Food Plot Discussion

[Wsucoug]

Always consider moisture, timing and competition.  Dry, will not work.  Timing off no chance.  Competition in place it fails.  Many combinations work great, clovers, as many varieties as you can find, is great, moisture and competition critical.  Forage type grains, trit, oats, barley usually are best for plots, more cover.  Check local seed suppliers first, out of area deer mixes are way over priced and often wrong varieties.
Here is a picture from a week ago, peas and wheat emerged first, sweet clover will take a little more time.  I used sweet clover because it is a biennial.  Tiny this season so it should escape most grazing this spring and be huge next year.  Great nesting cover.  This site will get hit hard this summer, probably not much seed production for winter.

Also this. Gotta keep competition in check. There is to little moisture to go around.

[jrebel]

For weed control....do you guys spot spray with roundup?  I get to see my food plot for the first time in a month tomorrow.  I have been told it is growing well but does have weeds in it.  I plan on taking round up to spot spray being I have so many varieties in a relatively small area.  I will take pictures and report back. 

Jrebel

[headshot5]

Depends on the weeds.  Crossbow for broad leaf, and roundup for grasses/thistles.

[T-ROY]

Wsucoug.  Do you do this for living? I will try exactly what you suggested and get back to you guys this fall. Thanks for all the help from everyone. Good info

[Wsucoug]

Depends on the weeds.  Crossbow for broad leaf, and roundup for grasses/thistles.

I would say crossbow for thistles and other tough to control broadleafs. Round up aka glyphosate will kill most items when mixed correctly; however, it will only top kill thistle.

[Wsucoug]

For weed control....do you guys spot spray with roundup?  I get to see my food plot for the first time in a month tomorrow.  I have been told it is growing well but does have weeds in it.  I plan on taking round up to spot spray being I have so many varieties in a relatively small area.  I will take pictures and report back. 

Jrebel

If i am having issues with certain weeds I usually plant my mixes so i can take advantage of particular herbicides that will deal with my weed issue. Spot spraying is definitely an option, but I wouldn't just rely on roundup as you maybe wasting your time depending on the weeds you want to control. What was the seed mixture? What equipment do you have available to you.  Pics will def. help.

Also you have to be very careful with some of the herbicides as they have planting restrictions. For example you need to wait a minimum of 14 days and preferably 30 days when you use 2,4 D before you can plant. Triclopyr, which is in crossbow, does have some restrictions, but i can't recall off the top of my head what they are.

[Wsucoug]

Wsucoug.  Do you do this for living? I will try exactly what you suggested and get back to you guys this fall. Thanks for all the help from everyone. Good info

No, but i have spent lots and lots of time trying to get it right for our region. Almost everything you read out there as far as mixes and planting dates go; just don't work for our area. Plotting is fun, but it can be hard to do because our moisture patterns and our hunting seasons don't align well.

Best thing to do is to gather your seed up and then hit this thread hard with weather forecasts as August rolls around. Also another tip....always keep and extra bag of winter rye in the garage. When/if you have a plot failure that extra bag can be a saving grace.

[T-ROY]

winter wheat seems like then thing to plant, fall feed and spring feed. i would guess when it goes to seed everything would eat it also and disk it in in august and start over.

[Wsucoug]

There is nothing wrong with winter wheat, and it is easy to get a hold of as that's what most farmers plant.  It is also preferred by deer. The reason why I don't do it is because I am often planting in less than ideal conditions and I am trying to make as  much fall tonnage as possible to hunt over. Farmers plant winter wheat because they want to take advantage of the spring moisture without having get into the fields. Both rye and triticale will produce more fall tonnage and grow in tougher conditions than wheat. Also we added oats to your mix, as a premium attraction, which is more preferred than wheat, but we also added the rye/triticale for toughness and because they over winter.     

Once you have a few failed plots you will start to take any advantage you can get with your crop selection.

The following year you can disk it in but there is other options. The red clover and chicory will be in there cruising along feeding the deer.  Do you have access to a mower/brush hog?

[T-ROY]

yeah i have one of those dr brush cutters you pull behind a 4 wheeler.  believe me i am not going to try and re-invent the the wheel.  im going to try that blend you suggested earlier. you have obviously had so luck getting it to grow.  one more question is winter rye the same as annual rye grass? cant seem to find a definite answer on google. i read an article and the  guy said  for a failed food plot put down 200 pound per acre annual rye grass in the fall.

[nwwanderer]

Annual rye and cereal rye, former like orchardgrass, latter like winter wheat, very different.  Might consider spring winter rotations or plan a mix that will work for 2+ years, reducing cost, providing winter cover and better weed control.

[Wsucoug]

100% NOT the same. Rye grass goes in your lawn and pastures. The other one is a grain like wheat and oats. Its also why i said to give landmark seed a call in airway heights. Its the best place to get it at the best price.

In the spring your fall plot is basically set with the red clover and chicory being already to go. The only thing that is missing is more cereal rye as it will mature about the end of June. YOU can do a few things:

1. No till drill that extra bag of rye into the soil in Late May just before a good rain. Then either terminate the current stand of rye with clethodim or wait for it to mature at the end of June and just lay it over with a drag or your atv wheels. Planting at this date ensures that you get germination when moisture is present. You can also terminate like this:

https://practicalfarmers.org/2015/05/rolling-cereal-rye-tips-for-success-guest-blog-by-dana-jokela/

2. You can let the rye mature and then mow it in the middle of summer when everything is dormant. Since rye is a prolific germinator, it will reseed itself when the moisture returns. The only draw back to this is that if the moisture does not return, then nothing is gonna happen. I did something similar to this last year and
the rye didn't germinate till October and didn't have much time to put on tonnage.   

I would lean for some type of method of option 1. Also If you go option 1 make sure to store your extra bag of rye in a cool dry place (NOT A COLD! place) as this will prevent the seed from vernalization.

[Wsucoug]

I guess i would also like to add that we haven't even addressed weeds yet. Who knows what is going pop once you touch that soil and we will likely have to adjust the whole plan after we see what grows.

 I like to take the approach of trying not to disturb the soil.  This conserves soil moisture and nutrients and also prevents weed seeds from getting exposed and germinating.  However, when first starting out, conventional tillage is pretty much a must to get things going unless you have a no till drill.     

[bearpaw]

For weed control....do you guys spot spray with roundup?  I get to see my food plot for the first time in a month tomorrow.  I have been told it is growing well but does have weeds in it.  I plan on taking round up to spot spray being I have so many varieties in a relatively small area.  I will take pictures and report back. 

Jrebel

Roundup will kill almost everything.
If you have grasses/grains and want to kill everything else use 24d. If you have some legumes mixed in the plot use 24db (similar to 24d), if used correctly the legumes will survive.

If you have a clover/legume plot there is herbicide to kill other broadleaf plants or there is herbicide to kill the grasses out.

Note: There are generic brands of herbicide for sale in places like North 40 or Tractor Supply that work just as well as the name brands and cost less.

This article by the QDMA will tell you in simple language what to use: https://www.qdma.com/5-herbicides-every-deer-steward-know/

[KFhunter]

I've been doing it without a sprayer for many years, it's time I had a sprayer 


I just took a quote on a $4000 sprayer, that will be my high end cadillac sprayer.  Ag Spray

21' booms with the rugged boom suspension (no single pole booms dangling off chains bouncing around everywhere) 
2 agitators
boomless nozzles, fold up the booms and go boomless sprayers  (got some brushy areas to spray where booms would suck)
silver series pump (roundup ready) 
nice gun w 22' hose for fruit trees
150 gallon tank
dripless nozzles with diaphragm
03 nozzles 3/10 gallon @ 40 psi   easy to switch out nozzles too