Good 1/2 vacation day

[wolc123]

I had (3) days to use up by the end of June, so I cashed in 1/2 of one today.   I stopped at Rineharts and picked up 200 pounds of triple 15 starter fertilizer (that is enough for 4 acres of corn at the rate I use it).  The cost of that was $ 9.40 per 50 lb bag.   I also picked up 2.5 gallons of Crop-Smart (41 % gly), which was $ 14 per gallon, and about a pound of sweetcorn seed while I was there.   I have lots of leftover field corn seed ready to go, since last year was too wet to get any planted.       

I got home in time to get about 2 acres plowed for the corn, on my driest ground.   I hope to get that spot planted by June 1st.   The other wetter spot (about an acre), I hope to get in by the end of June.  I will save 50 pounds of fertilizer for tunips planted in late July.   The current plots will be mostly field corn, and each will get about 1/2 pound of sweetcorn planted along the edge mostly for raccoon eradication purposes.   I am looking forward to trapping as many of those as possible this summer, starting when the corn starts making tassles, hopefully by early August.  The sweetcorn will draw them from miles around.  We might get a few meals out of it ourselves, if it don't cross-polinate with the field corn too bad and if the coons don't take it all out before I get them.  

 

Our town is being ravaged by rabies right now.   The best way to fight that is to get rid of the coons.  Since fur prices tanked, no one traps them anymore, resulting in an out of control population and rabies.  I did not plant any corn or trap any coons last year and the neighborhood pet-owners are paying the price for that right now.   Two years ago, the coyotes would dig up the coon carcasses within a night or two of my burrying them (the DEC recommends that landowners bury or burn "damaging" coons prior to the opening of regular trapping season in mid-October).  There don't seem to be any coyotes left around, based on the numbers of red fox that I am seeing (I ran over a young one on the way to work this morning).  Nonetheless, I am not taking any chances with the coon carcasses this year, so I have a fine burning barrel all ready for the carcasses.   There is so much fat on them in August that I imagine they will light up like roman candles after a little squirt of lighter fluid:

I hope all the corn that should be left standing, after the coon eradication, will result in a few deer hanging around here after the first shot is fired on opening day of gun season this fall.   Last fall, with no corn around, they all bugged out at that time and I had a hard time even finding a track back there in the snow after December 1.  That was why I did not use up more vacation days then.  I will save them last 2-1/2 days until after bass season opens up on the third Saturday in June (I got to fill that freezer one way or the other).  

Edited May 22, 2020 by wolc123

[Lomax]

Nice wolc123.  Field is coming glad you got some time in the seat this afternoon it was nice out.  I got 10 50 lb bags of fertilizer and planted another 1 acre tonight.  I plan on spreading fertilizer tomorrow as I’ve got the corn in about 4 acres of ground ready for beans so going to fertilize and then start planting beans next week it’s going to get hot Tuesday Wednesday above 85 should be good start planting beans.   
it’s funny you mention the raccoon my daughter videoed one running across our driveway a few days ago in the middle of the day looking sickly I have had some run-ins with some sick ones it didn’t go well for them   Keep us posted I want to see that corn come up

 

[Lomax]

[Lomax]

[Pygmy]

Definitely a scruffy looking coon..

Looks like you guys have some nice soil to work with....Here on the hilltops in Dogpatch I have to work with mostly rocks and clay....

[wolc123]

6 hours ago, Pygmy said:

Definitely a scruffy looking coon..

Looks like you guys have some nice soil to work with....Here on the hilltops in Dogpatch I have to work with mostly rocks and clay....

It is real easy to grow stuff with minimal fertilizer on the dark bottomland soil at our place on the NW corner of WMU 9F.   I can get well over 100 bu/acre corn with just 50 lbs/acre of starter fertilizer, and no later urea application, simply by planting it on a 3-4 year clover / 1 year corn rotation.  The only trouble I have here is that some years (like last), it takes a long time for the ground to dry out enough in the spring to get my plantings in.  

My folks place, on the SE corner of the same WMU, is above the Onondaga escarpment, a bit rocky, but much better drained and takes more nitrogen to get good corn yields.   There is enough cover over there, and surrounding cornfields that I no longer bother with that, or any spring plowing.  That was always easy over there (except for the occasional rocks).   The only thing I plant there is an occasional early fall "refresh" of wheat/soybean/white clover mix.    White clover does about 90 % of the "deer-attraction" work for me over there.    

8 hours ago, Lomax said:

Nice wolc123.  Field is coming glad you got some time in the seat this afternoon it was nice out.  I got 10 50 lb bags of fertilizer and planted another 1 acre tonight.  I plan on spreading fertilizer tomorrow as I’ve got the corn in about 4 acres of ground ready for beans so going to fertilize and then start planting beans next week it’s going to get hot Tuesday Wednesday above 85 should be good start planting beans.   
it’s funny you mention the raccoon my daughter videoed one running across our driveway a few days ago in the middle of the day looking sickly I have had some run-ins with some sick ones it didn’t go well for them   Keep us posted I want to see that corn come up

 

I had to do considerable work on that old tractor over the winter (new distributor and battery) but it really does a good job on the plow when the soil conditions are just right like they were yesterday.   Some years, it is too wet to use it, and I need to go with my newer 4wd John Deere.  That one will pull that little 2 x 12" plow thru standing water in the wet spots (it is kind of cool watching the wakes roll off of the plow shares).   The 4wd lacks "draft-control" however, so it is tougher to maintain uniform plow depth with it, than with that old Ford.   The Ford still has the original (1951) calcium-filled rear rims on it, but one is starting to look like it is getting ready to blow out from corrosion.   When and if I need to replace those, I probably will not re-load them, or do any more plowing with it.   It will still be good on my 2-row corn planter and cultivator, and better for hauling firewood around on the 3-point carryall, without loaded rear tires.     

Edited May 23, 2020 by wolc123

[G-Man]

Got 2.5 acre of field corn in yesterday right before this rain. Still have acre of soybean to do. Perhaps later this week.

[wolc123]

1 hour ago, G-Man said:

Got 2.5 acre of field corn in yesterday right before this rain. Still have acre of soybean to do. Perhaps later this week.

We got a little rain last night.  I just got back from a little turkey hunting near the back field that I hope to get plowed in the next few weeks.  The warm weather is sure is making the grass grow fast, so I will probably need to bush-hog it before plowing.   It is not easy taking that 6 ft bush hog on and off my tractor.   It is on it now, so I will use it to cut that field in addition to the lane on the way back there (my pants are soaked right now from walking back thru the wet high grass).   I need to take the bush-hog off for disking anyhow, but it looks like I have some more cutting to do first.    No signs of any turkeys, but I did see the first few mosquitoes of the season, so it looks like that is the end of my turkey hunting. 

I have a couple of disks, both of which are sized just right for that old Ford (a 6.5 ft 3-point and an 8 ft pull-type), but a bit undersized for my John Deere 4wd.   A nice thing about using the undersized implements, is that I can still use them if the soil conditions are less than ideal, which is usually the case.   I usually use the 4wd JD on the disk, rather than the old 2wd Ford 8n, or my Allis Chalmers model C,  since it is so much more fuel efficient thanks to the tier-3 diesel engine and the "live" front axle.   I like the old Ford on the 2-row corn planter though, because it is so nice and quiet and the low operator platform makes it easy to get on or off from either side.  I hop on and off of it a lot while planting, to check that the planter's seed and fertilizer hoppers are not empty and that they are delivering properly.   The tricycle front, on the old Allis Chalmers C is great on the pull-type disk, but only after the ground is good and dry.  The 8-footer is a bit too much for it otherwise, especially at the steeper angle settings.          

Edited May 23, 2020 by wolc123

[G-Man]

8 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

We got a little rain last night.  I just got back from a little turkey hunting near the back field that I hope to get plowed in the next few weeks.  The warm weather is sure is making the grass grow fast, so I will probably need to bush-hog it before plowing.   It is not easy taking that 6 ft bush hog on and off my tractor.   It is on it now, so I will use it to cut that field in addition to the lane on the way back there (my pants are soaked right now from walking back thru the wet high grass).   I need to take the bush-hog off for disking anyhow, but it looks like I have some more cutting to do first.    No signs of any turkeys, but I did see the first few mosquitoes of the season, so it looks like that is the end of my turkey hunting. 

I have a couple of disks, both of which are sized just right for that old Ford (a 6.5 ft 3-point and an 8 ft pull-type), but a bit undersized for my John Deere 4wd.   A nice thing about using the undersized implements, is that I can still use them if the soil conditions are less than ideal, which is usually the case.   I usually use the 4wd JD on the disk, rather than the old 2wd Ford 8n, or my Allis Chalmers model C,  since it is so much more fuel efficient thanks to the tier-3 diesel engine and the "live" front axle.   I like the old Ford on the 2-row corn planter though, because it is so nice and quiet and the low operator platform makes it easy to get on or off from either side.  I hop on and off of it a lot while planting, to check that the planter's seed and fertilizer hoppers are not empty and that they are delivering properly.   The tricycle front, on the old Allis Chalmers C is great on the pull-type disk, but only after the ground is good and dry.  The 8-footer is a bit too much for it otherwise, especially at the steeper angle settings.          

Hard to beat an old ford for.durability and ease of use. A lot.of " food plot " equipment is just the right size for it. When I really.need to get done in a hurry my Oliver 1800 and a 16 in 5 bottom plow get brought out. This year got a good jump on things, but still waiting for corn seed to come in from nwtf,  the qdma cancelled their soybean .  Have 3 acres in corn stubble I'm trying to decide what to do with depending on seed,  may turn later and put in winter rye with clover mix. Some brassica in part of it.. 

[wolc123]

21 minutes ago, G-Man said:

Hard to beat an old ford for.durability and ease of use. A lot.of " food plot " equipment is just the right size for it. When I really.need to get done in a hurry my Oliver 1800 and a 16 in 5 bottom plow get brought out. This year got a good jump on things, but still waiting for corn seed to come in from nwtf,  the qdma cancelled their soybean .  Have 3 acres in corn stubble I'm trying to decide what to do with depending on seed,  may turn later and put in winter rye with clover mix. Some brassica in part of it.. 

Fortunately, I have never needed to purchase field corn seed or soybeans, because much of my own and my wife's family's are in the Ag business, and there is always available "leftover".    I have plenty of corn for this year and hopefully my nephew will come thru with some leftover soybeans in time for me to mix in with my early fall wheat/clover plantings.    I used to use rye in the fall, but wheat is always easier for me to find, cheaper, and the deer seem to like it better, so that is what I have been using lately.    It might also be the soybean "candy" that I have been adding to that fall mix that has been attracting them better the last few years.   If you are able to, you might want to save a bit of soybeans for that usage.   With the late frosts we have been getting (climate change ?), those late soybean plantings have been effective at drawing deer to the plots, early in archery season.    

It looks like I have a good spot for turnips this year (on that plowed strip just to the front of the willows).   About (6) years ago, when that ground was at the same corn/clover rotation, I had a little turnip patch there.  It is hard to beat a combination of standing corn and frozen turnip greens.  I was able to take a fine button-buck, right from my bedroom window, with my ML in mid December that year.   I had just got home from work and was glassing the standing corn.   I watched him stand up and walk out to feed on turnips, about 5 minutes before sunset.   Up goes the window, on goes the cap, and down goes the BB.   That made for one fine Christmas feast.     

Edited May 23, 2020 by wolc123

[Lomax]

Spot on Wolv123. Late season rifle and ML Have become one of my favorite times of the year now if you have the food corn brassicas turnips and magic beans You tend to see a lot of deer in the afternoons and can draw bux from a ways off. I run cameras pretty much all year around and I tend to pick up different box that I haven’t seen before in that second week of December that’s when the turnips and winter greens seem to be the draw.  I really wish New York State would leave the season open through Christmas course my wife and kids wouldn’t I think a BB on Christmas would be a great gift 

[wolc123]

4 hours ago, Lomax said:

Spot on Wolv123. Late season rifle and ML Have become one of my favorite times of the year now if you have the food corn brassicas turnips and magic beans You tend to see a lot of deer in the afternoons and can draw bux from a ways off. I run cameras pretty much all year around and I tend to pick up different box that I haven’t seen before in that second week of December that’s when the turnips and winter greens seem to be the draw.  I really wish New York State would leave the season open through Christmas course my wife and kids wouldn’t I think a BB on Christmas would be a great gift 

My wife is always ecstatic when I bring home a button buck.  They are just so tender.   Unfortunately, I only manage to come up with one every other year on average (this ought to be an "on" year, especially if that turnip patch produces like I hope it will)..   Anything with antlers worries her a little, especially if it leads to a taxidermy bill and the loss of some wall space.   

I agree that it would be nice if the Southern zone deer season remained open until January 3rd or so.   That would give me a few additional non-work days to hunt, without having to use vacation time, and I could deer hunt on my birthday.    

[Lomax]

Ha my misses is the same way she likes the no taxi bill come summer too.  I just get euro mounts now....unless I get a giant one.  I think it would be nice if NYS extended broke up the season more.  It seems like the herd is pretty abundant and healthy in my area 7F.   Maybe some buck only season w xbow or M.L for those who didnt full buck tag into late Dec or January....get more use out of these late season plots. A 3 to 5 day season in Mid Jan after duck hunting would be something to look forward too but only if herd numbers support it.   

[wolc123]

I am one day ahead of schedule, having got the the corn plated on that front (2) acre plot yesterday.   It was a bit on the cold side, but it looks like it is going to warm up this week, so it should be ok.   I had room for 14 long rows of RR field-corn on the west side and 14 short (cross-ways) rows of sweetcorn on the east side.   That took almost exactly 100 pounds of triple 15 fertilizer.   The 50 yards or so in-between, I will seed with buckwheat, after it warms up a little more, and then plow that under in early August.  My nephew says he can get me some oats.  If he does, I will plant half of that "in-between" area with oats and the other half turnips at that time.   The turnip/standing corn combo has worked well for late ML season in the past and I am hoping the oats make it better yet. 

On Saturday afternoon, I noted a couple deer walking thru the tall grass behind that plot.  I could not tell whet that first one was, but the second one stopped to feed for a while on the clover/grass combo back there.  He was a solid buck with heavy velvet nubs that were longer than his ears already, and a decent sized body.  He looked to be at least a 2 year old.    Hopefully he sticks around.   

I was able to get a bit over an acre plowed up further back, by my two story blind, earlier in the week.   That spot should be dry enough to disk tomorrow.   I will go with the same field-corn'/sweet-corn/turnip/oat combo back there, but that sweetcorn will be mostly 92 day silver-queen and only about 1/4  of it will 82 day bodacious which was all I used up front.  Hopefully, I can get that in near the end of June.  That way, if the coons don't get it all, we should still be getting some decent sweet-corn to eat or freeze past Labor day, if we don't get an early frost.    

I was a bit worried about my old JD model 246 corn planter because I had not used it at all last year, and the year prior it gave me some trouble (the chain jumped off a few times and one of the fertilizer hopper bases needed to be reworked due to corrosion).   I made sure I lubed it all up good before using, and it worked perfectly yesterday.  I made sure to clean it out real good after, also.   Leaving some fertilizer in them and not letting them dry out good after washing is a sure fire way for problems on those old planters.   

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by wolc123

[wolc123]

It has been kind of dry and I have been afraid to look at this plot until we got some decent rain.   This morning, there were puddles on the driveway so we must have got an appreciable amount last night.   I went back and looked at the corn after work today and it looks pretty good.   The 14 long rows planted with old RR field corn actually looks a bit better than the 14 short rows of fresh sweetcorn, as far as the germination goes.   All of it is up about 3" tall and the germination percentage looks to be just over 90 % on the field corn and just under that on the sweet corn.   Now that I know that particular batch of old seed is good, I will use what is left of it on my back smaller plot in another week or so.    My next planting will be the buckwheat between the sweetcorn and field corn on the front plot, and I hope to get that in this weekend. 

    

[dmandoes]

On 5/22/2020 at 5:00 PM, wolc123 said:

I had (3) days to use up by the end of June, so I cashed in 1/2 of one today.   I stopped at Rineharts and picked up 200 pounds of triple 15 starter fertilizer (that is enough for 4 acres of corn at the rate I use it).  The cost of that was $ 9.40 per 50 lb bag.   I also picked up 2.5 gallons of Crop-Smart (41 % gly), which was $ 14 per gallon, and about a pound of sweetcorn seed while I was there.   I have lots of leftover field corn seed ready to go, since last year was too wet to get any planted.       

I got home in time to get about 2 acres plowed for the corn, on my driest ground.   I hope to get that spot planted by June 1st.   The other wetter spot (about an acre), I hope to get in by the end of June.  I will save 50 pounds of fertilizer for tunips planted in late July.   The current plots will be mostly field corn, and each will get about 1/2 pound of sweetcorn planted along the edge mostly for raccoon eradication purposes.   I am looking forward to trapping as many of those as possible this summer, starting when the corn starts making tassles, hopefully by early August.  The sweetcorn will draw them from miles around.  We might get a few meals out of it ourselves, if it don't cross-polinate with the field corn too bad and if the coons don't take it all out before I get them.  

 

Our town is being ravaged by rabies right now.   The best way to fight that is to get rid of the coons.  Since fur prices tanked, no one traps them anymore, resulting in an out of control population and rabies.  I did not plant any corn or trap any coons last year and the neighborhood pet-owners are paying the price for that right now.   Two years ago, the coyotes would dig up the coon carcasses within a night or two of my burrying them (the DEC recommends that landowners bury or burn "damaging" coons prior to the opening of regular trapping season in mid-October).  There don't seem to be any coyotes left around, based on the numbers of red fox that I am seeing (I ran over a young one on the way to work this morning).  Nonetheless, I am not taking any chances with the coon carcasses this year, so I have a fine burning barrel all ready for the carcasses.   There is so much fat on them in August that I imagine they will light up like roman candles after a little squirt of lighter fluid:

I hope all the corn that should be left standing, after the coon eradication, will result in a few deer hanging around here after the first shot is fired on opening day of gun season this fall.   Last fall, with no corn around, they all bugged out at that time and I had a hard time even finding a track back there in the snow after December 1.  That was why I did not use up more vacation days then.  I will save them last 2-1/2 days until after bass season opens up on the third Saturday in June (I got to fill that freezer one way or the other).  

R your numbers right? $14 /gal gly? $9.40 for 50lbs of 15-15-15? If ur numbers r right , I feel like I've been raped.  Any pics of corn from past years?  You use a lot less fertilizer per acre than I do.  

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, dmandoes said:

R your numbers right? $14 /gal gly? $9.40 for 50lbs of 15-15-15? If ur numbers r right , I feel like I've been raped.  Any pics of corn from past years?  You use a lot less fertilizer per acre than I do.  

That was the going rate this spring, which was down quite a bit from last year.    Maybe we can thank the Corona virus for that, or the Russia-Saudi squabble, which drove down oil prices (fertilizer cost generally follows that).   

Do you broadcast fertilizer ?     Most of what goes between the rows is wasted.   I only incorporate it directly on the rows with the the planter.   Also, I get away with a lot less nitrogen because I rotate my plots 4-5 years white clover, then corn.  All those years of clover builds up quite a bit of "free" nitrogen in the dirt.    I also minimize Roundup usage by applying it only on the rows (2.5 gallons usually lasts me a couple of years).    

I don't shoot for real high corn yields, but generally get around 75 bu/acre using this method.   I just picked up a new "smart-phone" I will try to get some photos this year's crop (no old ones available).    That coon up above (picture taken with my old flip-phone) was from a couple years ago and all that fat on it was from my half-way decent corn that year.    Eliminating coons is my key to make small plots of corn last until the end of late ML season.     

I think I will plant the rest of my corn this weekend.  We are not supposed to get more rain until Monday, and bass season opens the following weekend.  I would rather be fishing than planting corn with my spare time after that happens.           

Edited June 12, 2020 by wolc123

[dmandoes]

I usually get 150 to 200 bushels/acre depending on year. Its planted in rows and fertilized in rows.  I spread nitrogen later by broadcasting.  

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, dmandoes said:

I usually get 150 to 200 bushels/acre depending on year. Its planted in rows and fertilized in rows.  I spread nitrogen later by broadcasting.  

That is a good yield but it sounds like it is costing you quite a bit.   I judge the effectiveness of my food plots by the yield in pounds of boneless venison, compared to input costs (fertilizer, fuel, herbicide).  The free seed helps a lot, as does the free nitrogen from the old clover.     

Corn has long been my "go-to" crop, when it comes to holding deer on our place, which is mostly all old hayfields. Last year was the first time that I can recall not getting any planted (it was too wet all spring).   The deer pretty much vacate our place, if there is no standing corn, after the first shot is fired on opening day of gun season.   I was very fortunate to take a good one here during crossbow last season, as I did not even see any after the first day of gun season.       

I am almost looking forward more to the "damaging" coon trapping, starting at the end of the summer, than I am to the late season deer hunting this year.   Both should be spectacular, because this is shaping up to be the best corn growing season in recent memory.  I ended up with around a dozen coons two years ago (the biggest was that fat boar in the photo), and I hope to double that take this year.  Hopefully, my new "coon-burner" sees plenty of action, starting in late August.