A year in the life of a farm

[elgato]

The vetch will last till frost and be heavily grazed the entire time. I do not plant anything to the vetch in fall though I did experiment planting vetch into crimson this spring. If it works the growth patterns on these two should be compatible. The crimson should come back from seed this winter and be dieing lout about the time the vetch starts coming back from seed in the spring. We will see.

[elgato]

Is the main purpose for rolling the Rye to create a nice thatch layer on top which will improve water retention and increase organic matter? I'm guessing you'll drill brand into the Rye? I'm really interested to see how this roller helps. Thanks for posting.

All of the above. I haven't tilled the soil in 4 yrs having gone pure no till. So the plan is to roller crimp standing crops creating a thick thatch to drill directly to. This suppresses weeds and provides organic matter. Also with legumes in all the fields as well as brassicas and other cultivars the crops provide much of the fertility for subsequent crops.

It has been very interesting experimenting with various cover crop rotations designed to improve the soil while at the same time feed the deer.

[elgato]

Since we will start fall rotation here in the next few weeks, here a a few shots from the summer program. Here is an 11 acre soy bean field, a sunn hemp stand I am using to improve some sandy soil [ my long range plan here is to increase om and fertility to plant alfalfa as it is the best drained field I have ] . Lastly chestnuts. This is the first year I have had any and curious to see what they are all about. I have about 20 chestnut trees in the orchard

[DZM]

Just Awesome! Your deer and mgt plan are amazing!

[GarGuy]

I had to drop by and look at that super star 4 year old again. he was an eight point last year! No telling what he might do in the next three years.

[elgato]

I had to drop by and look at that super star 4 year old again. he was an eight point last year! No telling what he might do in the next three years.

Well....we have gotten a better look at that buck and now we think 5. Nonetheless he will get a pass this yr.

[elgato]

Now on the other hand I just saw this buck run out of a clover field. He is very big! Grown a bit since this photo was taken. I need a better look at age but I may be chasing this yr. Was very impressive .

[BolilloLoco]

Awesome Bucks!!!

[yazoomon]

What a great thread! Rusty, thank you for sharing all the great information and the unbelievable results. Thanks to everybody for keeping this going. I can't wait to get started at my little farm.

[Doe Doe Spike]

How old are your chestnut trees?

[elgato]

How old are your chestnut trees?

The ones just stating to bear nuts are 4 yrs old bought from Chestnut Hill I think. Dunstans. I'm quite surprised with how quickly they have started producing. They aren't loaded but still have a few nuts.

[Doe Doe Spike]

That's impressive. I have about 50-70 planted out at our place. This is their first yr out of a pot and we have been getting good rain fall so I am excited about the future.

[GarGuy]

Well....we have gotten a better look at that buck and now we think 5. Nonetheless he will get a pass this yr.

Even if he is five, he still may have his year of best improvement ahead of him. hes special.

[gingib]

What is vetch and can you explain it? I am also getting on the no till plan. last year I disked and then no tilled. I will not disk anymore, but just spray with Gly.

[elgato]

What I call vetch is commonly known as joint vetch or deer vetch but its technical name is aeschynomene.It is one of my favorite summer crops! Highly preferred, highly nutritious and very grazing tolerant.

It is planted in the spring and likes wetter bottom land soils. It is slow to get started but will grow till frost. I sometimes mix it 50/50 with alyce clover as they have identical growth characteristics though deer much prefer the vetch.It is an reseeding annual that with proper management can reseed for many years much like crimson clover. In existing fields early spring I will lightly disc then cultipak. If necessary add something like 0-24-24 as it is a legume requiring no nitrogen. Then at the last possible day I spray the field with gly to kill any weeds . I watch the fields carefully looking for vetch sprouts and hopefully spray before they germinate. Weeds are a fact of life in vetch fields though it is very competitive with anything. Vetch is slow to germinate in the summer and slow to get going. But once it gets started grows quite well especially with rain.

Lately I've been letting the vetch get a foot or two tall with the weeds that high or higher then when the weeds start flowering or showing seeds I mow the tops. Doesn't hurt the vetch yet knocks back the weeds. Vetch will grow 4-6' tall ungrazed but deer keep mine closer to 1-3'.

You can find good info at hancock seed as well as order if your local coop can't get it. Requires inoculation. It's expensive but I have kept fields going for years with the above maintenance

It's a beautiful plant and some of our best bucks have grown up in vetch fields. Happy to help with any questions. Notice in the picture that every top has been nipped which is true for every plant in this 3 acre field.