Mega, do you mow that down or just let it stand? And I assume your drilling fall crop into it?
Yes... but that is not the norm for me. Last year, I drilled my 8ac field in a mix of sorgham, millet, soybeans, forage beans, buckwheat, okra, and cowpeas. It did GREAT... Perhaps too great. Was so thick the deer didn't even utilize the field much except for the edges and spent most of the summer feeding on the neighboring ag beans. I bushhogged the field mid Aug, sprayed it with gly, then drilled my fall planting. (This was my normal regimen)
This year due to increasing input and herbicide costs, I did not plant that 8ac field at all (was chock full of balansa clover). As a cheap experiment, I planted the 1 ac plot in the pic above with about $25 worth of sorgham and millet only (saving the cost of the other seeds) plus $25 in fertilizer. I am going to drill right through it with my fall blend without chemically burning it down or bushhogging it at all. Very little weed competition underneath, and the fall crop will have just become established by the time the first killing frost burns up the sorgham and millet. Hopefully after that the fall planting can go gangbusters. This 80ac property has 11 other acres in plantings, so if this experiment fails, the deer will still have plenty to eat this winter.
If it works though, I may have the designs for a cheap summer plot (just sorgham and millet) adding humus to topsoil without having to spend the big bucks on gly while at the same time reducing fertilizer needs.
