Advice for equipment needed to make food plots

[goosifer]

I plan on doing 2 to 4 acres of food plots for the first time next year. I have a lot of research I need to do, but at this point I do know I will need some equipment to make it happen. I am hoping I can rent the equipment and attachments I need, or maybe find a nearby farmer I can pay to do it. Two pieces of equipment I do have are a UTV (Kubota RTV900) and a skidsteer (Volvo MC80 86 hp). I don't have a tractor. I know I can rent a brush hog attachment for the skidsteer to clear the overgrown fields. But as far as discing/turning the soil, planting the seeds, embedding the seeds to proper depth, and spraying weed killer, could anyone recommend a way to get this done with particular skidsteer  or UTV attachments? I know they sell food plot equipment that can be pulled by the UTV, but I am under the impression that those are pricy and might be too dinky for 2-4 acres. I have yet to come across any "farming" skidsteer attachments. So, anyway to get this done with an UTV and skidsteer, or should I add buying or renting a tractor to the list? TIA.

[Zag]

Depends on what your planting. Most small seeds just need good seed to soil contact. For my small plots I use my garden tractor and a York rake to scratch up the dirt. Hook that up to the utv and you will be done in no time.

[goosifer]

I should have mentioned that the land is former agricultural fields that have grown wild for over five years. Some areas have thick "bushes" that have 1/2" to 1" thick branches up to 8' high. Other areas have red bushes with thorns on them. So for at least the first go around, after brush cutting, I am pretty sure I will need to disc, turnover and or till the soil. (I am not up to speed on farming lingo, so forgive me if those are all the same thing.) I've added some trail cam pics to give you a better idea of the current condition of the fields.

[Gencountyzeek]

I put in a acre foodplot with a 15 hp kubota sub compact tractor. 4' brush hog, 4' disc. I bought a 26 gallon sprayer for the back of my atv. I use a pull behind seeder behind the quad. I did this in very similar conditions to u. Overgrown old farm field. I also bought a single bottom plow to turn the soil when I first started. With the equipment u have have u will have no problem doing ur plot. I know they have tiller attachments for skidsteers, not sure where to rent one however.

[maytom]

I have a Hunter Specialties 5 gallon ATV spreader for sale. Bought new from Cabela's for our food plots. Problem is we had to sell the place. PM me if interested.

[goosifer]

54 minutes ago, Gencountyzeek said:

. . . With the equipment u have have u will have no problem doing ur plot. I know they have tiller attachments for skidsteers, not sure where to rent one however.

Thanks for the info GCZ. I will put more effort into finding tiller attachments for the skidsteer. How did you power you single bottom plow? Any chance you could send me a link to a picture of one?

[Gencountyzeek]

The 3 point hitch on my tractor was used for the plow. My tractor had just enough umphh to use it. I may be looking to upgrade this year to a larger sub compact tractor. I don't know of any plow attachments for a utv or a skidder...

[Gencountyzeek]

This is what I used to turn the soil.

[wolc123]

The rental heavy-duty rotary mower for the skidsteer is a good place to start.  Forget about the tiller as it won't work with 5 years of root growth.  A small boom sprayer for the UTV would be the next piece to get.   

This is how I would develop your plot:

1.) Bush hog the area you want to plant in the spring after it gets dry enough so you don't get stuck. 

2.) Get a soil test and add lime if needed.

3.) Spray roundup in early summer to nuke the weeds.

4.) Get a tractor in the 20-40 hp range, and a 4 to 8 ft wide disk and scratch up the ground with it in the late summer. Or sub this step out to a neighbor.  Don't try to turn over them roots with a plow, just let them rot away over a few more years after the tops are cut off and the sprouts sprayed.

5.) Broadcast with a mix of winter wheat (or cerial rye), and soybeans.  Cultipack (if you dont have one of those you can just drag a log around sideways and do ok).  You can also just use the utv tires with multiple passes.  Broadcast with white clover, then cultipack again (90 degrees from the first direction)

That will get you a good hunting plot for next season.  The sprouting soybeans are like candy to deer and will draw them in first, possibly lasting until early bow season.  Next, the wheat will kick in and keep them fed into the winter.  The following spring, bush-hog the wheat (or rye) before it goes to seed.  The clover will feed the deer for 3-5 more years with just a mowing or two per season.

In later years, after the roots have rotted, you can turn over some spots of the clover with a plow and put in some nitrogen loving plots like corn or brassicas.

 

 

[goosifer]

wolc123, thank you for taking the time to write that out for me. You have given me a great framework to work with. I am really hoping to find an alternative to using Roundup. (I know, I know, that is a huge topic unto itself.) 

[goosifer]

Anyone care to opine on if either of these would work for tilling/plowing purposes? Finding them to rent is a whole other matter.

 

 link   link

[wolc123]

You might not need the roundup, using the method described above.  A lot will depend on your soil type and if you can get it scratched up enough for ok seed contact with the wheat or rye.  Those seeds will out compete just about any weed when planted in the late summer or early fall.  They will literally choke out the weeds.  Not "nukeing" the weeds will make that scratching a little tougher for sure.  In more open areas, a bottom plow could work to bring up some dirt, certainly better than a tiller, but roots will still give you trouble.  It would probably be best to just add some weight to a disk and scratch the ground up as best you can with that.  

I had a similar situation in making plots, but all of mine were converted from old hay fields, after we sold our cattle.  I did let much of the poorer soil revert to natural vegetation and these are now my sanctuary areas.  I did not need to use any roundup in opening those plots, just turning them over with a bottom plow prior to disking.    I minimize my use of roundup, only applying it on row-planted corn (just on the rows where the fetilizer is applied).  The weeds only want to grow heavy in the rows where the fertilizer is anyhow, and I take out the weeds between the rows mechanically with cultivators.    

Corn is definitely my "money" crop when it comes to foodplotting.   This season, after subtracting all input costs (fuel, fertilizer, spray, etc.), the cost of boneless venison came in at less than $1.00 per pound.  That output resulted from (6) deer harvested in and around 4 acres of corn.  The action there ended with an 8-pointer the neighbor kid dragged out of the corn field on the last day of ML season this Tuesday.       

[sailinghudson25]

Ideally, a traditional tractor and implements would be great.

2-4 acres isn't a huge order though.

Buy in order

1.)  A mower.  A 4ft gas engine tow behind would be just fine.  Hydrostatic front skid steer mower are $$$$$.   Although you're planning 2-4 acres.  I can see you mowing more than just the plots.

2.) Again keep $$$$ low.  something to turn up the soil.  Is this brushed up crop land, or brushed up cow pasture.   If it was crop land with rocks under control, something mild is fine.  A tow behind C tine rake, or a used tow behind spring harrow would be perfect.

3.) something to spread material.  I do small plots, but several.  I got a really good walk behind spreader, but I'm looking for an ATV spreader.  My 1/3 to 1/2 acre plots I like to grow each use 15+ bags of lime and maybe 2-4 bags of fertilizer each year.

Corn is nice, but not hugely needed.  Some small plots of cereal grains or clover would be fine.  I plant cereal grains with clover in late summer.  After about 3 years, it's gets weedy.   So replanting is usually in order.  I'm anti spraying, just feel bad about it.  But, it does make good results.

I do 2-4 acres, but only do an acre for myself.  What I got.  a 32hp kubota with front loader, york rake, and 5ft flail mower.  a DR walk behind brush hog, love that little thing, but it;s a workout....    I got a honda 400cc honda ATV with a 42" tow behind signle row discs.

 

Get it mowed and test the soil.   I'd get someone to disc the soil or plow it to start.  Brushed up soil is tough work for light things like smaller discs or harrows.  Same goes for mowing.  Might want to hire someone for the first mow.  Don't sweat those trees.  Take a small square of plywood, cut a v notch in it. Lay the wood down around the base, and slice the tree flush low.  The wood keep the bar and blade for getting wrecked by dirt and small rocks.   A disc or tine rake will bounce around it and the plot will grow just fine with the root system in the there.

Do your homework on the property.  Keep the plots small.  IF there all going to be in the same area, atleast have a small break in the plot.  Like make a 4 small 1/2 acre plots in a 2x2 square with 10 yard of brush breaking them up.  The more comfortable and secluded they feel, the more likely you'll see animals in the day.   Look into fallow plots too.  Just mowing down the brush and discing it every 2 or 3 years.   That alone makes a difference in itself.

A neighbor had a rtv900 with a tow behind mower and a tow behind s tine tiller.  He makes great cereal grain, clover, and even turnip / raddish plots.

I stress do your homework.  Plan you plots well.   Don't level the whole place.  Think of seclusion, bedding areas, keeping the plots hidden from the road, keeping you hidden while you walk to your spot.  However, plan for the future, brushy spots get worse each year.

 

Look into frost seeding.....   Just mowing, applyl ime and fertilizer, and frost seeding can do wonders. 

Edited December 25, 2016 by sailinghudson25

[goosifer]

Thanks for the info, sailinghudson25. A lot for me to digest. I will have to reread your post more carefully. good news I have an RTV900 and a push brush mower (although I will just use the skidsteer with the brush hog attachment).

[goosifer]

7 hours ago, wolc123 said:

. . . . Corn is definitely my "money" crop when it comes to foodplotting.   This season, after subtracting all input costs (fuel, fertilizer, spray, etc.), the cost of boneless venison came in at less than $1.00 per pound.  That output resulted from (6) deer harvested in and around 4 acres of corn.  The action there ended with an 8-pointer the neighbor kid dragged out of the corn field on the last day of ML season this Tuesday.       

wolc123, how large were your corn plots?

[wolc123]

2-1/2 and 1-1/2 acres.  We had a bad drought this summer which cut yield significantly, especially on the larger plot, which was on well-drained soil.  The smaller plot, on mucky, bottomland soil, yielded much better in the drought conditions, and 5 of the 6 deer were taken in and around it.  I always try and keep the bases covered by planting corn on well drained and poorly drained soil.    

I also optimized the effectiveness of the corn that survived the drought by trapping coons (7 this year).  In NY state, the regs say coons may be legally trapped by the landowner, without a DEC permit, prior to open trapping/hunting season, if they are doing damage to crops and if the carcasses are burried or burned immediately.  After trapping season opens, you can just toss the carcasses out in the fields for the buzzards to eat.  The furs are basically worthless in today's market. 

I like to break up the corn plots, because one big plot will usually become the territory of one mean old doe and her group.   More plots means more doe groups, and more bucks in pursuit.  Usually I try and keep them 1/2 to 1-1/2 acres in size and try and get in 3-5 acres each year.   3/4 of my total plot acreage is typically white clover, and when that starts to get overrun with grass, I plow it under for a new corn plot. 

Doing that saves me lots of cash in fertilizer, because that old clover banks lots of nitrogen in the soil, especially if you keep it mowed regularly.  I also save money in clover seed by minimizing roundup usage.  By applying it only on the corn rows, the surviving clover between the rows usually comes back strong in the nitrogen-depleated soil, the year after the corn, without the need for re-seeding.  White clover does very well at our place in WNY because the soil is rich in limestone and never needs supplimental lime.  Minimizing fertilizer use also minimizes the need for lime because synthetic fertilizer is highly acidic.                 

For me foodplots are all about minimizing input costs (fertilizer, fuel, spray, lime and seed), and maximizing output (pounds of boneless venison).     

[Doc]

Looking at the brush in the pictures, you might want to pick up one of these to open up the field:

[goosifer]

Thanks, Doc. The skidsteer with brush hog attachment does just fine, up to trees 1-1/2"+ in diameter. It is interesting how in some parts of the property, the paths cut the prior year were completely grown in with new vegetation, such that you couldn't immediately tell that that's where the path was, and in other parts of the property, the paths had minimal new vegetation. I guess it depends on what is growing in the immediate area of the area cut? Anyway, brushhogging is the one part I have covered. It's the tilling and or plowing piece of the puzzle I will need to work on. For spraying and seeding, i figure I can use my UTV.

One question related to brush hogging: Once I have brush cut an area, should I use a bucket to push the cuttins off the soil, or just leave it there as "mulch"?

[growalot]

I have to say ...that looks like a deer magnet area from the pics. So that leads me to, is this the only fallow field on the place and are you planning on leveling all of it? ?Next here's a link for skid steer attachments that can be rented,as an idea.

http://empireequipmentrental.http://empireequipmentrental.com/portfolio-item/earth-auger/com/portfolio-item/utility-soil-conditioner/

Depending on your answer, you could just go in there with a chain saw and cut to ground level the bushes and the trees. Then treat the stumps with brush killer. Then mow wide winding strips through out it...perhaps leaving a good tree or two for a future stand...or brush as a backdrop to a ground blind. install one or even two watering holes.

Now I know we all want things yesterday...but slow and steady can work out well too. See if those mowed trails produce good forb grasses and natural clover..if not then spray them, drag them up and lime and plant a clover in them with a WW grain and or turnips set up a ground blind  or a good ladder stand that will be high enough to cover the area with a rifle. Remember my talking all season of the neighbors sanctuary..you know where all the deer were all season during the day. Well I told her to do the exact same thing to her field and trim around all the wild apple and crab apple growing..though besides the trails she allowed trees and pines to grow...but those wide winding trails with good golden rod and natural brows on either side...keep the deer there. When I told her to do this they were hunting it and driving it with their gator. This I knew would push at least some to me...unfortunately the guys she hates set up on her back line and it pushed deer to them as well...now she won't go in and hunt it any more..lol So I'm stuck watching herds walking up and down our property line on those trails...

If you want the plots ...then look at the rentals but first go in and get soil tests...find out EXACTLY what the ground needs and you put your cash into doing the liming that's needed ..Still put in watering holes what ever you do.

[growalot]

Wolc123...Do me a favor and pull up and post that NYS DEC regulation that states you can trap out of season  and bury raccoon for food plots "crops"..you do know deer food plots aren't considered "agricultural" crops don't you? If they were, how many guys do you think would try to get nuisance permits to shoot deer all summer off their food plots..BTW I believe a big tado was in the paper a couple of years ago where a guy did that ,the DEC issued them and if I recall dung hit the fan over it.  Agricultural crops are those that produce an income or contribute towards an income as far as feeding livestock. Deer in NYS aren't considered free roaming livestock.

So I may have missed this regulation or perhaps they changed it..post it for me and I will check it out...Thanks in advance.

Edited December 28, 2016 by growalot

[LET EM GROW]

I have a 28hp sub compact tractor w/ 4' pto tiller works great, when rocks aren't too big and too often. For those rocky plots I picked up an 8' pull behind drag that someone was scrapping off Craigslist. I like using the drags in all my more rocky plots bc the tiller is hard on the tractor. Save that for the more fertile soils. I have the slip clutch backed nearly all the way off and it's still slightly too tight. But the tiller is the way to go. I also have a couple disks and drags for my 450 Honda as well as a roller.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Zag]

Goos, what are you looking to plant?

[goosifer]

On 12/28/2016 at 0:46 PM, zag said:

Goos, what are you looking to plant?

zag, I'm sorry I missed your question. I think I want to do 4 to 6 1/2-acre plots of clover and brassicas. i am more interested in stuff that will attract deer late in the season. there is a big field behind me that alternates corn and soybeans (this year was corn, so next year should be soybeans). I don't think it will help me to do the same, unless maybe I do corn when they do soybeans, and vice versa. I have a lot of research to do. I also want to do some trees, but those wont bear fruit for many years.

[goosifer]

On 12/28/2016 at 7:52 AM, growalot said:

I have to say ...that looks like a deer magnet area from the pics. So that leads me to, is this the only fallow field on the place and are you planning on leveling all of it? . . . .

Hi grow, I missed your post from a while back. I was thinking several 1/2-acre plots spread out over the property. I need to do a draft sketch and post it up. It is 35 acres total. The fallow fields are probably about 25 acres, including hedge rows. Maybe net 20 acres without. Some areas are too close to the houses on the road so I figure I will not bother to put food plots there. I will work on a sketch.

So are you suggesting mowed "ribbon" plots instead of rectangular food plots? It's funny how there are so many deer trails that do not go on the trails I cut, but cut through the fields. as the season went on and the foliage thinned out, they became more pronounced.

Regarding water, there is a small creek that runs through the middle of one of the hedge rows. It is dry most of the year, but starts to show water sometime during the hunting season. not sure how to put in a watering hole. just dig a big hole and let ground water and rain water accumulate?

[goosifer]

On 12/28/2016 at 7:52 AM, growalot said:

Next here's a link for skid steer attachments that can be rented,as an idea.

http://empireequipmentrental.http://empireequipmentrental.com/portfolio-item/earth-auger/com/portfolio-item/utility-soil-conditioner/

Thanks for the link, grow! So once I have brushed hogged the plot areas, I can use this to till the soil? Would I still need to use Round-Up to kill the current growth post-brush hogging, pre-tilling?

Edited January 7, 2017 by goosifer
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