Food Plot - Gonna give it a try

[Nailhead]

Came up to the ranch for the weekend. Boy it was one heck of a gully washer last night. We emptied the rain gage at 2.5" yesterday and this morning it had another 4.75" in it. So much water everywhere and pretty sure the lake next door blew out cause our dam blew out as well again. $12k down the drain.

Trying to look on the bright side the plots are pretty amazing to see in person. Rye is 3'-6' tall with better than 75% at 5' or better. Oats are 2'-4' averaging around 3' across the plot. Everything is carrying lots of seeds.

If it doesnt rain tonight I think I am going to mow at least the Rye plot to let the clover come out. The clover is popping in the oats. Not sure what I will do there. Rye is definitely a good candidate for throw and mow but I think I am going to just mow it and hope the stand comes back by the end of summer so I can throw and mow the fall. Not sure the Oats are thick enough to throw and mow effectively. May try something different there.

[unclefish]

Came up to the ranch for the weekend. Boy it was one heck of a gully washer last night. We emptied the rain gage at 2.5" yesterday and this morning it had another 4.75" in it. So much water everywhere and pretty sure the lake next door blew out cause our dam blew out as well again. $12k down the drain.

Trying to look on the bright side the plots are pretty amazing to see in person. Rye is 3'-6' tall with better than 75% at 5' or better. Oats are 2'-4' averaging around 3' across the plot. Everything is carrying lots of seeds.

If it doesnt rain tonight I think I am going to mow at least the Rye plot to let the clover come out. The clover is popping in the oats. Not sure what I will do there. Rye is definitely a good candidate for throw and mow but I think I am going to just mow it and hope the stand comes back by the end of summer so I can throw and mow the fall. Not sure the Oats are thick enough to throw and mow effectively. May try something different there.

Man sorry to hear about your lake....its hard to see your hard work wash out the spillway.

Can I ask what you mean when you say you are going to just mow the rye and hope the stand comes back in the fall? Are you hoping the rye will germinate again before the fall so it will grow tall again and you can throw and mow your fall plots?

[Nailhead]

Got the plots mowed today. Rye laid down a nice thatch. Lets see how the clover does this summer with that down. Not as much clover in there as I would like but its present. Mowed the oats as well and there is lots of clover in that plot. But it didnt put down a thatch like the Rye. Pictures are of the Rye.

[Nailhead]

Man sorry to hear about your lake....its hard to see your hard work wash out the spillway.

Can I ask what you mean when you say you are going to just mow the rye and hope the stand comes back in the fall? Are you hoping the rye will germinate again before the fall so it will grow tall again and you can throw and mow your fall plots?

Yes that is the hope. Not sure if it will or not. If not no big deal I am no worse off either way.

[unclefish]

Yes that is the hope. Not sure if it will or not. If not no big deal I am no worse off either way.

I just re-read my question and I should have clarified. I meant to say do you hope your rye will re-germinate now and grow all summer?

If so in my experience growing rye is that it won't germinate right now but in the fall it certainly will. All those seeds you mowed will make a nice volunteer rye crop this fall. You will probably still have to replant some rye in the fall to make sure you have good coverage but you can just do that by broadcasting.

Your pics are great! That elbon rye is amazing stuff.....it feeds the deer all fall, winter, and early spring then it just dwarfs the other cereal grains in growth and lays down a ton of organic matter.

[Big pig]

I love the production of my elbon rye also
I plant fall plots of elbon rye, oats, and wheat.

Deer really hammered it all winter
Stuff in the cages really shows your actually growth and
Utilization.

BP

[Nailhead]

I know the new seeds will not germinate until the fall. But I am unsure on rye if the cut stems will continue to grow and provide me with an additional thatch by the end of summer. If so great, if not then I will have a plan for that next year. If the rye will no longer grow or provide the thatch for fall, then I am thinking next summer I will throw and mow buckwheat into the fall plots. It can be growing along with the clover. Still plan to do a separate summer plot so that they can overlap and I dont loose a food source before the other is ready for browsing pressure. At least thats the thought process.

[unclefish]

I know the new seeds will not germinate until the fall. But I am unsure on rye if the cut stems will continue to grow and provide me with an additional thatch by the end of summer. If so great, if not then I will have a plan for that next year. If the rye will no longer grow or provide the thatch for fall, then I am thinking next summer I will throw and mow buckwheat into the fall plots. It can be growing along with the clover. Still plan to do a separate summer plot so that they can overlap and I dont loose a food source before the other is ready for browsing pressure. At least thats the thought process.

I gotcha now.

You might get some growth out of the rye but not much and probably not near enough for good thatch. What's interesting is when the rye dies or is mowed or rolled the thatch gives off some alleopathic chemical for around 2 weeks so it become very difficult for seeds to germinate. It's a natural weed preventer.

For buckwheat you can get 2 maybe even 3 cuttings of it during the summer and would make some great thatch for you fall throw & mow.

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[unclefish]

Next time you are out there take a pic of a shovel-full of your soil before the thatch starts doing its thing. Then you can compare to next year.

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[Nailhead]

Next time you are out there take a pic of a shovel-full of your soil before the thatch starts doing its thing. Then you can compare to next year.

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I'll be sure and do that. I know its just like yours was. Basically all the top soil looks the same. No black layer. So starting from scratch for sure.

[Nailhead]

I love the production of my elbon rye also
I plant fall plots of elbon rye, oats, and wheat.

Deer really hammered it all winter
Stuff in the cages really shows your actually growth and
Utilization.

BP

That's great to hear BP. I need to put a few more cages out. I will put a couple in the summer plot once I get it done and then in the fall plots later this year. It's definitely hard to tell if it's just not growing or if they are hammering it without the cages in place. I am very impressed with the Elbon Rye for sure. This is my first experience with an actual cereal rye instead of rye grass. I'm sure liking it so far and I know the deer were enjoying it.

I wasn't able to get Harrison Oats this year and had to use Bob Oats. I wonder how much of a difference my oat plot would have made with the Harrison. I want to say i remember hearing the Harrison Oats put out more yield than the Bob Oats do. I will try to order in advance this year for the fall so I can make sure I get everything I want.

I think this coming fall I am going to mix rye and oats into both fall plots. Not sure what I am going to do with the kale or chicory this fall. I still don't know if it didn't grow well or the deer hammered it.

[Nailhead]

I haven't had a whole lot to post up here cause it has been a pretty uneventful summer. I never got a chance to get a spring plot going, but the little bit of clover I had hung around until a couple weeks ago until the heat and lack of rain really kicked in. The deer have been sticking to the woods lately with it being so hot out. Plus we have some hogs that have moved back in that we need to thin out and we are actively doing that. Not a whole lot of deer activity on the property. A group of 3 bucks running together and a few does running mostly alone or with a fawn.

However, the buck we have dubbed as Broke Horn that I have been watching the last 3 years is still around and is looking really good this year. If he does like he has the last 3 years come bow season he goes nocturnal and he disappears for the most part until very late into rifle season. He has only been spotted in person once and was across the fence. That was last season. Here are a couple pictures of his so far this year. We are on a small low fence place and if you have been reading this thread you know I talk about the 50 acre place behind us that seems to shoot everything that moves. I hope he stays off that place as those guys basically prep for nothing. They don't feed or anything, just show up during season and shoot whatever moves through. And they shoot a lot during rifle season. So just hoping he stays clear and stays smart. I'm excited to see how he looks once he sheds the velvet.

[686]

He's looking great! What are you thinking about doing with your fall plot?

[Nailhead]

I think I am going to plant similar to last year however, I think this time I am going to plant both plots the same and see what happens. The Rye did really well laying down a thatch, so it gives me a good idea of what I should be able to expect this next spring and I can plan for it.

With the summer basically burning everything off and my plots being taken back over by native weeds and grasses, I think I am going to spray to kill and wait a couple weeks confirm I got a good kill. Then I will fertilize, disc, throw rye and oats, pack, and throw Kale, Chicory, and Clover on top.

If the kale and chicory do not come up strong this year I might give up on them or have to dig further to see what is going on. I get a bunch of little sprouts the come up and then nothing. I have not been able to tell if the deer just hammer it and keep it mowed down or if the soil just isn't right for either of them. I may consider throwing in an additional clover this year, but I haven't decided yet. I also may end up having to throw some lime this year, which I haven't had to before. My pH came down below 7 over this past fall, but I know some plants don't mind it so will have to see.

My hope this year by mixing the oats and rye is that they will complement each other and be able to get a good thatch over both plots. Then come spring time, I want to throw buckwheat into the plots and mow or roll it down. Even if the deer don't take highly too it, I want the buckwheat for soil improvement. And I plan to expand and plant an additional spring/summer plot next year, with peas, sunflowers, and something else. Haven't decided what that something else will be yet.

That is at least the current plan I have running around in my head. Now that I had a good turn out last fall, I want to stick with what I know now for this season and then maybe next season add or take away to improve it. Maybe radishes or turnips or something for change of pace and to see what kind of results I get. The trick I am finding is playing to your soil condition, and fixing the soil is not something that comes quickly. With as awesome as my plots looked this fall after fertilizing heavily, the soil samples I got back this spring/summer were very similar to the year prior where I didn't fertilize at all. Something else I need to stay on top of is making sure I find the time to go back and top dress my plots with Nitrogen after they have been established.

[jkelbe]

Dang another Anderson County stud buck. I am getting jipped at my place. My biggest and oldest barely goes 13 inches.

Great buck nailhead, glad you are having some foodplot success, looking forward to following this fall as I will be sidelined with new kiddo on the way.