BSK....Buckwheat

[AlabamaSwamper]

I am going to try and get some this year. I was wondering, is it worth it to plant it? I hear lots of good things about it and have several small plots that are annual plots I could put it in. Otherwise, they are just dead and dirt in the summer.

Also, what rate do you plant it per acre?

DO you get new soil samples for it or just use your fall samples for fertilizer for it?

 

[Bottom Hunter]

I thought Buckwheat played on the Little Rascals???????????


LOL

BH

 

[Chaneylake]

I thought Buckwheat played on the Little Rascals???????????


LOL

BH

what was "Buckwheats" little brothers name on Little Rascals?

 

[deerchaser007]

I'm not BSK,. but i like it. Provides a quick 2 -3 tons of forage very fast , plus helps build the soil for the fall planting. If you play your cards just right ,.. you can get 2 plantings out of it. Such as ,.. if you plant the first of june, you can go back in and cut and disc in mid july and get another planting to hold you til september planting.
50 lbs per acre
I wouldn't worry about a new soil test and as long as your fertilizer needs were met for the annuals,.. you should be good to replant the buckwheat and add nothing. If you do add anything,. you need to keep the nitrogen low.

 

[Split Brow]

In what ways does it buld the soil???

 

[Chris Tripp]

it adds organic material to it

 

[deerchaser007]

In what ways does it buld the soil???

Root residues from the buckwheat makes the phosphorus more available to your fall planted plants. Also,. if its incorporated back into the ground through rotation planting it can make considerable gains in the level of phosphorus in the soil.

Pretty much,.. it works the same way as winter wheat for farmers. Notice many farmers plant winter wheat in the winter to stable and build their soil for the following planting of corn or soybean. Buckwheat works the same way,.. except its a warm season annual ,. not a cool season annual.

Another thing i really like about buckwheat is since it grows so fast,. it acts as a summer smother crop. It will keep unwanted weeds and grass from taking over your plot through the summer. Thus,.. reducing the heavy cost of herbicides before you till your ground for the fall planting.

 

[hard county]

In what ways does it buld the soil???

Root residues from the buckwheat makes the phosphorus more available to your fall planted plants. Also,. if its incorporated back into the ground through rotation planting it can make considerable gains in the level of phosphorus in the soil.

Pretty much,.. it works the same way as winter wheat for farmers. Notice many farmers plant winter wheat in the winter to stable and build their soil for the following planting of corn or soybean. Buckwheat works the same way,.. except its a warm season annual ,. not a cool season annual.

Another thing i really like about buckwheat is since it grows so fast,. it acts as a summer smother crop. It will keep unwanted weeds and grass from taking over your plot through the summer. Thus,.. reducing the heavy cost of herbicides before you till your ground for the fall planting.

I have also had success with drilling into freshly spray killed stands of buckwheat because of the extremely fibrous root system of buckwheat.
Maybe the greatest thing about buckwheat, 55 cents a pound.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Yep hard county, its good cheap stuff. Im going to be throwing it in my fields as soon as they are cleared.

 

[BSK]

I've really come to love buckwheat for poor-soil plots. I'm using more and more of it.

I plant it twice in my summer plots--once in late spring (right after the crimson clover has finished blooming in May) and then again around the early to mid-July. It matures very fast (it generally matures, blooms and dies within 45 days of planting).

 

[AlabamaSwamper]

My next question would be........

What is the nutrional value of Buckwheat?

Remember, I'm spending other folks' money on this and sometimes I need to be able to justify spending the money. I'm sure it's good or you wouldn't plant it but just for argument's sake at the meeting. lol

 

[BSK]

Buckwheat will never compete with things like soybeans, Lab Lab or Quail Haven beans for tonnage production or crude protein, but unlike the beans, it is very easy to grow.

It's crude protein runs in the mid 20 percent range and it is highly digestible.

In addition, buckwheat is one of the few large-seeded plants that germinates well with broadcast planting techniques (no ground prep). I don't "plant" mine, I just broadcast it into mowed plots and get amazingly good germination as long as we get a good rain soon after broadcasting.

If I had large, well-turned deep-soil plots, I would plant soybeans from Eagle Seed every time. However, for small, not-so-great soil plots--especially ridge-top plots--buckwheat is a fine plant.

 

[Trapper John]

I love me some buckwheat.

Makes a fine dove field, too.

 

[deerchaser007]

AS,.. the advantage i found in buckwheat is it is a excellent rotation crop for your fall annual plots. Most of the time ,. a fall annual will last til end of may or first of june. You only have 3 months (june,july, august) , and then it is time to replant the fall annuals. First off,.. plants such as lablab and soybean will take at least 30 to 45 days to mature. Thats half the 3 months right there gone before you can even get them established. Second,.. soybean and lablab are much higher in price. Why waste that money on something for 3 months. Not gonna happen for my money.
SO,.. to sell the buckwheat to others, you can use this information plus the cost , plus the soil building it provides.

I will say,... if you are only interested in a summer annual plot that will not be in rotation,. then for sure go with soybean, lablab,sorghum,sunflower, cowpeas. This will last til frost,. but even after frost,. the thicket left behind provides great bedding areas. BUT,.. as BSK stated,. i only recommend this for plots 2 acres or larger.

 

[TS_13]

BSK- so you dont turn your field? You can broadcast on top ground? because if so, that sounds great! i need to look into planting some...

 

[Boone 58]

sounds great! I am arguing with myself as to whether to plant anything at all for summer since the last one was horribly dry. I may just wait for fall planting only.

 

[WDS]

I am definitely on the buckwheat bandwagon.......the stuff will literally grow on a rock!.........otherwise BSK would be 'SOL' :D

We simply chemically burn the site, wait till everything is dead, broadcast and mow over the broadcast seed. The turkeys will absolutely love your plots a soon as the seed heads dry.....you wont be able to keep them out..

 

[AlabamaSwamper]

Anywhere in middle TN that sells Buckwheat. I can't find it around here anywhere.

 

[WDS]

Ask your local Co-Op. Dickson Co always has it as does the Fairview (Williamson Co) Co-Op. It is relatively cheap for what you get. We broadcast at around 50# to the acre. Soil tests are always great, but this stuff will grow anywhere and as mentioned before is a great soil conditioner, especially for compacted ground. The Phosphorous residue is supposed to be high, but you must have a decent pH for "following crops" to utilize. The best clover plot that I have ever planted on Cedar Point has been after 2 years of spring/summer buckwheat crops. We are utilizing it now as a "prep crop" for future legume plots. BSK probably knows exactly where the clover plot I am speaking of is located.

I am going to experiment this spring/summer with new upland plots (new meaning just cleared by clearcut and then dozer work.......then buckwheat/lime/fert.) I will also start one or two without buckwheat just to see what benefit it would have on BSK's upland clover mix. His mix rocks.............if the Buckwheat planted the spring before aids in its productivity, it will truly be a WIN WIN WIN WIN and yes WIN AGAIN situation!

 

[Chaneylake]

I am definitely on the buckwheat bandwagon.......the stuff will literally grow on a rock!.........otherwise BSK would be 'SOL' :D

We simply chemically burn the site, wait till everything is dead, broadcast and mow over the broadcast seed. The turkeys will absolutely love your plots a soon as the seed heads dry.....you wont be able to keep them out..

your approach is so easy and works great in many areas, especially when using seed the size of buckwheat and smaller, many times i have burnt down, waited 10-14 days applied seed, mowed and walked away, its by far the easiest way to do a food plot, i am willing to bet that your plots are staying decently clean since you are not disturbing the soil in the process

 

[BSK]

BSK- so you dont turn your field? You can broadcast on top ground? because if so, that sounds great! i need to look into planting some...

I would highly recommend turning the ground. I don't till my plots because I have no equipment capable of doing so (extremely thin, rocky soil). But if a could turn the soil I would. But since I can't, I look for plants that will germinate with surface broadcast techniques, and buckwheat is one of the few large-seeded plants that will germinate well with surface broadcast techniques.

 

[BSK]

I am definitely on the buckwheat bandwagon.......the stuff will literally grow on a rock!.........otherwise BSK would be 'SOL' :D

We simply chemically burn the site, wait till everything is dead, broadcast and mow over the broadcast seed. The turkeys will absolutely love your plots a soon as the seed heads dry.....you wont be able to keep them out..

your approach is so easy and works great in many areas, especially when using seed the size of buckwheat and smaller, many times i have burnt down, waited 10-14 days applied seed, mowed and walked away, its by far the easiest way to do a food plot, i am willing to bet that your plots are staying decently clean since you are not disturbing the soil in the process

That's the only type of plot I can grow on my place because the soils are so thin. All my plots are "no ground prep" plots. That seriously limits what I can plant (limited to small-seeded plants), but they are still somewhat productive plots for attractation and some nutritional benefit.

 

[A/M/G]

BSK, what happened to your truck?

 

[brier rabbit]

how earlycan i plant buck wheat. i am going to try it.

 

[BSK]

BSK, what happened to your truck?

Ya, that was one of my "attempts" to turn the ground. Didn't turn out too well!

I even bought a disk and rented a tractor to pull it and the disk was destroyed by the concrete-hard ground in one day.

 

[tellico4x4]

Same planting process - disk, sow and cultipack?

 

[BSK]

Same planting process - disk, sow and cultipack?

That will work fine. Broadcast and then cultipacked will work great at 50 lbs per acre of Buckwheat seed (as long as that is the only plant variety in the plot).

 

[Spike]

Buckwheat's brothers name was Stymie.

 

[RidgeRunner]

What's good to plant with buckwheat? After the dozer's finished last month I've got 12 acres of plots.We put lime down this week and need to plant something that will hold us till the lime kicks in this fall. Any suggestions? I don't know that I need to have to have 12 acres of just buckwheat.

 

[Locksley]

BSK, what happened to your truck?

Ya, that was one of my "attempts" to turn the ground. Didn't turn out too well!

I even bought a disk and rented a tractor to pull it and the disk was destroyed by the concrete-hard ground in one day.

So what happen to that new TITAN BSK ??? I seem to have missed this.