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Food Plots
Warm season plot thoughts ?
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<blockquote data-quote="megalomaniac" data-source="post: 5574527" data-attributes="member: 2805"><p>So...</p><p></p><p>In my area, there are PLENTY of available food sources for deer in the late spring/ summer. Between ag fields, highly nutritious native plants (esp buckbrush/coralberry, honeysuckle, and blackberry) there is no reason to plant summer plots for the deer.</p><p></p><p>BUT, I love planting summer plots for 2 reasons.... #1 weed suppression- If I'm growing a good stand of something in the summer, I'm not having harder to kill weeks come time to plant fall/ winter plots (the ones that REALLY count!!!). Less weed competition in the fall means more plot forage. #2- soil building- the more biomass I produce above the ground means putting all that organic matter back into topsoil to benefit the fall plots. And the more root systems I'm growing under the dirt also helps benefit the fall crop by increasing beneficial nitrifying bacteria and reducing soil compaction.</p><p></p><p>The key is you want your summer plot to produce well.... for example, soybeans in a small 1 ac plot will just be eaten down, then all you end up with is a field of weeds by fall. Then, you also need a summer crop that if well established will not compete with your fall planting.... something easily killed with straight gly.</p><p></p><p>I'm always experimenting, but so far what I've found that does best in my soils is a mix of grasses PLUS legumes for summer. I really like the dwarf sorgham and millet for the grasses, then add some cheap beans or cowpeas to the mix. Throw in a little buckwheat as well, and you have a reasonably priced blend which will produce a relatively weed free stand without further herbicide applications other than at initial planting. If the deer eat all the beans and buckwheat, the sorgham/ millet will still produce excellent biomass and root systems (but the deer won't eat them... again no big deal for a summer plot). The sorgham/ millet is easy to kill by bushhogging, waiting 10-14d, then spraying with gly before drilling fall plot.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="megalomaniac, post: 5574527, member: 2805"] So... In my area, there are PLENTY of available food sources for deer in the late spring/ summer. Between ag fields, highly nutritious native plants (esp buckbrush/coralberry, honeysuckle, and blackberry) there is no reason to plant summer plots for the deer. BUT, I love planting summer plots for 2 reasons.... #1 weed suppression- If I'm growing a good stand of something in the summer, I'm not having harder to kill weeks come time to plant fall/ winter plots (the ones that REALLY count!!!). Less weed competition in the fall means more plot forage. #2- soil building- the more biomass I produce above the ground means putting all that organic matter back into topsoil to benefit the fall plots. And the more root systems I'm growing under the dirt also helps benefit the fall crop by increasing beneficial nitrifying bacteria and reducing soil compaction. The key is you want your summer plot to produce well.... for example, soybeans in a small 1 ac plot will just be eaten down, then all you end up with is a field of weeds by fall. Then, you also need a summer crop that if well established will not compete with your fall planting.... something easily killed with straight gly. I'm always experimenting, but so far what I've found that does best in my soils is a mix of grasses PLUS legumes for summer. I really like the dwarf sorgham and millet for the grasses, then add some cheap beans or cowpeas to the mix. Throw in a little buckwheat as well, and you have a reasonably priced blend which will produce a relatively weed free stand without further herbicide applications other than at initial planting. If the deer eat all the beans and buckwheat, the sorgham/ millet will still produce excellent biomass and root systems (but the deer won't eat them... again no big deal for a summer plot). The sorgham/ millet is easy to kill by bushhogging, waiting 10-14d, then spraying with gly before drilling fall plot. [/QUOTE]
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Warm season plot thoughts ?
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