Finally dry enough to disc

[Gencountyzeek]

Looking for suggestions on what to plant. The last 2 years I've put in a evolved harvest mix. But I'm looking for something like clover for now and then disc that in and do radishs later. Any input on types/brands or when to plant?

[growalot]

If your doing a plow down I would go withe a vernal alfalfa. The link provided is just for the description not pricing. Also an annual red clover or an annual vetch what ever you can find to be a better pricing or work for the available sun and PH...Those are some ideas and the critters will flock to it...Good protein feed in all. Also check out the descriptions of the others I mentioned ..I think they may carry them.

https://greatbasinseeds.com/wordpress/product/vernal-alfalfa/

Edited May 17, 2017 by growalot

[wolc123]

The only spring plot I have had great success with is field corn.  As a meat-hunter, I judge the success of a foodplot by calculating the cost of boneless venison produced in and around the plots, after subtracting input costs.  With lots of family and friends in the dairy business, I can usually score plenty of free RR corn seed.   My costs are mostly in fertilizer, fuel, and herbicide.  Last season was our best ever, with 6 deer taken in and around 4 acres of corn (two 2-1/2 yr bucks, one 1-1/2 yr buck, two mature does, and one BB).  That brought the meat in at under $1.00 per pound, which is cheaper than we have been able to produce beef in more than 50 years, without even accounting for inflation. 

We had the worst drought in recorded history here last year.  In spite of that, by cultivating the corn and putting down roundup at  just the right time, and by aggressively trapping most of the coons in the area, I was able to make that corn last thru ML season.   Trapping coons is a big key to making smaller corn plots work.   They are extremely non-efficient users of corn, usually knocking down many stalks, just for a nibble of the tender stuff at the ends of each ear.   Deer, on the other hand, are very efficient users of corn.  They eat it right off the stalks, and finish one ear before starting on the next.

A row planter with fertilizer applicators is another key to minimizing input costs for corn.  That lets you apply fertilizer and herbicide only on the rows - putting it only where it is needed.   Also, if you are paying for your seed, it will let you use less than half of what you would by broadcasting.   Shallow plowing (4-6 in depth), and using a modern 4wd turbocharged diesel tractor for disking reduces fuel costs for tillage.   Finally, nitrogen fertilizer application can be minimized by putting the corn on old clover plots.

If you are going to plant clover, you would be best off waiting until mid August, and put it in with a mix of wheat or cerial rye as a nurse crop.   Clover will not out-compete weeds thru the early summer.  Since you already have the ground worked up, my suggestion would be buckwheat in another couple weeks.  That will control the weeds until mid-August, when you can disk it up and put in the wheat clover mix.  I also throw some soybeans in with that later summer mix.  Those draw deer to the spot like candy when they starts to spout.  

Don't make the mistake I did a couple years ago and plant soybeans in the spring.  When I did that, it brought in the does, at fawning time.  That brought in the coyotes.  It would not have been a big deal, if NY state would let us shoot them in the summer.  As it was, all I could do was watch, as the little pile of fawn skulls got higher, next to the dens, on the edge of my soybean plots. 

Edited May 19, 2017 by wolc123

[Gencountyzeek]

Pretty sure farmers planting soy beans in my 12 acre field this year, so I won't plant it. 

[wolc123]

I finished my spring plowing yesterday, and hope to get the first pass disking done Tomorrow afternoon.  That one is always the roughest on plowed ground.   The soil conditions were almost perfect for plowing (not too wet, not too dry). It was amazing how fast that hot, windy, sunny day dried that ground.   My dad picked up fertilizer and I have plenty of seed.  Hopefully, I can get about 4 acres of corn in on two plots by mid June.  

With a 12 acre soybean field, I hope you have plenty of good fawning cover nearby.  Otherwise, that will be a happy hunting ground for the coyotes.         

[Gencountyzeek]

Had soybeans 2 years ago, corn last year. I havent found a fawn carcass the 2.5 years I've owned the property.

[wolc123]

I finished the first pass disking on new 2-1/2 and 1-1/2 acre corn plots this afternoon, after pike fishing on Silver lake with the neighbor kid for a few hours.   Those plots are adjacent to similarly-sized corn plots from last year.  Those worked out so well, that I decided to try the exact same thing again this year. The ground broke up real nice, and should be ready to plant in a couple more passes.   I also disked last year's 2-1/2 acre corn plot.  A friend gave me a bag of left-over pasture mix, that I plan on broadcasting there this spring.  It looks like it has a lot of clover seed in it, along with some radish.  If I did not have that, I would have put in straight buckwheat.

I am not going to do anything with last year's 1-1/2 acre corn plot until late summer.   Then I will disk it up and broadcast a wheat/soybean/white clover mix.  That will give me a 20 yard shot, over the wheat and clover, to the corn from our most productive stand last season.  My only other fall planting this year will be a 1/2 acre turnip plot on some old clover at the back of our farm.  We have an old barn to tear down, and a new one to put up, so time will be short at that time.   All in all, it was a pretty good day of fishing and food-plotting, and all of the makings of a good surf and turf dinner are in the freezer now.