broadcasted corn

[stubborn1VT]

Success!  I got about 1/3 of a 5 gallon bucket of free seed from a farmer I used to work for.  The seed was treated with a powder to repel birds.  I tilled up a strip of 30+ year old sod, dragged a set of chain harrows over it, ( to approximate furrows), broadcast by hand, then rolled it with a lawn roller.  I walked around after and covered up some exposed seed.  The strip is only 40ish yards long x 18 yards wide.  I used it to screen my small soy bean plots from the road.  

It rained later that day.  A few days later I left for a week of walleye fishing in Western Quebec.  When I got back, I looked out and thought the strip was over run with weeds.  Turned out the seed had germinated extremely well.  It turns out my population is too high (too many plants for the space), but I consider it a successful experiment.  Next year I will probably borrow a friend's 2 row planter, but it's good to know I can broadcast it if I need to.

I planted in the 3rd week of June, which is fairly late.  It worked out well though.  Corn that was planted earlier actually did worse and was stunted by the dry conditions.  I also gave my corn a little urea that I had left over in the barn.  Once it tassled, I also gave it 20 lbs of triple 15.  I did that mostly because there are too many plants for the space.  I was worried about coons, but my buddy planted 2.5 acres of sweet corn nearby.  He has all the coons at his place.  I'm hoping to shoot a late season buck with my ML!

[wolc123]

Are the coons bothering it now at all ?  They really started hitting my 3 acres of field corn  a little over a week ago.   Most of the sweetcorn in this area (zone 9f) is spent now, which may be why they moved in on it.  I trapped and burried (7) over the three day holiday weekend last week.  I just got back from checking the traps this morning.  They were empty, so it appears that I am staying ahead of them.  It looks like they got about 10 % of what I had.   The second night the traps are set is usually the most productive so we will have to see what tonight brings.  I only trap the weekends because I don't have time to check them, way back in the fields, before work on weekdays.  If I leave them until after work, the poor masked bandits are always expired by dehydration by the time I get back there and that is no way to let an animal go no matter how much corn they destroy.    

[landtracdeerhunter]

Corn looks really good. I would still plant 80 day corn here, the third week of June , as the frost have been holding out till middle of October . You don't get the growing degree days this late, but the corn still manages to mature.

Growalot broadcast corn, had get success with it every year. I believe she used TS common corn. They buy from the mid western states where they don't dry and kill the germ. 

I use to plant oh, an acre or so of forage corn for the deer in August. Maybe reach knee high. It would look pretty torn up by this time of year.

Edited September 8, 2018 by landtracdeerhunter

[grampy]

Your corn plot looks fantastic !  Nothing quite matches the draw of corn, for rutted out late season bucks, looking to replenish lost pounds from chasing doe.

When we had cattle on the farm years ago. We always planted corn. During a rough spell, we sold the cattle and planting equipment. 

During the coldest and snowiest late seasons, deer would pound the strips we left uncut for them.

Maybe next year broadcasting an acre or two could be an option for us.

Best of luck to you on a late season monarch! 

[moog5050]

That came out awesome.   Now you have me thinking corn next year.  No idea is could be broadcasted. 

[G-Man]

4 hours ago, moog5050 said:

That came out awesome.   Now you have me thinking corn next year.  No idea is could be broadcasted. 

grow a lot has whole section about broadcasting it she s done it for years.

[stubborn1VT]

No coons yet Wolc.  My buddy's 2.5 acres of sweet corn are keeping them busy.

Thanks Land.  This is some 90 day corn that a farmer plants for silage.  It being sod ground helped, as well as it typically being a damp piece of ground. 

Thanks Grampy.  I'm pretty pleased.  I will do more next year, as it's time to rotate my bean plots into corn.  Hoping for a decent buck.  All I ever see here is soybean eating does.

It was super easy Moog.  I am lucky to get high quality seed from a farmer friend.  Planting it was a breeze.  I bet it took me less than an hour.  Next time I would seed a little lighter though.

As G-man mentioned, Grow has a detailed post on broadcasting corn.  It was where I got the idea!

[Pygmy]

Corn looks great, Zeb  !!   Do you always wear a sweater in hot weather  ?.....

[LET EM GROW]

Grow would use 9$ feed bag corn, Get some ears on some stalks, non eon others. etc. .. I broadcast it several times. But having your seed treated with a powder to repel birds is key IMO if your only planting it in a small area like a screen etc.. I get great germintaion with broadcasting corn.. But once it gets 4-8" tall the birds pulled it from the ground just to eat the seed. Talk about Frustrating. Since 3 failed attempts over 2 grow seasons, I refused to plant Corn as a screen. lol. 

Any idea what the seed was treated with to repel birds? 

[stubborn1VT]

It's treated with a product called Avipel.  The farm I worked at has been using it for many years.  They buy it from their seed distributor.  I believe they are Seedway dealer.  I don't think it is available anywhere else.

I planted two year old corn seed before and the crows pulled it up.  I guess the stuff wore off.  This year I got fresher seed that was treated 2 or 3 weeks earlier.  No bird damage at all.  

[stubborn1VT]

18 hours ago, Pygmy said:

Corn looks great, Zeb  !!   Do you always wear a sweater in hot weather  ?.....

You don't like my long-sleeved French shirt?  Tabarnak!

[NFA-ADK]

Looks great, awesome job!  So many animal benefit from this!  Good luck to you this year, hope you get the BIG one!

[LET EM GROW]

Awesome, I will have to remember that application for next year! I want to do a big summer/Winter blend. Pretty close to what you have there, plus some. are those soybeans in the mix too?

[stubborn1VT]

There are soybeans where the corn and beans overlapped.  In most spots the corn was too thick to plant anything else.  I considered mixing the two, but wanted a pure stand of corn as a screen. 

The plots are set up as strips that I rotate.  Next year I will do a bigger section of corn, soybeans overseeded with brassicas, a strip of rye and clover, and try a strip of pumpkins too.  I will also add a few apples to the 6 I have already planted.  

[LET EM GROW]

Started Strip plantings this year as well. Keep the closer to cover strips in a perennial mix.. The rest get rotated out each year. I like to add "strips of Cover" between the strip plantings. These strips are usually a desired food source at one point or another. typically winter..

[stubborn1VT]

That's funny.  I decided to plant the outside edges in clover next year, since the tree roots seem to steal alot of moisture and nutrients from whatever I plant.  I left a strip of grass, goldenrod and green ash saplings for cover in the past.  I think I'm going to get rid of that and replace it with corn.  Over time, I'm hoping that a double row of semi-dwarf apple trees will act as a screen.  

[LET EM GROW]

Look into some habitat seeds. Sanctuary mixes etc.. They are perennial and many will grow to 8-10' tall. Its a lot of native seeds, but high quality cover/food.   

[covert]

You'll want to get that velvetleaf in the middle pic out of there though.  Rotten sh-tuff.  Will overrun you and the seeds will stay viable for something like 40-50 years.

I spent a weekend hand-pulling about 5 acres by hand last year.  Smelled cat-piss for a week...

Edited September 12, 2018 by covert

[stubborn1VT]

Corn is mature.  Quite a few fields being chopped in town.  I will stuff a popup in the corn and camouflage it, just in case I need to hunt here with the bow.  I probably won't unless a buck shows up on the cameras.

[wolc123]

4 minutes ago, stubborn1VT said:

.  I will stuff a popup in the corn and camouflage it, just in case I need to hunt here with the bow.  

Thanks for the tip. My larger corn plot, up near the house, is 2 acres and has not been touched yet by the coons.   I should be able to hide a pop-up in there, to take advantage of the prevailing SW wind.   I spent about $ 20 on one of them at Aldis last year, and have not found a good application for it yet.  This could be perfect.   I will leave a spare swivel chair in it, so that it will be all set for the crossbow-opener. 

I have a smaller corn plot way out back that is well covered by permanent blinds, but it has already sustained a little coon damage, and may not last until November 3.  The deer usually start hitting the standing corn real hard, after all the white oak acorns are cleaned up.   It will be very nice to have that extra "back-up" spot.     

[stubborn1VT]

Pick a good trail out of the woods, play the prevailing wind, then cut a spot big enough for the blind a few rows into the corn field.  If you cut a trail in to the back of the blind, then you can use those stalks to "brush" up your blind.  Tie it on with baling twine or zipties.  Trim out a shooting lane, and keep as many windows closed as you can.  I'm not a big fan of popup blinds, but they can be awfully nice on poor weather days.  

Hope your blind can get you close to some venison for the family!

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, stubborn1VT said:

Pick a good trail out of the woods, play the prevailing wind, then cut a spot big enough for the blind a few rows into the corn field.  If you cut a trail in to the back of the blind, then you can use those stalks to "brush" up your blind.  Tie it on with baling twine or zipties.  Trim out a shooting lane, and keep as many windows closed as you can.  I'm not a big fan of popup blinds, but they can be awfully nice on poor weather days.  

Hope your blind can get you close to some venison for the family!

I looked for that blind today, but I could not find it.  Hopefully, I left it up at the in-laws place up north (I think I did because I was going to try and use it as an ice-fishing hut up there last winter).  I have not hunted out of it, but I did set it up along a trail up there last fall, to use in case of rain (which we did not get while I was there).  I will be up there in a few weeks for crossbow/ML hunting, so I will bring it back home then.  

My cousin, who has now moved down south, used to bow-hunt row-planted corn pretty effectively.  The crossbow does not work as well for that.  Otis "the Toad" Smith made some good videos, back in the 80's or 90's, of how to do it that are still available on youtube.  His technique would probably be a bit more difficult in broadcast corn, but might still work, since it was all based on the wind (the windier the better).