What is the best thing you can do for your plots?

[BowGuy84]

Just wondering here guys, is chicken litter or something like it an affordable (although I realize this is relative) option for improving the soil in your plots. In essesnce is there anything you can do over lime and fertilize to better improve food plots and the nutrients recieved by your fruit trees?

FH, I know youve working a little bit with the CS...is it practical/possible on a larger (several acre) scale?

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Adding more organic material in my case. Chicken litter is very practical on a large scale with a spreader.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

You've mentioned lime so after that I'm not sure. I would love to get some chicken crap and try it. I have a few plots( I'm sure all would) that would benefit from it.

 

[BowGuy84]

Chicken litter is very practical on a large scale with a spreader.

please expound if you don't mind. I'm interested and willing to get my hands dirty...litterally.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

The vast majority of farmers here spread chicken litter on their pastures. Anywhere from 2-4 tons per acre. Some do 2 in the Spring and 2 in the Fall. Find some chicken houses near you and see about buying some of their litter, they clean the litter out of the houses fairly often, usually with a bobcat. They may spread for you or know someone that will for the right price. Id hate to spread that many tons per acre by hand with very many acres. A ton generally has 60 pounds N, 60 pounds P205, and 40 pounds K20, so you could figure the amount you need that way with a soil test. Im talking spreader on tractor not a handheld spreader.

 

[Football Hunter]

You've mentioned lime so after that I'm not sure. I would love to get some chicken crap and try it. I have a few plots( I'm sure all would) that would benefit from it.

You outta call 8pts,I picked mine up just a few miles from your place

 

[jmb4wd]

Those spreaders they use for the litter are the same as a lime spreader from what I can tell. It has a chain type delivery in the bottom.

 

[Boone 58]

The Correct ph, which is what liming does is in my opinion the single most impt thing, because without the correct ph the nutrients in the soil and of course fertilizer are "locked up" and cant be utilized by the plant making the purchase of the aformentioned .......worthless.

 

[BSK]

Much depends on the type and quality of soil in the food plot. What would best improve a bottomland plot may be very different than an upland plot. But in general:

1) Lime
2) Increase organic matter
3) Fertilization
4) Weed control
5) Appropriate ground prep

 

[Boone 58]

Awesome Bsk.......

 

[deerchaser007]

The most important thing is knowing what the plant you put in your plot needs,.. and getting the soil to produce it. I plant mostly clovers due to size of plots,.. so i stay away from chicken litter. The N in chicken litter is to strong for clovers,.. cause clovers produce their own N,.. no N is needed at all,.. and by applying N you increase weed and grass competition causing more money to throw at herbicides to control them. Its not cost productive.
Now if i were planting corn/soybean with rotating grains,.. chicken litter would be great for that application.
Chicken litter would probably work if you were doing a annual clover/grain plot for winter and letting it go all natural in summer,.. as long as the cost of herbicides was not a factor. with the increased N in chicken litter,.. if you have trouble with grasses like johnson grass in that plot,.. adding more N is gonna add more trouble controling it,.. adding more cost!!

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

The N in chicken litter is to strong for clovers,.. cause clovers produce their own N,.. no N is needed at all,.. and by applying N you increase weed and grass competition causing more money to throw at herbicides to control them. Its not cost productive.

At one ton per acre our clover plots look better than they ever have. The clover got so thick it choked everything out.

 

[BSK]

The most important thing is knowing what the plant you put in your plot needs,.. and getting the soil to produce it. I plant mostly clovers due to size of plots,.. so i stay away from chicken litter. The N in chicken litter is to strong for clovers,.. cause clovers produce their own N,.. no N is needed at all,.. and by applying N you increase weed and grass competition causing more money to throw at herbicides to control them. Its not cost productive.
Now if i were planting corn/soybean with rotating grains,.. chicken litter would be great for that application.
Chicken litter would probably work if you were doing a annual clover/grain plot for winter and letting it go all natural in summer,.. as long as the cost of herbicides was not a factor. with the increased N in chicken litter,.. if you have trouble with grasses like johnson grass in that plot,.. adding more N is gonna add more trouble controling it,.. adding more cost!!

As I mentioned earlier, the type of plot, type of soil, etc. dictate "what is best." If I was trying to improve a thin-soiled upland plot, I would add organic matter no matter what I currently had planted, even if that meant an increased weed problem (and I would probably change plant species to compensate for that problem).

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

With this.

And this.

You can grow plots like this on a rock.

The next ridge over. Limed but no Chicken Litter.

 

[BSK]

Makes a HUGE difference on cherty upland plots, doesn't it 8 OR BETTER! I wouldn't have believed it until I saw the results at Grant's farm. Absolute miracle.

However, I highly recommend looking for composted chicken litter versus raw litter scraped from the houses. Not only does raw litter have a very high urea content, it will also contain a huge supply of viable weed seed. Composting generally gets rid of both problems.

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

Makes a HUGE difference on cherty upland plots, doesn't it 8 OR BETTER!

Yes it does.

 

[Football Hunter]

good pics 8pts

 

[jmb4wd]

Very nice pics!! That clover looks awesome!

 

[deerchaser007]

For sure made a difference in those upland plots on your place 8 pts.LOOKS GOOD!! As i stated though,.. that is annual clover and grain,.. which is fine,.. all i was trying to make clear is i would not recommend chicken litter in a perennial clover plot that has good soil under a 3 to 5 year plan. I just don't want someone here to go buy a load of chicken litter and throw it down when its not needed and cause more problems and money. Just trying to give some solid advice,.. but as BSK stated,.. even on good soil chicken litter will help alot,.. just watch what you plant there.
To shed alittle more light on this,.. i talked to a local farmer that uses chicken litter on his ag feilds. In the past 6 years he has increased his yeilds by 3 times since going to chicken litter with his regular lime and fertilizer applications. This is in good workable soil in feilds that have been farmed 30 plus years in soybean/corn rotation. He did tell me that he is spending more on herbicide to control increased weed and grass competition since using chicken litter,.. but with getting 3 times more yeild,.. its worth the extra cost of herbicide and the cost of the litter. NOW,.. as deer managers,.. we don't get that money from our yeilds,.. that is just extra cost,.. so ask yourself,.. is this right for me and my management plan! Thats the only point i want to stress.

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

Deerchaser007
We used pelletized chicken litter on our perennial clover plots and it worked well. At 1000 lbs per acre it will not burn the clover, but I think we could have used 1 ton with no problem and with the pelletized litter you dont have to worry about weeds.

For more info on the pelletized litter check out this link.

http://www.hoodridge.com/media/MS60.pdf

 

[BSK]

For more info on the pelletized litter check out this link.

http://www.hoodridge.com/media/MS60.pdf

Very interesting. I hadn't seen pelletized litter before.

What does it cost per ton?

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

For more info on the pelletized litter check out this link.

http://www.hoodridge.com/media/MS60.pdf

Very interesting. I hadn't seen pelletized litter before.

What does it cost per ton?

$150 per ton in super bags, or less if you buy more. A guy got 20 tons the other day for around $140 per ton.

 

[deerchaser007]

What a great idea they had there,..pelletized litter,that is very cool. I do not need it in my plots,.. my plots are great with just pellet lime and proper fertilization,.. but i am curious were you are buying it? i seen it was out of maryland,.. are you having it shipped or is there a distribution in tn?

 

[jmb4wd]

For more info on the pelletized litter check out this link.

http://www.hoodridge.com/media/MS60.pdf

Very interesting. I hadn't seen pelletized litter before.

What does it cost per ton?

$150 per ton in super bags, or less if you buy more. A guy got 20 tons the other day for around $140 per ton.

Thats is cool. I never thought about it being in pellet form. Someone had a great idea on that!

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

What a great idea they had there,..pelletized litter,that is very cool. I do not need it in my plots,.. my plots are great with just pellet lime and proper fertilization,.. but i am curious were you are buying it? i seen it was out of maryland,.. are you having it shipped or is there a distribution in tn?

Getting it out of Memphis

 

[BSK]

Deerchaser007,

If I had a client with bottomland soil plots, adding chicken litter would NOT be high on my list of priorities for those plots. Proper lime and fertilizer applications, and proper soil prep and planting techniques would be far more helpful.

Unfortunately, in the Highland Rim terrain/habitat where I do most of my work, few clients have good bottomland plots. Most are ridge-top plots in extremely thin, poor, cherty soils.

 

[deerchaser007]

Deerchaser007,

If I had a client with bottomland soil plots, adding chicken litter would NOT be high on my list of priorities for those plots. Proper lime and fertilizer applications, and proper soil prep and planting techniques would be far more helpful.

Unfortunately, in the Highland Rim terrain/habitat where I do most of my work, few clients have good bottomland plots. Most are ridge-top plots in extremely thin, poor, cherty soils.

Hope you don't think i'm trying to put words in your mouth dawg.Not my intent at all. I understand what your saying,.. and hope anyone else reading this understands what your saying and i'm saying. We're on the same page. The only difference is most of the area you are at has poor ridgetop soils,.. with better bottomland soils. There are places in middle tn and east tn along the plateau that have decent ridgetop soils,. i am fortunate enough to have one of these plots on a ridgetop that i can grow anything,.. and i have seen many more. Like you said,.. i fully agree that anyone wishing to food plot, either ridgetop or bottomland, to understand what they have as far as soil,.. and go from there. Sometimes,.. lime,fertilizer, and some ground work is all is needed,.. depending on the soil in that specific area.
I have never stepped foot in the woods in your part of tn,nowere, so anyone along the highland rim can for sure take your excellent advice. I'm assuming 8 pts pics are from the same area,.. and if so,.. i understand what you mean about those ridgetop soils. He has done great on improving those ridgetops in those pics.

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

Farmers here are using chicken litter on their river bottom land. I was told the record holder for soybean yield uses a lot of chicken litter. I think it can improve almost any soil.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Chicken litter should not have a weed seed problem when its coming from broiler houses. The potential for those chickens to ingest weeds during the weeks they are in the house is very low. Not saying it doesnt happen but its nothing to be concerned about.