New Food Plot progress....*updated.....again*

[DoubleRidge]

Finally moving forward with the new food plot sites. Both plots were former log loading decks from logging operation that wrapped up in late 2019. Recently I've moved tractor to the property and bush hogged several areas of native growth. Basically cutting strips into the blackberry, honeysuckle and native grasses to encourage new growth and to create travel corridors.....after that was done I dropped the bush hog and put on the rock rake and started cleaning up roots and rocks on the new plot sites. Plot-1 is cleaned up. Hope to finish up plot-2 this Friday and Saturday then hopefully next week lime and fertilize per soil test....after lime is spread I'll disk it in.....then pick up another round of rocks before planting.....was hoping to plant both new plots in a clover/chicory blend but I'm afraid by the time I'm ready to plant that window may have closed....so I'm leaning towards doing a soybean/pea blend for a spring/summer crop..... either way, just glad to be back in the saddle making progress.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

Plot-1 in previous post.

Plot-2 pictured below....about half of plot-2 shown in pic....Plot-1 = 1.5 acre and Plot-2 = 3.0 acre.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

Looks great and congrats! Thanks for updating us on your progress - I have wondered where you were at on your project(s). You are light years ahead of us. I am in favor of a soybean/pea summer plot. The jealousy is riding high on this one :super:

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

Example of some of the strips bush hogged into natural vegetation....the deer hammer it once it starts new growth.....great travel corridors as well.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

Another example of strips cut in natural vegetation.... selected this area because they are using it already.... creating the new growth is cheap....and they love it.....cover and food.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

Example below is one area I've kept cut for several years and the native grasses have taken over....it's flanked on each side by blackberry and honeysuckle growth.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

Looks great and congrats! Thanks for updating us on your progress - I have wondered where you were at on your project(s). You are light years ahead of us. I am in favor of a soybean/pea summer plot. The jealousy is riding high on this one :super:

Thanks ... appreciate it.....and I totally understand being behind schedule....the weather this spring along with "life" has been challenging to make progress.... finally back in the saddle though......I'm leaning towards the soybean/pea summer plot as well...hope your projects get goin....keep us posted....and I'll try to do the same going forward.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

Wrapped up cleaning Plot-2 yesterday. Called three different lime truck drivers this week and they are slammed with larger jobs so it looks like I'm going with pelletized lime and buggy rental to spread lime and fertilizer....hope to lime and fertilize the three exsisting plots plus the two new plots next Thursday and Friday.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

That's great! I can't tell you how jealous I am. All my seed came in yesterday that I ordered back in September. Corn, soybeans and sorghum...and as of right now, only 1/2 my plots are ready to plant :?

Is that a rock rake in the bottom left of your pic? Is that what cleaned that field up so nice?

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

That's great! I can't tell you how jealous I am. All my seed came in yesterday that I ordered back in September. Corn, soybeans and sorghum...and as of right now, only 1/2 my plots are ready to plant :?

Is that a rock rake in the bottom left of your pic? Is that what cleaned that field up so nice?

Good eye....yes rock rake or landscape rake....walked around with loppers and cut roots and picked up big rocks then went over plot with rock rake. In the process you end up with windrow of trash at one end....I take tractor bucket and push trash pile into woods.

Speaking of seed.....I'll be getting our beans and peas at local co-op this week but in the future I'd like to join quail unlimited and order through them.....I read in another post where you mentioned that opportunity to support a conservation organization and receive a discount on seed cost....sounds like a win-win.

I don't have a drill so I'll be lightly disking, broadcasting and cultipacking. Plan to increase seed rate being I'm broadcasting verses drilling.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

That's great! I can't tell you how jealous I am. All my seed came in yesterday that I ordered back in September. Corn, soybeans and sorghum...and as of right now, only 1/2 my plots are ready to plant :?

Is that a rock rake in the bottom left of your pic? Is that what cleaned that field up so nice?

Good eye....yes rock rake or landscape rake....walked around with loppers and cut roots and picked up big rocks then went over plot with rock rake. In the process you end up with windrow of trash at one end....I take tractor bucket and push trash pile into woods.

Speaking of seed.....I'll be getting our beans and peas at local co-op this week but in the future I'd like to join quail unlimited and order through them.....I read in another post where you mentioned that opportunity to support a conservation organization and receive a discount on seed cost....sounds like a win-win.

Worked well cleaning it up. Sounds like I'll be doing a lot of burning at each end of each plot.

Definitely a win-win. With Quail Forever, getting round up ready corn and soybeans for $10.50 a bag helps out so much. Everyone I've met in QF has been great to talk to.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

Worked well cleaning it up. Sounds like I'll be doing a lot of burning at each end of each plot.

Definitely a win-win. With Quail Forever, getting round up ready corn and soybeans for $10.50 a bag helps out so much. Everyone I've met in QF has been great to talk to.

Yeah...you could push piles up and let them dry out good and burn them.....if the roots would burn all you'd have left is the loose rock...... you've mentioned having a dozer pile too burn....you could rake plot area around dozer pile and dump roots and trash in dozer pile....that will get hot enough to burn.....then have operator bury what won't burn....... another thing I did with some of the trash was I filled in random holes around edge of plot....dumped rock and roots and pushed dirt over top and packed down....allot of ways to get rid of the junk.

Oh....and having someone on the ground to kick roots off rake tines is handy.....days I worked by myself I'd have to get off tractor and clean rake about every three pulls....rake gets clogged with trash.... annoying, but it works at getting surface of plot cleaner quicker.

10.50 a bag is a good deal....and being round up ready makes it a really good deal....any cost savings is helpful.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress.... finally

Just noticed on my previous post I said Quail Unlimited....got my wires crossed.....but went online and read up on Quail Forever....sounds like a great organization with the majority of funds raised going back into habitat restoration, etc.....also noticed the affiliate membership is currently $35 and with the membership you receive a $25 Bass pro/Cabela's gift card....sounds like a pretty good deal.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress....Updated

Picked up 150lb soybean and 125 pound of Iron Clay Cowpeas yesterday...... planting them together as a blend....peas are not round up ready so we didn't pay the extra for round up ready soybeans...but both new plots were formally woods so hopefully we don't have a deep weed seed bank....been bare dirt since winter and so far not having any weed issues......plan is to disk well to loosen soil.... broadcast soybeans and peas...then cultipack.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress...Updated

Rented buggy from co-op today and got fertilizer and pelletized lime spread on both new plots and three exsisting plots.....the one plot didn't call for lime, other plots were close to same requirements but not exact...so we averaged results out between plots per soil samples and got it done.....got it all spread this afternoon....going to disk it in tommorow..... getting there.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Re: New Food Plot progress....*updated*

Sounds like a great plan. On the Co-Op buggy, were you able to just give them your soil sample recommendations and them help you with the mix you needed (lime and fertilizer)? Was it very costly?

I've never done it this way with the buggy. We have usually gotten the lime truck and then spread the fertilizer by buying the bags and spreading in our 300 lb spreader on the back of the tractor. Interested in the buggy if it isn't too costly. Sometimes those soil samples are hard to interpret - if they help out, that's a plus!

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress....*updated*

Sounds like a great plan. On the Co-Op buggy, were you able to just give them your soil sample recommendations and them help you with the mix you needed (lime and fertilizer)? Was it very costly?

I've never done it this way with the buggy. We have usually gotten the lime truck and then spread the fertilizer by buying the bags and spreading in our 300 lb spreader on the back of the tractor. Interested in the buggy if it isn't too costly. Sometimes those soil samples are hard to interpret - if they help out, that's a plus!

Yes....I wasn't sure either....so I called last Monday and told them I was hoping to pick up buggy Thursday afternoon...guy was very helpful and told me to bring soil test results....walked in office and in 20 minutes they had me loaded and ready.

It was a blend of what pelletized lime and fertilizer that the soil test called for.....but being both it was expensive.

Buggy rental was 40 dollars.

Lime and fertilizer combined was 660 dollars.

Crew at co-op fertilizer Dept was very helpful and answered every question.. buggy I rented was ground driven....worked great.....but helpful to have a ground man to disengage drive in the event you need to back up.....(can't back up when engaged).

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress....*updated*

Today....got lime and fertilizer disked in.....being first time ever being disked....I went north to south....then east to west....then north to south again to finish....in an effort to cut down high spots left from dozer work....took a little while but it worked.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress....*updated*

Took some time going over it multiple times but wanted to work fertilizer and lime in good.....hope to seed and cultipack tommorow if everything goes as planned.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress....*updated*

Got the soybeans and peas broadcast and cultipacked in both new plots today....also mixed in a few pounds of sunflower seed...if they make it....hoping the beans will trellis up sunflowers..... between soybeans, peas and sunflower it came out to about 70lb per acre.....hoping for a rain shower Sunday evening.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Re: New Food Plot progress....*updated*

:super:

Yours will be sprouted before I get mine in the ground. I'm aiming for 5/16 and hope weather cooperates. We will be spraying our wheat/clover/brassica mixture, then drilling soybeans right through it the next day. I'm interested in how your non RR beans and peas suppresses the weeds (since you can't spray)

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress....*updated*

One end of one plot did have some grass encroaching so I went ahead and hit it with some glysophate....but hoping with both new plots previously being timber maybe the weeds won't be too bad....time will tell I guess.....hoping our area gets the forecasted rain this evening....just hoping its not a washout.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Went this afternoon to check on beans and peas.....couldn't get to plot-2 due to a tree being down across road from recent storm and I didn't have the chainsaw with me.....but plot-1 is coming along good. Was glad to see the frost didn't get them.....these were planted 15 days ago......and so far the deer hadn't wiped them out....hoping they will leave them alone until they get up.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Re: New Food Plot progress....*updated*

:super:

Yours will be sprouted before I get mine in the ground. I'm aiming for 5/16 and hope weather cooperates. We will be spraying our wheat/clover/brassica mixture, then drilling soybeans right through it the next day. I'm interested in how your non RR beans and peas suppresses the weeds (since you can't spray)

Been meaning to post an update for a while now but work and various other projects have been crazy.....as for weed suppression....weeds in the larger plot we're not too bad but they were there....in the smaller of the two plots the weeds we're unacceptable to me....not really an issue with grass but more so broadleaf type weeds....but thankfully the beans, peas and sunflowers still continued to grow......and the deer are hammering both plots....I do regret never adding seclusion cages and will do that next year....couple weeks back the beans had flowers all over them but I hadn't been back to check progress......also we have sprayed six other plot areas we plan to sow the fall blend discussed in the food plot thread.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Most of our plots got hammered to the point the weeds took over. Our biggest plot is about 60/40 beans/weeds. Each stalk has roughly 30-50 pods on them now. They are about waste high. But again - a lot of weeds. We will have some decision-making to do for fall plots in this field. Mow and spray, then plant......or spray, then plant. Everything is waste high with 60% beans. I want the beans there for the deer later this fall.

I highly suggest seclusion cages next year. Some of our plots are just weeds now, but when I look inside the seclusion cages, my goodness, the beans are above my belly-button.