what is a low maintenance crop?

[LeviD1]

So I bought 30 acres earlier this year and think it would be fun to have a roughly 3 acre food plot for the deer.I Love watching deer all year long and also think it would be beneficial for hunting season. So I am wondering if anyone can suggest a low maintenance crop that deer enjoy to eat. It would not get any supplemental irrigation only what it rains. I would like something that all I need to do is plow, plant, and if needed I can cut it even monthly. Just dont have water at the property.

Thanks for your help,
Levi

[splitshot]

contact the county or state in terms of agriculture they might be helpful.  is that what they get paid for?   mike w

[dr.derek]

where at?

[Ridgeratt]

Hit Spokane Seed , Buy a couple of sacks of cover crop. Peas and lentils

Or just buy a bag of oats!

[LeviD1]

where at?

Oh sorry it is out elk chattaroy area.

[KFhunter]

Frist, what type of soil?  rocky hard dry?  Sandy loam in a pine tree forest?

I'd do a soil sample, test the PH.  If it's in a pine forest you might need to do some amendments.


http://sccd.org/soilscience.html

[JimmyHoffa]

blackberries?

[oldleclercrd]

Clover. It'll last a few years. High in protein. Deer and turkey love it.

[oldleclercrd]

This was clover near that same area, bought at Big R. Just used a rake.

[KFhunter]

clover is awesome,  but I'd focus on a year around food plot with clover as part of the mix. 

triticale will pull in birds and give cover, oats will pull in everything including bear, corn...cover and feed

also radish is excellent,  other tuber crops help break up the soil and leaves nutrition in the ground for any critters that can access it.  Lot's of protein for horn in radish...

pea's will add tons of nitrogen and improve soil, it's a legume so it has bacteria that makes nitrogen.


You could really have fun with this 

[Ridgeratt]

Just realize its a roll of the dice as well!!
Everything can be sprouted and growing and the weather turns HOT and kills it all.

Thats why its called farming!!

[lokidog]

clover is awesome,  but I'd focus on a year around food plot with clover as part of the mix. 

triticale will pull in birds and give cover, oats will pull in everything including bear, corn...cover and feed

also radish is excellent,  other tuber crops help break up the soil and leaves nutrition in the ground for any critters that can access it.  Lot's of protein for horn in radish...

pea's will add tons of nitrogen and improve soil, it's a legume so it has bacteria that makes nitrogen.


You could really have fun with this 

It will only make nitrogen if there are enough nitrogen fixing bacteria present.  The best way to ensure this is to buy already inocculated seed or buy innoculant and coat the seeds before planting.

I'm doing the same thing, but here on the westside, and I have water available.  I have planted one small area with a winter cover crop that has rye (not the grass), peas, vetch and some other things.  When it thaws, I will be over seeding this area with a bunch of left-over garden seeds from years past.

Another part I will be planting crimson clover, and behind the house, where I want to have my archery range and shooting area, I will be planting white clover as it is supposed to be more traffic resistant.

I also plan on running a water line out to this area and putting a small pool type thing in to provide a year-round water source for the critters.  I don't have as much area as you do though.

Take pics, before and after, and let us know how it goes.

[oldleclercrd]

You may have to research it but I'm pretty sure clover doesn't require nitrogen when fertilizing... or very little. So your fertilizer bag should say 0-10-10 (10 is just an example).

[GBoyd]

I haven't used it for wildlife plots, but I love white clover as a longer-term cover crop. It's easy to establish and more drought tolerant than most other options in this area. To establish, I broadcast seed over land and disc it in. No need to plow or till down to bare dirt, just rough up whatever vegetation is there. When it sprouts, I overspray with a 1% application of glysophate. Clover is resistant, but the chemical kills competition from grasses and other weeds.

This system works great for me.

If I'm not in a hurry, I'll skip the seed. Using just the glysophate about three times a year with mowing, eventually the clover colonizes and creates and almost pure stand.

[Jingles]

throw in some turnips and parsnips with clover and it should be good to go

[LeviD1]

Do deer feed in your clover daily? And the turnips and parsnips are they the same deal just rough up the dirt and doesnt need supplemental water? Thanks for all the replies btw.

[Bean Counter]

*Tag* 

[grundy53]

Tagging also

[oldleclercrd]

The deer hit the clover daily up until the first freeze... When the clover couldn't keep up to the pressure. If possible throw out some brassica variety which are bitter until that first frost then become sweet. Just remember, greens during high pressure days and grain varieties during cold cold temps so plant according to your planned hunts.

[LeviD1]

Any of the experienced food plotters have any recommendations on equipment needed. I've been looking at tow behind stuff for the atv. Theres so many options and ide prefer not to waste money on something that doesnt work as well as another option. The soil I have is pretty hard and the plot is going to go where I have a bunch of little 10-12 ft pines growing. I was thinking cutting out all my pines and leaving the very few furs and such standing to let grow then going through with a backhoe to remove all the stumps and skim all the other crap growing off the surface. I was looking at disc plows? Im open to all suggestions. Preferably keeping it on less expensive equipment as I dont want to spend thousands but still get quality equipment that will last. Thanks again everyone! Im excited for the spring!

[bearpaw]

If you can get an old piece of harrow from a farmer to pull behind your atv that is all you need to break the soil enough to plant clover and oats.

[Skillet]

If you can't get a section of harrow, in a pinch you can drag a section of chain link fence with cinder blocks on it for weight. 

[Jingles]

With clover, turnips, parsnips and rutabagas you just need to get the surface scratched up  although with the root crops best to have about 6 inches of loose loamy soil.  As Bearpaw said for the clover just get part of an old springtooth harrow to drag behind the ATV, should be able to get around most of the trees  Start early in the spring before the ground gets to hard and you should be able to get a pretty good depth. Or find a single section of a disc unit

You'd be surprised how turnips draw in the deer 

[LeviD1]

With clover, turnips, parsnips and rutabagas you just need to get the surface scratched up  although with the root crops best to have about 6 inches of loose loamy soil.  As Bearpaw said for the clover just get part of an old springtooth harrow to drag behind the ATV, should be able to get around most of the trees  Start early in the spring before the ground gets to hard and you should be able to get a pretty good depth. Or find a single section of a disc unit

You'd be surprised how turnips draw in the deer

With those crops when would I plant those. Like most gardening things after its done frosting in the spring?

[Ridgeratt]

If you can't get a section of harrow, in a pinch you can drag a section of chain link fence with cinder blocks on it for weight.

   Someone who is able to think outside the box!!!

[lokidog]

Any of the experienced food plotters have any recommendations on equipment needed. I've been looking at tow behind stuff for the atv. Theres so many options and ide prefer not to waste money on something that doesnt work as well as another option. The soil I have is pretty hard and the plot is going to go where I have a bunch of little 10-12 ft pines growing. I was thinking cutting out all my pines and leaving the very few furs and such standing to let grow then going through with a backhoe to remove all the stumps and skim all the other crap growing off the surface. I was looking at disc plows? Im open to all suggestions. Preferably keeping it on less expensive equipment as I dont want to spend thousands but still get quality equipment that will last. Thanks again everyone! Im excited for the spring!

If the pines are ponderosa, I would probably leave those before the firs as I think they provide food for the turkeys with their cones.   

Another thing is to maybe rent/borrow something for this year to try out and see if it works for your application, before buying.

[LeviD1]

They are pretty much all black pine in that patch. The rest of my land has good variety thats what I want to put it there cause I dont care for black pine much.

[LeviD1]

With clover, turnips, parsnips and rutabagas you just need to get the surface scratched up  although with the root crops best to have about 6 inches of loose loamy soil.  As Bearpaw said for the clover just get part of an old springtooth harrow to drag behind the ATV, should be able to get around most of the trees  Start early in the spring before the ground gets to hard and you should be able to get a pretty good depth. Or find a single section of a disc unit

You'd be surprised how turnips draw in the deer

Also do you order these in bulk online? Or does anyone know of a place around spokane.

[Ridgeratt]

http://www.spokaneseed.com/

You can buy clover from most any farm store also.

[jasnt]

I use whitetail institutes imperial whitetail clover. There extreme works very well in our area and is a year round mix. The clover seems to attract better both deer and turkey. But it takes alot of nitrogen and also lime. Most the soils in our area are 5.5-5.7   clover prefer 6.5-7.2   dolomite lime works well to fix it. I use the clover which comes back every year but I also plant tall tine tubulars for winter forage. They love those when the snow hits the ground. 

[LeviD1]

I use whitetail institutes imperial whitetail clover. There extreme works very well in our area and is a year round mix. The clover seems to attract better both deer and turkey. But it takes alot of nitrogen and also lime. Most the soils in our area are 5.5-5.7   clover prefer 6.5-7.2   dolomite lime works well to fix it. I use the clover which comes back every year but I also plant tall tine tubulars for winter forage. They love those when the snow hits the ground.

what are tall tine tubulars? I figured I would have to add lime which isnt a problem. next spring once I clear out the area I am going to test the soil before I start planting.

[JimmyHoffa]

I use whitetail institutes imperial whitetail clover. There extreme works very well in our area and is a year round mix. The clover seems to attract better both deer and turkey. But it takes alot of nitrogen and also lime. Most the soils in our area are 5.5-5.7   clover prefer 6.5-7.2   dolomite lime works well to fix it. I use the clover which comes back every year but I also plant tall tine tubulars for winter forage. They love those when the snow hits the ground.

what are tall tine tubulars? I figured I would have to add lime which isnt a problem. next spring once I clear out the area I am going to test the soil before I start planting.

It's a brand of turnip developed by whitetail institute.  The animals like them in the winter because the root gets sugary and they dig them up and eat them.

[jasnt]

They taste like a bland radish that's been slightly sweetened.  They love eating the plant part as well as the root. Intact they never touch the root till the ground freezes up. They grow so that a good part of the tubers is aboveground. After the frosts and my clover is eaten to carpet then they hit the tall times hard!

[KFhunter]

I'm going to have to look into the tall tine tubers for part of my rotational hog grazing program,  thanks jasnt 

winter forage would be an excellent addition.

[jasnt]

I'm going to have to look into the tall tine tubers for part of my rotational hog grazing program,  thanks jasnt 

winter forage would be an excellent addition.

. My brothers hogs get out from time to time,they LOVE! these tubers!!!  Had to get the dogs to round them back up and in the pen.

I irrigate all my plots but I think that the extreme mix doesn't need it in our area. But I have the means and it grew thick and tall with a good watering once a week

[LeviD1]

do you plant them both mixed together or separate them? Also I was reading the panting instructions for both and it says to to use a cultipacker. How necessary is this? What do you do when you plant them? And thanks for the suggestion of the imperial institute clover and tubulars. From what I was reading they are both drought tolerant and seem like a good choice for me.

[KFhunter]

do you plant them both mixed together or separate them? Also I was reading the panting instructions for both and it says to to use a cultipacker. How necessary is this? What do you do when you plant them? And thanks for the suggestion of the imperial institute clover and tubulars. From what I was reading they are both drought tolerant and seem like a good choice for me.

A cultipacker will increase your seed to soil contact and thus get you a better germination rate.  You can still plant it though but you'll loose a higher ratio of seed without it.

[LeviD1]

think running it over with the atv would be better than nothing? I dont really want to purchase a cultipacker.

[jasnt]

do you plant them both mixed together or separate them? Also I was reading the panting instructions for both and it says to to use a cultipacker. How necessary is this? What do you do when you plant them? And thanks for the suggestion of the imperial institute clover and tubulars. From what I was reading they are both drought tolerant and seem like a good choice for me. 

I keep them separate. I disk till soil is loose then water it down. Then broadcast the seed then I use a peace of chain-link and drag it with no weights. Then water again real well.  I plant last week of may or first of June.

[LeviD1]

Cool. Thanks for the info

[dibbs]

On one property I hunt in S. Stevens county, there is a large amount of spotted knapweed and goatweed (St. Johnswort).  Are there any "food plot" plants that will compete favorably with these noxious weeds?  I've scratched up the ground with an old steel tooth and spring tooth harrows behind the toyota, and spray with roundup to kill the first batch of weeds, but with all the years of noxious weed seed in the ground (property hasn't been farmed in 30 years/had weed control) in a year or two whatever I've planted is choked out.  Thanks for your suggestions/ideas. 

[jasnt]

I'm fighting those too.  I have a 2acer area that I want to put in more clover. What I've been doing is risking it up. Let the weeds germinate then disk again, then repeat. The knap weed is the worst one. It puts out chemicals fro. Its roots making the soil perfect for knap weed and chokes out others. The first clover plot I put in was able to get established and now I don't get many weeds. The clover grows so thick no light reaches the soil. Plus I mow it few times a year which helps to keep any weeds that grow from going to seed.  One of our feilds was really bad!!  We put goats in there and over grazed it every year for about 3 years. Now we trade off with other fields but that first field is almost entirely grass now.  With any aggressive weed control you should be able to get control of it in a year or 2 but it won't be easy.