first of Oct.

 

[Rit]

I don't spray anymore......just transition with the natural termination of my summer forage around the first of Oct.

I like the sound of that. We received a good amount of rain today with more on the way the next few days. Oats should germinate and with temps in the 90s I should get a verdict on the switchgrass planting.

 

[Rit]

FWIW this crowd is much more hospitable than Bowsite. Haven't been back since I found this site. It can be quiet at times but I'll take that over worthless bantering about egos.