hilltopper
5 year old buck +
I haven't seen much about establishing alfalfa with throw and mow. Anyone done it successfully? Any special considerations?
The Throw n’ Mow Method
- Thread starter Crimson n' Camo
- Start date
35-acre
5 year old buck +
- Location
- Zone 6, Western NY
Well. I did my fall planting today. My buckwheat grew over 4 feet tall. You can see it in the photos where the tubes for my chestnut trees are covered (well - they are missing in the photo).
So I used my harrow rake and "rolled" the buckwheat down after I planted winter rye along with some brassica, etc. I took CNC's advice and held up on putting too much in addition to the winter rye.
I also planted a small plot in a clearing on my lease. Same seed. That is more of a Hail Mary (lol).
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So I used my harrow rake and "rolled" the buckwheat down after I planted winter rye along with some brassica, etc. I took CNC's advice and held up on putting too much in addition to the winter rye.
I also planted a small plot in a clearing on my lease. Same seed. That is more of a Hail Mary (lol).
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
scott44
5 year old buck +
- Location
- Mid Michigan zone 5b
Well. I did my fall planting today. My buckwheat grew over 4 feet tall. You can see it in the photos where the tubes for my chestnut trees are covered (well - they are missing in the photo).
So I used my harrow rake and "rolled" the buckwheat down after I planted winter rye along with some brassica, etc. I took CNC's advice and held up on putting too much in addition to the winter rye.
I also planted a small plot in a clearing on my lease. Same seed. That is more of a Hail Mary (lol).
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
Looks good!
John-W-WI
Administrator
CNC seems to be a bit of a celebrity around here. I just gave it a try for the first time as well (more details on my habitat thread, but I didn't want to be left out here 
)
Started with buckwheat:
Used an electric spreader on the wheeler to put down forage brassica, purple top turnip and daikon radish:
After spreading, I mowed it down:
I'll spread urea in a couple of weeks and we'll see how it goes!
Thoughts after having done this for the 1st time:
Buckwheat will dominate the planting. I didn't go heavy on the rate, and it still took over everything else I planted. That's ok, but if I had to do it again I wouldn't plant anything except buckwheat for this purpose (soil building) or cut the rate in half.
Next time I would hit the buckwheat with a cultipacker rather than mowing. It crimps very easily. It was almost harder to mow than it was to run over.
If the plot isn't too large, I wouldn't hesitate to use the 4 wheeler to run it over. It really laid down nicely when I was seeding.
A big thanks to CNC - I would have never come up with this on my own. Thank you!
-John
)Started with buckwheat:
Used an electric spreader on the wheeler to put down forage brassica, purple top turnip and daikon radish:
After spreading, I mowed it down:
I'll spread urea in a couple of weeks and we'll see how it goes!
Thoughts after having done this for the 1st time:
Buckwheat will dominate the planting. I didn't go heavy on the rate, and it still took over everything else I planted. That's ok, but if I had to do it again I wouldn't plant anything except buckwheat for this purpose (soil building) or cut the rate in half.
Next time I would hit the buckwheat with a cultipacker rather than mowing. It crimps very easily. It was almost harder to mow than it was to run over.
If the plot isn't too large, I wouldn't hesitate to use the 4 wheeler to run it over. It really laid down nicely when I was seeding.
A big thanks to CNC - I would have never come up with this on my own. Thank you!
-John
Semisane
5 year old buck +
Scott and 35 Acre, did you have any sign of grazing in the buckwheat?
35-acre
5 year old buck +
- Location
- Zone 6, Western NY
Oh yeah. The animals hit the buckwheat hard. Turkey and deer. Just like John said, buckwheat grew really well (I only planted 25lbs per acre). It was very easy to knock down. I just used my drag. Got a ton of good pics but this is my favorite. Two nice bucks for my area. Does and fawns in there too. They seem to hit the edges mostly. I'll have to figure out how to take advantage of that somehow.
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Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
- Location
- Driftless Area SE. MN USDA Zone 4b
Being that there are plenty of you already planting brassicas and the fact that I have never done the no till thing a question comes to mind. When doing a throw and mow plot does one need to do it a bit earlier than if you would go through traditional tillage?
Crimson n' Camo
5 year old buck +
- Location
- South Alabama
Thanks fellas!....I appreciate the comments. Those fields look awesome! I hope everyone gets some rain on them now.
35-acre
5 year old buck +
- Location
- Zone 6, Western NY
I would not think so. But this is my first year. I would say that you need to do something to disturb the OM (organic matter / thatch) in order to get the seed down. I then run everything over with my atv. When I was planting in years past I found that if I didn't run it over the seed doesn't take very well.
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Took the e fence down today and the buffet is now open.
This was my first year for a total no- till plot.
I did it slightly different than throw and mow.
I had a nice acre of rye and Balansa that I wanted to plant in a multi variety blend.
I 1st broadcast my seed...sunflower, spring pea, cow pea, sunn hemp, faba beans, and a little bit of several brassica varieties.
After broadcasting, I sprayed gly and rolled in the same pass, then I put up the fence.
I got a thorough kill with the gly, but a lot of the clover bounced back pretty quickly.
It's hard to say if this plot is a success or not. Most every variety came up very spotty. There's large areas that almost nothing survived and is now weeds. Not sure if critters got the seed. We have turkeys, mice, a ton of squirrels and the rabbit population is like a Biblical plague. I suspect that a lot of my seed got eaten and rabbits got what sprouted.
I probably got 30% of the sunflowers (my main variety) to maturity. The cow pea is probably 40% successful. The spring pea and hemp was 10% and the faba beans about the same.
The weeds...oh the weeds. A lot of them, while widespread, are not really a problem because my deer eat them...hairy galensoga and ragweed will be eaten. The 10 million Smartweed plants won't be eaten along with the horse nettle. There's foxtail in there, too.
Here's some pics...
I'll edit-in comment to the pics from my computer...give me a few minutes.
I've grown clearfield sunflowers in this plot for the last 3 years. I wonder if any raptor residue still remains and that's the reason some of my stuff didn't do well in isolated areas. Maybe I got a little too much raptor in spots last year??
I started out with a healthy amount of growth for thatch...
I really hated to destroy this Balansa...
I sprayed and rolled on the same pass. My thought was that rolling while the herbicide was still wet would help ensure better coverage. Nice layer of thatch there. I don't believe that it was too thick.
This is what it looked like this morning before I removed the fence. The near area was all brassica. An early planting experiment of varieties that I'd never grown before, mostly rutabaga (which my wife loves to eat) with some radish and winfred mixed in. I seeded it extremely heavy, and it was doing well, but it seems to be disappearing and taken over by the galinsoga...I think the rabbits are getting the brassica.
These aren't the clearfield sunflowers, this year. I thought maybe it was time to take a couple year break from applying raptor to this plot.
I'd normally allow the sunflowers to mature a bit more, but in order to allow the deer to thin this plot for a fall planting, I figured I better let them in to start eating. You can see, in some areas, the cowpeas are doing great. In other areas, it's nonexistent.
I have stuff growing that I didn't plant. I got the seed from Green Cover Seed and it seems that there are some other varieties mixed in.
There's a fair amount of ragweed but the deer will gobble it up. This plant was on the outside of the fence...
Any idea what this plant with the blue flowers is? I know what smartweed is...got plenty of it around here...
This was a nice patch of rutabaga until the rabbits ate it and now the hairy galinsoga has taken over. I used to try to kill galinsoga until I realized how much my deer eat it once it gets mature. They don't bother with it when it's young.
One thing is for sure about this planting method. This sloped plot has a tendency to erode and lose top soil. We've had an extremely wet year so far. Lots of heavy rain storms. I know I didn't lose any soil this year. I like that aspect.
What I don't like is the inability to deal with weeds when a multi variety forage is planted. Not much I can do it without destroying my crops.
I'm not sure Throw n Mow is the best approach with a summer plot of several varieties. Summer annuals are notorious for weeds. I think a fall plot may be better suited for TnM.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
This was my first year for a total no- till plot.
I did it slightly different than throw and mow.
I had a nice acre of rye and Balansa that I wanted to plant in a multi variety blend.
I 1st broadcast my seed...sunflower, spring pea, cow pea, sunn hemp, faba beans, and a little bit of several brassica varieties.
After broadcasting, I sprayed gly and rolled in the same pass, then I put up the fence.
I got a thorough kill with the gly, but a lot of the clover bounced back pretty quickly.
It's hard to say if this plot is a success or not. Most every variety came up very spotty. There's large areas that almost nothing survived and is now weeds. Not sure if critters got the seed. We have turkeys, mice, a ton of squirrels and the rabbit population is like a Biblical plague. I suspect that a lot of my seed got eaten and rabbits got what sprouted.
I probably got 30% of the sunflowers (my main variety) to maturity. The cow pea is probably 40% successful. The spring pea and hemp was 10% and the faba beans about the same.
The weeds...oh the weeds. A lot of them, while widespread, are not really a problem because my deer eat them...hairy galensoga and ragweed will be eaten. The 10 million Smartweed plants won't be eaten along with the horse nettle. There's foxtail in there, too.
Here's some pics...
I'll edit-in comment to the pics from my computer...give me a few minutes.
I've grown clearfield sunflowers in this plot for the last 3 years. I wonder if any raptor residue still remains and that's the reason some of my stuff didn't do well in isolated areas. Maybe I got a little too much raptor in spots last year??
I started out with a healthy amount of growth for thatch...
I really hated to destroy this Balansa...
I sprayed and rolled on the same pass. My thought was that rolling while the herbicide was still wet would help ensure better coverage. Nice layer of thatch there. I don't believe that it was too thick.
This is what it looked like this morning before I removed the fence. The near area was all brassica. An early planting experiment of varieties that I'd never grown before, mostly rutabaga (which my wife loves to eat) with some radish and winfred mixed in. I seeded it extremely heavy, and it was doing well, but it seems to be disappearing and taken over by the galinsoga...I think the rabbits are getting the brassica.
These aren't the clearfield sunflowers, this year. I thought maybe it was time to take a couple year break from applying raptor to this plot.
I'd normally allow the sunflowers to mature a bit more, but in order to allow the deer to thin this plot for a fall planting, I figured I better let them in to start eating. You can see, in some areas, the cowpeas are doing great. In other areas, it's nonexistent.
I have stuff growing that I didn't plant. I got the seed from Green Cover Seed and it seems that there are some other varieties mixed in.
There's a fair amount of ragweed but the deer will gobble it up. This plant was on the outside of the fence...
Any idea what this plant with the blue flowers is? I know what smartweed is...got plenty of it around here...
This was a nice patch of rutabaga until the rabbits ate it and now the hairy galinsoga has taken over. I used to try to kill galinsoga until I realized how much my deer eat it once it gets mature. They don't bother with it when it's young.
One thing is for sure about this planting method. This sloped plot has a tendency to erode and lose top soil. We've had an extremely wet year so far. Lots of heavy rain storms. I know I didn't lose any soil this year. I like that aspect.
What I don't like is the inability to deal with weeds when a multi variety forage is planted. Not much I can do it without destroying my crops.
I'm not sure Throw n Mow is the best approach with a summer plot of several varieties. Summer annuals are notorious for weeds. I think a fall plot may be better suited for TnM.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Last edited:
bueller
Moderator
- Location
- Central Wisconsin
John how many lbs/acre of buckwheat did you seed?
TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
- Location
- walton,texas
Species that rapidly canopy like milo,millet,sorghumXsudan do well for me with throw n mow
I dont spray for fall plantings as cool season weeds are less of a problem here
bill
I dont spray for fall plantings as cool season weeds are less of a problem here
bill
TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
- Location
- walton,texas
I am intrigued by the CnC mob grazing sans patties approach
Might have to find that old disc harrow.....
bill
Might have to find that old disc harrow.....
bill
Barndog56
5 year old buck +
- Location
- Waushara county, Wisconsin
One bean surges to the early lead in the germination race! Lol
ghilliehunter
5 year old buck +
- Location
- Indiana
Question for throw and mow users. I have a small area inaccessible to equipment that I would like to put in a winter rye and clover plot later next month. Any tools (backpack sprayer or weed eater) have to be packed in. Can I broadcast the rye and clover then spray with glyphosate and expect germination, or should I broadcast then weedeat? Any suggestions welcome.
seadonist
5 year old buck +
nchunter1989
5 year old buck +
- Location
- NC -USDA Zone 8a
Me personally I would spray, wait 30mins-1hr then spread your seed. There's no "wrong" way, one method or the other may work alil better in your area.
This fall I'll go in middle/late august & spray. Then I'm coming in with 200lbs of rye & oats.
This may be adjusted a few weeks depending on when the silo gets WR in..
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It may depend on what is growing there now...what are you terminating? Is it something that will bounce right back and out compete the clover?
How much soil moisture are you dealing with is another point. Does the area get baked with sun?
If you have decent moisture, the rye/clover should germinate (after spraying).
My preference would be broadcast, spray, and come back in 10 days and weed wack. That way, the competition should be killed down to the roots, and weed wacking later after the herbicide has done it's job, will lay down some thatch.
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ghilliehunter
5 year old buck +
- Location
- Indiana
Tap, it is a grassy area (lays east/west) in an opening between woods. Gets majority sun during the day. I really like your idea. That is what I am going to do. We'll see how it goes. If successful, I'll post a pic. Thanks.
tootall71
Yearling... With promise
- Location
- Geauga/Coshocton Ohio
My first T&M experiment with summer plots has worked out pretty well thus far.
I had tilled this plot the last 2 years and always had trouble getting any decent germination as this plot is on a slope and drains so fast it won't hold moisture when tilled. It was WR and clover in the spring, threw down buckwheat/pea/oat combo, brushogged everything over it, and walked away. MUCH better germination this year than I had last year, and with all the rain we got this summer it has really helped hold on to topsoil. Plenty of weeds, but I'm not bothered by it for a summer plot. The deer are hammering the BW with lots of heads showing signs of browse. But we are fortunate in our area in that there are no ag crops for about 2 miles in any direction, so the deer usually hit whatever I grow. Going to spray, broadcast, roll in August a combo of WR/winter peas/oats/radish. I suspect the results will be pretty stellar!
I had tilled this plot the last 2 years and always had trouble getting any decent germination as this plot is on a slope and drains so fast it won't hold moisture when tilled. It was WR and clover in the spring, threw down buckwheat/pea/oat combo, brushogged everything over it, and walked away. MUCH better germination this year than I had last year, and with all the rain we got this summer it has really helped hold on to topsoil. Plenty of weeds, but I'm not bothered by it for a summer plot. The deer are hammering the BW with lots of heads showing signs of browse. But we are fortunate in our area in that there are no ag crops for about 2 miles in any direction, so the deer usually hit whatever I grow. Going to spray, broadcast, roll in August a combo of WR/winter peas/oats/radish. I suspect the results will be pretty stellar!
