Food Plots Summer plot FAIL

[megalomaniac]

Well, my plan for a summer food source plus haylage for cattle turned out to be a complete failure.

My blend with sudax planted end of May was just beginning to boot. We cut it a couple days ago... dried to 45% moisture (buckwheat included) and simply could not bale it for haylage... too dense and heavy, TOO much forage. I left out the sun hemp from this blend fearing it would be a problem, but the chest high sudax ended up being a bigger issue.

I talked to a couple farmers (I am NO expert when it comes to this) looking for suggestions for a summer crop that I can cut once just before fall planting in the future...

Best suggestion is leave out the sorgham/ Sudan, change to brown millet (finer stem than pearl millet) for next year.

Any of you (popcorn) have any other suggestions to mix with the beans, peas, sunflowers, buckwheat next year?

All is not a waste... all that insane biomass produced is going to be tettered/ scattered over the soil to decompose into topsoil... but it leaves me with nothing growing (unless the sudax regrows) until late Aug/ early Sept.

Or an alternative would be to chop instead of bale for silage?

 

[JhnDeereMan]

Try sugar graze. It's a hybrid sorghum Sudan. Smaller stem with tremendous tonnage. Still in that $38 per bag range.
I won't lie. It's still hard on equipment but we cut one evening and bale the next and usually hit 50-55% moisture.
Are you running a silage baler or a high moisture kit in your baler?
We cut and baled last week as well and the fields housed a lot of fawns. I don't know that they were eating much but they sure used it for the cover.
Millet is a good option as well. I culti-pack my millet in and then drill about 15lbs per acre of soybeans in it the next day after seeding. This way the millet won't lodge as bad.

 

[MickThompson]

I know a few guys that plant millet and soybeans together for hay and doves

 

[megalomaniac]

Try sugar graze. It's a hybrid sorghum Sudan. Smaller stem with tremendous tonnage. Still in that $38 per bag range.
I won't lie. It's still hard on equipment but we cut one evening and bale the next and usually hit 50-55% moisture.
Are you running a silage baler or a high moisture kit in your baler?
We cut and baled last week as well and the fields housed a lot of fawns. I don't know that they were eating much but they sure used it for the cover.
Millet is a good option as well. I culti-pack my millet in and then drill about 15lbs per acre of soybeans in it the next day after seeding. This way the millet won't lodge as bad.

It was sorgham x Sudan fsg208 brown midrib. Remotely similar to sugar graze?

Just have a traditional baler, nothing fancy. Local farmer said we should have cut it 3w ago when it was knee high instead of now when it was chest high... but that defeats the purpose of all the beans in the mix for deer. And I really need the weed suppression the whole summer, not just a month or so.

As far as deer usage, jeez, they were really using it for cover and feed (Obviously the beans, not the sudax). I was hoping the sudax would allow the beans to vine up for vertical growth, but there was just too dense of a sudax stand.

Maybe next year leave out the sudax or plant it at 1/5 the seeding rate as this year?

Or leave out buckwheat? It has a ton of moisture?

I loved having a blend... it gave me insurance against any monoculture failing... but I just ended up with TOO much growth in only 8 weeks.

 

[megalomaniac]

I know a few guys that plant millet and soybeans together for hay and doves

I'm thinking that may be the way to go next year in this field. I should be able to still plant buckwheat, and it will be dry enough by Aig where it should bale fine.

 

[Popcorn]

Well, my plan for a summer food source plus haylage for cattle turned out to be a complete failure.

My blend with sudax planted end of May was just beginning to boot. We cut it a couple days ago... dried to 45% moisture (buckwheat included) and simply could not bale it for haylage... too dense and heavy, TOO much forage. I left out the sun hemp from this blend fearing it would be a problem, but the chest high sudax ended up being a bigger issue.

I talked to a couple farmers (I am NO expert when it comes to this) looking for suggestions for a summer crop that I can cut once just before fall planting in the future...

Best suggestion is leave out the sorgham/ Sudan, change to brown millet (finer stem than pearl millet) for next year.

Any of you (popcorn) have any other suggestions to mix with the beans, peas, sunflowers, buckwheat next year?

All is not a waste... all that insane biomass produced is going to be tettered/ scattered over the soil to decompose into topsoil... but it leaves me with nothing growing (unless the sudax regrows) until late Aug/ early Sept.

Or an alternative would be to chop instead of bale for silage?

Sudan Sudex is best cut thigh high as far as being manageable but the timing is way off with the rest of the blend. There is a short milo sudan that has a loose head and a smaller stem. For your purpose to obtain maximum haylage I would keep a grass in the mix but less, a lot less. sudan hybrids in blends should be kept between 1 and 2 pounds per acre. If you cut the sudan 1 to 2 inches above the ground it should regenerate and continue till frost kills it. On the brown millet I fear it will finish before the rest of your blend is at peak nutrient. Timing is important unless you decide its not. Timing is the answer you are looking for. You know the date you want to cut, so build your crop backwards by counting back 75,90 or 110 days and plant that which will work on your schedule. I might also suggest for haylage, drop the sunflowers, use a forage bean, use a short small head milo sudan at 1 to 2 pounds per acre. JMHO

 

[JhnDeereMan]

Any of the SudanxSudax crosses can get too big fast if you have a rainy spell when it needs to. E cut.
However if you can keep the moisture up in it for haylege you won't loose much protein and gain a lot of tonnage.
I think it's cheaper to supplement protein than it is to make extra tonnage anyways.

On you baler try a high moisture kit. It will let you roll wet hay. You can field install them anytime

 

[megalomaniac]

Thanks guys!

I got the coop to mix the seed for me in their fertilizer mixer. I had asked for 5 lbs per acre of sudax, but they couldn't split a second bag, so they ended up putting 7.5lbs per acre in the mix. Also had 5lbs beans, 5lbs forage beans, 5 lbs cowpeas, 3.5lbs buckwheat, 3lbs sunflowers, and 7.5lbs millet (again, they went heavy due to not being able to split a 2nd bag).

Maybe go with 1- 2lbs per acre of the sudax next year?

But how thick this crop was completely suppressed all weeds for sure.