Berniez

As long as the ground is broken up and fairly loose, just dragging a chain or a piece of chain-link fence over the field will work well, as the beans do not have to be buried deep to grow. Years ago I was the only person to plant soybeans around my area and for the first 2 years the field was left alone. By the third year the deer developed a taste for beans as soon as they emerged from the ground. Now my 3 acres start to take a real hit as soon as they start growing. (Rabbits love them too) Just plant it heavy and enjoy seeing deer in the field all year long

a one inch deep cultivations now and just before you plant the field (10-20 days from now) will probably work without the need to use round-up. Last year I planted buckwheat @ 80 lbs to the acre I combined the buckwheat disced it up and in August I planted winter barley over-seeding it with clover @5 lbs/acre and then lightly rolled the whole field. Except for the ridiculous rain we got in June I would have had a great barley crop ....instead I lost the entire barley field but the clover came in beautiful with few weeds. (THe turkeys really loved that field) If you want a weed free field without chemicals planting buckwheat at 80 lbs/acre works every time.If you want to make some money figure out how to confine 20-30 feeder pigs in an move them every 30 days or so to another part of the field....... they will eat everything including the nuts from yellow nut-sedge.turn the filed over as good as a plow and fertilize for free..... In the fall you sell the pigs. (They will even move many of the rocks to the edge of the field for free) If you have a lot of tree stumps to remove......... 4 pigs. a bag of corn, a gallon of molasses and 3-5 days.....the stump is NO more ... The trick is to keep the pigs confined ...believe me thats the trick

How many do you want and When?

SHort Answer do not spray roundup until the weeds are taller than the corn (6-8 inches or so) and it looks like they are winning. Then spray it once. THat will knock down the weeds and by the time they recover the corn have will have closed the canopy and will be fine. If you spray just once (and that's all you really need......you can put clover seed down in mid August and it will make a great attractant to the deer. Any weeds left will just make the under story green and provide stuff for the wildlife (Turkey and other small game) to make the field a place to hang out in. FYI RR Monsanto Max is 50+ % and you only need 24 ounces per acre. Most generic stuff is 41% and you need 32 ounces...so figure out the price /acre cause sometime the trade name works out to be cheaper than the generic stuff. I no longer use RR corn cause 1. its really expensive and .2 I can manually cultivate it saving the cost of the chemical. I have found that the deer kind of prefer open pollinated corn. (It does have a Slightly higher protein content) I get mine from www.openpollinated.com. Depending upon the variety a 50-60lb bag runs between $79-$100 a bag vs $250+ for 35 pounds of round up ready corn seed. These guys ( www.openpollinated.com ) are located Avoca,NY.4809.(North of Corning) Thats close enough for me to drive to (110miles one way) and save on the shipping. Shipping would be $40 a bag.I bought 3 bags so I save the cost of the gas and had a nice ride on a Saturday Morning in early April. So its a bargain. They also have certified organic seed (slightly higher$$) The best news about open pollinated corn is you can save the seed yourself and plant it next year whereas with RR corn it’s illegal to replant and it’s a hybrid. That means the corn seed will not make much of a planting from any saved seed . That way you have to buy new seed every year. FYI RRcorn is still round up ready corn even if you take it out of a deer's stomach. Whether It germinates or not depends on how long it was in the deer’s stomach and what enzymes have gotten into the corn seed itself to prevent germination.

Corn tends to shade out the beans with little beans developing but it does off greens for the deer to munch on during the summer.. This year, for a neighbor I planted 40 rows of corn about 800 feet long. I divided the rows up and planted 1.5 acres of beans in between ( 20 rows of corn the beans and then another 20 rows of corn). It sounded good but the turkeys have feasted on the sprouted corn and I think the corn will be a bit sparse. Try what ever you.think will work and let us know how it turned out..

For parts try http://www.shoupparts.com/ It looks like you can use them as is. I do not see coulters on the plow. If you are going to plow in sod they are very very important as they cut the sod so the plow share can turn it over. Without those....plowing in SOD is a real FPIA time consuming effort that will only enhance your ability to swear while driving a tractor. (It has been said that a prerequisite for becoming a drill instructor entails spending 2 weeks plowing sod fields without coulters. Doing that for 2 weeks puts them in the correct frame of mind to welcome you when you step off that bus.) If you are opening sod my advice is to spray it with roundup in August and after the sod browns/dies scratch it with the disc (throwing Buckwheat after couldn't hurt) and wait till spring.The sod will rot and make plowing a lot easier in the spring. IF you really want to see how to work with crappy 75 year old equipments and still get a nice field give me a call/e mail me and we can talk. BTW the cheapest thing you will ever use on your equipment will be grease Grease the heck out of all your bearings. If you have any broken grease fittings spend the time and effort to replace before you use you equipment.. A 3 dollar tube of grease will save mucho $$$ and Time because of frozen or broken bearing.(if you can find them. Good luck

Come on guys it's a bit early yet to see does moving with fawns. Give it a few weeks The Does you see alone probably have fawns within a hundred yards or so. The fawns need to get a bit stronger before they go around with Mpm. You should start seeing them more frequently after July 4th. So start driving carefully especially when you see a doe on the street looking into the woods. She is waiting for the fawns who make a habit of jumping in front of the car the instant your car obscures mama from them. They don;t want to be separated from mom and make that suicide leap into your car. Be careful and good luck.

I've done it (make sure you use both round up ready corn and beans) and it works ok. As the corn grows it will eventually shade out the beans and the yield is well...low. But it does offer the deer something green to browse on. I now plant RUR beans and open pollinated corn (RUR stuff is wayyyy tooo expensive) in separate fields. That way the corn and beans last into early spring when the animals really need it. Broadcasting beans and then dragging a chain link fence works fine. BTW if the deer are not used to beans you can get AWAY WITH a small plot for a year or so and then they discover the taste of beans and will clean that field out before October.,,,better you save your time and money.and plant clover/oats. THat at least stands of chance of lasting into the late fall. My advice is try whatever you want see what happens and let the rest of us know how it works out. BTW if you can find a one or two row cultivator you can save on herbicides and the cost of the Monsanto seeds

An OLD Marine Sgt told me two things one must never forget…1 “Paranoia is good if somebody is trying to kill ya” and 2. “Don’t be too stupid to live.” These axioms also work for mushroom picking. Wild mushrooms are wonderful to eat and look for but can be extremely dangerous if not deadly. In college I had a Professor of Pharmacognosy (study of the medicinal properties of plants) when asked to teach me mushrooms to pick said, ”… read, learn and read again. Then go out with somebody who knows what they are doing and watch. Then Learn a couple of mushrooms that cannot be confused with a toxic species and pick them.” A few years ago I was involved with “treating ” (a relative term) a “veteran mushroom picker” for eating a “white mushroom” he picked and ate on Sunday. By the time he was transfered to the Medical ICU (on Wednesday evening) he was already turning a bright orange (from acute liver failure) screaming in pain. He died that Friday while waiting for a liver transplant. (We never knew the species because he ate all he picked) The best Axiom is “If in doubt throw it out” With that said mushroom picking is good fun and a taste treat to the palate. You just have to be very careful and again discretion is the better part of valor when mushroom picking. As for those giant puffballs? They are good, safe to eat and have no deadly look alikes. If they are bigger than a softball or soccer ball they are safe to eat. Peel (they have a latex like cover exposing a solid white body) slice and either sauté in butter or deep fry making a parmigiana casserole with sausage and meatballs. Wonderful. (note: when you slice them open if brown or green tinged…they are getting old and taste rapidly declines.) Species I pick are “hen in the woods” , “lion manes” and some shelf fungi. I do this because I cannot confuse them with anything deadly and have not found a local picker to team up with so while I see many different mushrooms on my property I pick the ones I know are safe…..and many wild mushrooms while safe to eat should be cooked as the heat destroys some mild irritants that can cause a mild stomach distress to some people. NO amount of cooking/putting a penny in the pot or other "tricks", makes a toxic mushroom safe to eat. So look, pick, be careful, enjoy. mangia and know what you are doing. If in doubt throw it out.

The turkey population in my area (Otsego county) while substantial is definitely down from a few years back. Now for what I feel are the reasons… There are 4 factors in determining the Turkey population in any area. 1. As said in the movie “Field of Dreams” , “Make it and they shall come” If the habitat is there we will have birds. The more marginal the habitat the more the mitigating factors play a major role in the local population. 2, The factors that determines the yearly populations is Weather…..and did I mention…Weather. A harsh cold snowy winter kills the weakest, youngest, old and the unlucky. (This happens even in great habitat) 3. We need a good spring hatch. The newly hatched Turkey poults are very susceptible to wet cold weather and need their first few days of life to be warm and dry. If not the chicks die (up to 90% of the individual brood) and the population drops precipitously. So the weather in the week in which most turkeys hatch may be a big factor in determining just how many birds are available to breed the following year and how many jakes are running around. (Yes turkeys do re-nest but they go into the winter in less than ideal condition and size. Marginal habitat just makes things worse) 4. Predators (raccoons) wreak havoc on the nests and eggs and that’s why you need great habitat so the birds are spread out making it harder for the coons to find the nests. (Interesting note: The rabies epidemic of the late 90’s wiped out 90+ percent of the raccoons and that time frame marks the greatest rise in NY Turkey population. Is the current rise in raccoon population responsible for the downturn in turkeys??? A factor for sure but how much????? And rabies in wild animals seems to be on the rise in central NY so while bad for fox, coyote and coons maybe not so much for turkeys.

Tonight has Otsego county in a FREEZE Warning... for Friday midnight until 9 AM SAT You got to cover what you can (A blanket thrown over some branches will save some fruit or get up early (5am) and turn the sprinkler on which will prevent a lot of damage. So the apples cherries and plums are SOL. Looks like another apple-less year and I have 40 + trees on the property. At least my corn has not broken through the soil yet so thats safe. I am waiting until at least next weekend to plant soybeans. Lets hope the oaks have not fruited out or they will be in trouble too. Now if we are allowed to plant the resistant American Chestnut tree we would be ok cause they don't flower until around July 4th and produce nuts every year. May the USDA get off its ass and release those trees so we can get that keystone species back into the NY forests.

I understand that it can be re-inoculated for planting this year. You need to inoculate the seed if there is no nitrogen fixing bacteria for clover in the soil. IF it's a clover free area then you need to inoculate the clover seed. (Make sure your inoculation is for clover. Otherwise it;s a waste of money. Is anybody familiar with the process ? The process consists of opening the bag of inoculant and dump it on the seed and either shake well or mix it so it covers the seed. Simple and easy Then plant the stuff You failed to mention the type of clover but if its Ladino 1-3 lbs per acre, 3-5 for Alsike 8-12 for Mammoth or red. (I use 5-7 lbs alone for white clover and am happy with the results though folks want much higher rates so 28lbs...is enough for 4-5 acres by itself. If you mix it with oats or titicale it will act as a cover until the clover gets established. (this is a real good idea if using a small plot or there is a high deer density). The oats die off in July/August and the clover comes on like gangbusters. Sure you can mix the new seed with the old. Unless you stored the seed in a high heat and humid area the two year old clover seed with germinate and grow without issue FYI Some seeds (Like switchgrass) actually have a higher germination rate if they have been stored correctly for 3-5 years before planting. Just keep those seeds dry. bottom line is unless you stored the seed in your steam room or oven...the seed will do just fine. Just get it in the soil

Jersey guy- Do not give up hope. Persistence is the name of the game. BTW I grew up in Jersey nut did not move up here until 10 years ago so I know your frustration of no time no money and little help until a week before deer season. I'm in Otsego county What county did you decide to buy property in?

Habitat improvement is a long term project. IF you don't have a plan be prepared for spending money with little return. IF you have no money get a Forester and have the place logged correctly for wildlife enhancement (yes there is a difference in how the logging is done.) Food plots are there to lure the deer to your place. IF you want more deer you need to have a great food supply available all year long...not just during deer season. Next winter look at the property and the available food supply/cover in February. If it is sparse or non-existent you will know that the carrying capacity of your property is low. If you want more deer/turkey make your habitat goal to have ample cover and a consistent food supply available ALL YEAR LONG not just a food plot attractant for the fall. Logging helps but year round accessible food sources is mandatory if you want deer year round not just in the fall. (Its not a bad thing just know that it is not really a help to the overall health of the herd. In the past 10 years I have left at LEAST 3 acres of corn/soybeans standing as a winter food source (not a food plot) next to 20+ acres of duck ponds/marsh/swamp that was funded 80% by the feds. This has worked extremely well and the average antlered buck taken is close to 8pts. from a dismal 3pts. 15 years ago. Last week we found both sheds from a real nice buck less than 50 yards from the swamp.(I hope the pictureis attached) Nothing is fast or easy but persistence pays off. Good luck and wait till the day temp is over 60 and actively growing before you spray....cause it is not going to work until then.

Rabbits are designed to turn rough vegetation into delightful tasting protein. If given good habitat their fecundity will make up for any winter kill. Just don't plant fescue on the property......that particular vegetation is very detrimental to rabbits.

Talk about timing!!!!!! There is an organization that is trying to stop the American Chestnut tree from becoming available. Personally, I am tired of loud mouthed ignorant zealots mouthing scientific nonsense and spin. The science for their concern about the American Chestnut tree is pure bovine manure. I just got these two e-mails from the folks trying to make sure we can return the American Chestnut to its former premier place in the eastern forests. Please read and take some time to put your support into this most worthy project. Hi, I am contacting all the TACFNY members and asking if you could post positive comments about the American chestnut to the NRC at http://nas-sites.org/ge-crops/2014/06/15/provide-comments/. We just found out that the "Stop GE Trees Campaign" is asking their membership to send in negative comments and we need to balance their message with a positive one. The silent majority needs to be heard from. Can you specifically mention the American chestnut and in your own words state how you have directly supported the SUNY-ESF research for many years and that you think everyone should have the choice to plant our transgenic American chestnut trees on their own property. Positive or negative public feedback will determine how long the federal regulatory review will take. So if more people respond positively, we will be able to offer our blight resistant American chestnut to the public sooner. So please leave positive comments and try to get others to do so also. It only takes about 5 minutes to leave a comment. Thanks, Allen Nichols President, TACF-NY And this one Basically the “Stop GE Trees Campaign” makes no distinction between trees produced for profit and those, like the American chestnut, which are produced for the benefit of the environment. They want a moratorium on all GE trees and unfortunately the American chestnut is caught up in this debate. That is why we are asking for positive comments for the American chestnut to show that all GE trees are not the same and there are many people who want the blight resistant American chestnut tree. People deserve a choice of the trees they want to plant on their own property. Please be positive and not argumentative in your comments. Hope this helps. Cheers, Bill William A. Powell Professor SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 1 Forestry Drive Syracuse, NY 13210-2788 http://www.esf.edu/efb/powell This tree is important to the environment and wildlife of upstate NY. For once let's stop the insanity of the those who know nothing but mandate that you follow their mindless ideology of stupidity. I am tired of paying property taxes and having those whose science acumen is that of a petulant 3 year old, dictating what I do on my property. Let's get this return this tree to it's former glory.

GMan- The NY chapter of the Chestnut foundation is actively looking for Chestnut trees that flower so they can collect the pollen and cross it with the Chestnut trees that are blight resistant. Those nuts will become the foundation of our local trees using the genetics of the trees that grew here. This is a great way to grow trees that are use to this climate. Contact . Fran Nichols, 607-263-5105 [email protected] he is a great guy and wants Chestnut restoration to succeed. This is something we can do to get a jump on having blight resistant trees ready for local planting as soon as we get government ok

was told I was not smart enough to be a wildlife biologist,went to Pharmacy School 20 years later went back to get my doctorate- taught at a medical school, became whistle blower left the University now work developing Hospital information systems, and in a year will be retired running a commercial pheasant shooting preserve on the property my profession allowed me to buy.. Life sometimes takes you in a big circle.

If we can get the Chestnut growing again in quantities the wildlife population will explode. Unlike oaks which are susceptible to late frosts the American Chestnut flowers around July 4 assuring a stable crop. Its been said that a 10 mature chestnut trees could supply enough food to support 1 person for an entire year. Imagine what a wildlife population (deer bear turkey grouse a forest could support. it Its a shame that most of us will be dead before we can get those trees to be the dominant tree like it was 120 year ago. Join the NY chapter of the Chestnut society and get in on restoring this great tree. http://www.acf.org/Chapters_ny.php

Don't listen to the nay sayers, If you want property go for it. (100 acres allows you some room to walk around on and do some habitat improvement.) In my teens I was tired of finding places to hunt only to be shut out the next year because somebody either rented it or sold it off for housing. The year I graduated college I started looking for 100 acres with a house barn and trout stream. It took 4 years but I found my slice of heaven. I had a choice to either go on an elk hunt out west or use that money as a down payment for the property. I chose the property, I can hunt upland species, waterfowl, deer and take a trout or two. For 30 years it was a place to hunt and I rented the house out to help with the mortgage. Eventually I fixed the barn up for us to use as a weekend place. As I grew older I started managing the place for small game and found out that the deer and turkey like it too. Eventually it became an every weekend place and the locals finally accepted me as one of them. (Being a good cook and having them over didn't hurt The BARN became a place to meet dine and just have a good time. Everybody finally realized I had no other motive other than wanting to hunt, fish and enjoy the area. Eventually they started asking me if I wanted to hunt on their place. So 35 years later I have my 100 acres to hunt, great neighbors and permission to hunt on their 2,000 acres too (I know a lot of neighbors). My advice is if you want it.... do it. The economy sucks in Otsego county and there is plenty of land available at a reasonable price. Watch the towns tax rate where you plan to settle because taxes range from ok to you gotta be kidding me (Oneonta, Laurens are prime examples of towns that think they need to suck the landowner dry) ,,,,,and if the State ever stops their tramping on our property rights and allows drilling for gas....that $1000 an acre will be a bargain. In any case a place to hunt to for the next 40 years would come out to about 2,500 a year +taxes to hunt on your property the way you want to. BTW I never regretted canceling the elk hunt to buy the property....it has payed off in memories with the kids, friends and family every year.

As long as you have thick cover you will have rabbits. With the snow so deep it allowed the rabbits access to food (brush brambles etc) higher than they could usually reach. So there was plenty of food if you had brush. The deep snow actually acts as a igloo allowing them to avert the worst of the cold staying warmer than you think. (we had -20 multiple times in late Jan and Feb) They have no need to go out. So don't worry.... they made it through. Other game (deer,turkey) may not have been so lucky. We shall see when the snow is gone.. Heck in 4 weeks I'll getting ready to plow.

Lawdwaz- I am in Otsego county along I88 Pygmy- As appealing as that proposal is....the parts don;t line up so sorry no can do. Nobody hunts ducks around here but me andsome friends.. It's the deer season that gets everybody crazy about whose hunting where.So as long as I hunt ducks, rabbits, pheasants, grrouse and coyotes I have lots a hunting land. Have a safe hunt

Five years ago I talked two of my neighbors into putting in duck ponds with the help of the Feds. We got the feds to pay for us putting in a total of 40 acres of ponds/wetlands. (The best part is I am the only landowner who hunts ducks. I told the guys that the deer are beding in the dry areas and..that's why they went for the ponds.) The first few years was nothing special but this year the cover is back and the ducks (woodies) are in there. I had a terrific early season with the ducks coming and going into that marsh every morning and evening. Drainage ditches and sloughs within 500 yards of that area keeps the woodies in the area like a magnet and offered hours of jump shooting chances. Saturday's (Oct 11) evening flight was something to remember. Ducks in groups of 3- 8 just kept coming in. I dropped a double, got out ot the blind to direct the dog..... and the ducks ignored both of us and continued to pile into the ponds and get into the vegatation along their banks...refusing to fly again. One woodie brazenly landed between the dog and me. Somehow knowing I would not shoot it started "keeing" at the dog while she had the down duck in her mouth. The dog placed the dead duck on a hummock and spent the next 5 minutes franticaly swimming after the duck who was just messin' with it. In the meantime woodies continued to pile into the marsh completely ignoring the floor show of the dog chasing the woodie and me standing there yelling. Finally the duck ducked into the cover and the dog started listening to my calls for her return. While all this was going on my buddy who was laughing too hard to shoot counted over 150 woodies landing into this marsh and its various small ponds. Sundays mornings cold front sent the ducks fleeing south as I only saw 3 rise from the area the rest of Sunday. The early season is over and the woodies will be gone when it reopens but what a great 9 days. I would urge anybody with some low wet areas on their property to call the Soil and Water folks and investigate the possibility of turning that area into their own world class hunting area. This is one of the programs in which the feds got it right. Everybody have a safe hunt and enjoy the outdors no matter what you chase.

If you are going to plant native warm season grasses you might want to roundup the field and get it ready for next year. Switchgrass and bluestem both need ground (dirt) not just mowed or dead sod in order to grow. You can get a great field of warm season native grasses the year following a field of corn (escpecially) if atrazine was used. I have one 6 acre switchgrass field (Blackwell variety) and another 3 long 10-15 yard strips about 500ft long. THe big field holds bacehelor buck groups in ths summer and use all the others as travel lanes allyear long. The grass is over 6 ft tall and the deer can walk in it unobserved. If you plant a 6-10 ft wide strips of clover along the edge of the grass the deer travel that and if disturbed can vanish in the grass in a flash. Good luck and keep planting. I just got my last been field (2acres) in this afternoon. I could not get the planter in the field so I had to broadcast and then covered it with a tined harrow.(Much more time consuming and expensive than using a planter but we do what we can with what we got.. EWHo knows if it stops raining we may actually get some crops. We shall see what happens. BTW Happy Fathers day to all you out there. Enjoy the day and the kids they kind of give you something to do iin between the hunting seasons

Fillet the breast into thin cultlets. Place a slice of prosciutto (Orif cheap boilr ham) and swiss cheese on the cutlet and roll (use toothpicks to keep closed). Drench in flour . Salt and pepper the cutlet. In a pan melt butter and saute the cutlets. When slightly browned add some white wine,chicken broth and finely sliced mushrooms. Cover until done (Do not overcook.) Serve with parsley buttered red potatoes. Boil the thighs and legs making a great turley consumee. (Throw throw the drumsticks out) and chop the thighs to be made as a turkey salad.