RR corn

[nodeerhere]

Can somebody explain to me round up ready corn? I'm looking to plant corn for the deer in the spring. Is this safe to use? Can I broadcast it? 

[Curmudgeon]

Roundup Ready refers to glyphosate resistant, patented crops that have been genetically modified. There are a number of different crops You can spray Roundup or other glyphosate products on it without damaging it. Personally, I would never use glyphosate on crops for food, for myself or my animals. As time goes on, concerns about its impacts on health have been growing. I do use it to control invasive species.

The Wikipedia article on glyphosate is a good primer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_(herbicide)

[LET EM GROW]

I have often wondered the same thing. No we arent eating what is being sprayed "initially", but the deer we harvest that we eat are eating these sprayed plants. And if the plant produces and the farmer harvest the crop, we still one way or another probably consume these plants. And cancer seems to be much more common these days, or im just paying more attention these days lol. 

I used RR Soybeans for a few years, and broadcast ed the seed as well. Applied round up when plants were over 12" tall.. worked great. Corn can be broadcast but for best results, after seeding, you want to disk the seed under an inch or so of soil. so wind and such can not blow the plant over when it begins growing and becoming top heavy.  

[growalot]

Go to Tractor supply and buy a bag or two of feed corn...It grows great...costs 9  bucks a bag...use that money saved on fertilizer.

[wolc123]

At this time, glysophate (gly for short) is considered safe.  No one knows what the future holds. At one time, agent orange was considered safe.    I compromise by using gly very sparingly.   Now that Monsanto's patent has expired, you can buy Roundup much cheaper than it used to be, and knock-off brands cheaper yet.   Glysophate is a non-selective herbicide, which are generally safer than selective types.

The application of gly allows much higher yields of corn by eliminating the weed competition.  Almost all corn is RR (or gly restistant) these days, including the feed corn you can buy at Tractor supply.   I don't recommend planting that because it is illegal and there are even cheaper ways to plant RR corn legally.   If you are going to break the law, where do you draw the line?  Why not just shoot deer at night with a spotlight over a pile of feed corn and skip the planting?

Corn seed contains very little oil and will continue to germinate for many years, if stored properly (in a dry place at relatively constant temperature such as a high shelf in your basement).   I clean out the big planters of area farmers at the end of planting season (late June), and use that seed the following year(s).   I have planted up to 6 year old seed, stored that way, with no significant loss in germination.

You can broadcast the seed, but a higher rate is required per acre if you do it that way (about twice as much seed) for comparable yield.  I prefer to use a row planter on 36" rows, that also applies fertilizer (high nitrogen) at planting.   That minimizes the input cost of seed (always free for me anyhow), fertilizer, and gly.   The wide 36" rows can also be effectively hunted on windy days during archery season, while broadcast can not.  

Most of the nitrogen my RR corn needs for decent yields has been banked in the soil from white clover.  I only put in corn on old clover plots where the grass is starting to take over, telling me the nitrogen has been building up in the ground.  The corn puts that to good use, while grass is about the easiest weed there is for gly to eliminate.    

Besides using half the seed for the same yield, the row planter applies the starter fertilizer on the rows only, where it is needed by the corn.  Broadcasting the fertilizer wastes a lot between the rows.  The row planter also makes it easy to apply the gly only on the rows, where the fertilizer is, and where the weeds want to grow the heaviest.  With a spot sprayer pointed at the rows and mounted on my cultivator tractor, i can mechanically take out the sparse weeds between the rows with the shovels, and completely eradicate the heavy weeds in the rows with the spray. 

I would consider my two row corn planter with fertilizer applicators to be my single most important piece of foodplotting equipment.   It is the key to reducing input costs, such that the cost of boneless venison can come in at under $1.00 per pound.    There is no other foodplot that offers the combination of carbs, and cover, just when they need it, and holds deer on your land as well thru the end of late ML season, during daylight hours.     

One last tip to get the most out of your corn, is to eliminate the raccoons.  They get in the corn and knock over the stalks, tasting a little of the tender stuff at the end of each ear, before knocking over the next one.   Fortunately, they are about the easiest furbearer there is to trap.   A few rows of early ripening sweetcorn at the edge of your RR corn will draw them in.  Those dog-proof traps that look like beer cans work great with a little cat food poured in the bottom.  Box traps baited with marshmellows coated with peanut butter also work pretty well.  

The deer themselves are very efficient users of corn, eating all the kernals off an ear before moving on to the next one, without removing it from the stalk.  I have never killed a deer on our farm that did not have a belly full of corn.  A couple years ago, a couple little piles of corn was all that remained of the gut-pile a few days after I killed one.  I picked up some of it and planted it in a tomato flat.  Not a single one of the 12 kernals germinated.  I wanted to see if it would sprout, and if it would retain the RR trait after passing thru a deer.  It looks like the stomach acid must kill it all the way however.             

Edited December 11, 2016 by wolc123

[growalot]

Please show me a law stating feed corn is illegal to plant...UNLESS you are a farmer that has actually PURCHASED RR CORN SPECIFICALLY  having too agree to not SAVING SEED TO REPLANT..There is NO SUCH AGGREEMENT FOR FEED CORN  PURCHASED BY RUN OF THE MILL CUNSUMERS

You talk about being a law breaker and compared planting feed corn to coaching at night...THEN in the same breath go on to say you clean out farmers planted and plant the seed that They agreed NOT TO SAVE and plant for your self ,avoiditg the agreement together..I say that to be highly hypocritical at the very least. 

You then go on to recommend ways to illegally trap raccoons out of season...look up strapping regulations

[growalot]

8 minutes ago, growalot said:

Please show me a law stating feed corn is illegal to plant...UNLESS you are a farmer that has actually PURCHASED RR CORN SPECIFICALLY  having too agree to not SAVING SEED TO REPLANT..There is NO SUCH AGGREEMENT FOR FEED CORN  PURCHASED BY RUN OF THE MILL CUNSUMERS

You talk about being a law breaker and compared planting feed corn to poaching at night...THEN in the same breath go on to say you clean out farmers planted and plant the seed that They agreed NOT TO SAVE and plant for your self ,avoiding the agreement altogether..I say that to be highly hypocritical at the very least. 

You then go on to recommend ways to illegally trap raccoons out of season...look up trapping regulations

 

Edited December 11, 2016 by growalot

[wolc123]

Sorry grow,  I will have to look it up.  I thought it was legal for a landowner to kill coons that are damaging crops.  I certainly am far from perfect.  I even missed a couple shots at a deer a couple years ago.  Fortunately I brought him down in his tracks with the third one.  They were all safe, because I was up on a ridge and he was in the valley below.  I could clearly see my target and what was beyond.  Could you see what was beyond that ten the other day?   Hang in there, you might get him yet.  Next year, I would put a scope on that shotgun.  That makes it a lot easier to hit them as we get older, or wait for a nice close, standing shot.  You still got all of ML season also.  Does yours have a scope on it?    Good luck the rest of the season.    

I checked the regs and verified that it is legal for a landowner to trap and kill coons that are damaging crops, gardens, or landscaping.  No DEC permit is required for that.  The only stipulation is that the carcass should be buried or burned if trapping season is not open.  Most of mine this fall were taken after coon season opened, but I may not have buried a few that I took earlier.   Now that I know it is required, I will make sure I do in the future. Thanks for the tip.     

Edited December 11, 2016 by wolc123

[growalot]

Yes actually I knew exactly what was beyond the ten and that is why 1 and only one shot was made...I had time to see he was having difficilty getting his rack though the rose bushes and that he even stumbled going straight away from me...A careless shot that probably would have hit him but not the type of sloppy shot I would take...as I said I could see 80 yrds away but no more than fifty yrs shots for my linking in any direction...I could have also shot and hit the jazz of the deer I jumped 20  ft away...but I have restraint...

Now what do  any of that have to do with RR corn and equatiig planting feed corn with poaching as you did..BTW do not attempt to give me shooting tips. You have know idea the position I was in on stand ,the position the buck was in nor how he moved and surrounding brush and trees. BTW as I said when he first appeared...All I could see was his butt. I suppose I could have blown out his hips  and hope JC Wouldn't have him drag his maimed body through the thick swamp too far before I could mercifully put him down...I mean eventually he'd die if the shot wasn't guided by the Divne. Alas I have more respect for myself,and the game I hunt.

Again misdirction from your RR comments...stay on topic. I suppose when doing something illegal one can always find some way to justify it...I'm not too sure the DEC would consider out of season trapping of raccoons over a food plot..under nuisanse trapping...also may need permission for that,unless a certifed and licensed to do so.

[growalot]

That was azz a not jazz

Does any  not do and yrds. Not yrs.

No not know , my linking not linking

For carrying out loud!... l I k I n g   not linking, c r y I n g  out loud, not carrying

This Kindle is on it's last leg...

[growalot]

you know I gave up on the liking...lol