2022 Food Plot Thread

[Sippy]

As (hopefully) the last freeze exits most of the state our minds switch to getting warm season food plots in the ground. What are you planting this year? Tell us about your irrigation, fertilizer, herbicide routines.

Personally we have iron/clay peas, sunn hemp, and okra on order. There may be a soybean experiment in the works as well.



-Michael
Wildlife Biologist
Environmentalsolutions.com

[.243 WSSM]

>ace cowpeas/bobwhite trailing soybeans
-clethodim for grasses
>winfield clearfield sunflowers
-prowl for pre emerge, beyond for post
>pheasants forever sorghum mix
-metolachlor for pre
>duckwheat(tartary buckwheat)/sesame
-clethodim post

Limed according to soil tests. Will fertilize pre planting. Looking hot and dry this summer. May have to improve the irrigation system used in past. 3" trash pump hooked to tripod broadcast sprinklers

[CWendling]

This will be my first year in east texas on our property to do food plots after having some areas cleared. Right now its a little rough from the dozer work so going to start discing to level it out and burn the brush piles. Doing about 5ac as deer plots with probably peas/radishes i was thinking? And about 10 ac im going to try and plant a millet/sunflower mix for dove. Per tests, I need to add 1ton lime/ac which im going to try to do over the next 2 weeks so i can plant in the first 2 weeks April. Recommendations for fertilizing and herbicide?

[.243 WSSM]

This will be my first year in east texas on our property to do food plots after having some areas cleared. Right now its a little rough from the dozer work so going to start discing to level it out and burn the brush piles. Doing about 5ac as deer plots with probably peas/radishes i was thinking? And about 10 ac im going to try and plant a millet/sunflower mix for dove. Per tests, I need to add 1ton lime/ac which im going to try to do over the next 2 weeks so i can plant in the first 2 weeks April. Recommendations for fertilizing and herbicide?

The biologist will be the go to on this. My thoughts-
Do you know if it's a mix of several millets or one type with the sunflowers? Browntop is fast maturing and lots of seed but most leaf litter of millets. Will need to shred. There wont be any bare ground with millet unless the sunflowers shade some of it out. Proso is nice as it gradually drops seeds as they ripen instead of all at once. Do you have hogs? The hogs in fannin co go nuts for it. You really don't have any post emergent choices for a planting of sunflowers/millet as you will have both a grass and broadleaf. Not sure what pre you can use for millet. Prowl, surflan, metolachlor are all labeled for sunflowers. Your soil test will tell you how much n-p-k per acre. Good move liming. Fertilizer will be getting even more pricier. I would locate the cheapest 10-10-10 or 13-13-13 you can find and use 250 lbs/ac. Keep us posted how your plantings grow and good luck

[Sippy]

The biologist will be the go to on this. My thoughts-
Do you know if it's a mix of several millets or one type with the sunflowers? Browntop is fast maturing and lots of seed but most leaf litter of millets. Will need to shred. There wont be any bare ground with millet unless the sunflowers shade some of it out. Proso is nice as it gradually drops seeds as they ripen instead of all at once. Do you have hogs? The hogs in fannin co go nuts for it. You really don't have any post emergent choices for a planting of sunflowers/millet as you will have both a grass and broadleaf. Not sure what pre you can use for millet. Prowl, surflan, metolachlor are all labeled for sunflowers. Your soil test will tell you how much n-p-k per acre. Good move liming. Fertilizer will be getting even more pricier. I would locate the cheapest 10-10-10 or 13-13-13 you can find and use 250 lbs/ac. Keep us posted how your plantings grow and good luck

Great advice here.

Personally I go with sunflower only. It’s pretty easy, comes back voluntarily each year (to a point), and dove obviously love it.

Check planting depths on any mixes. I find a lot of folks don’t consider that and only half or less of what you are paying for actually comes up. For example iron clay peas are about 1” while daikon radish is about 1/4”

[CWendling]

These are both mixes from a local place in Tyler. And i was wrong, the spring mix doesnt have radishes, but Cowpeas,Soybeans, Sunflowers, and Okra

[Sippy]

These are both mixes from a local place in Tyler. And i was wrong, the spring mix doesnt have radishes, but Cowpeas,Soybeans, Sunflowers, and Okra

That’s the one I use as well.

[GLM]

I tilled one of my plots today. Decided to wait on the others until the ground drys up a little. The dirt stuck to the tiller tines and turned the tiller in to a log. Still a little early to be turning dirt.

[Hobbs]

These are both mixes from a local place in Tyler. And i was wrong, the spring mix doesnt have radishes, but Cowpeas,Soybeans, Sunflowers, and Okra

Who are you using in Tyler to buy the mix from?

[Sippy]

Who are you using in Tyler to buy the mix from?

East Tx Seed

[CWendling]

East Tx Seed

same....didnt get to disc the plots up this weekend though after all the rain thursday night

[HogHunter34]

I’m planning on planting two plots. One I want to do with iron clay cowpeas
The other I thought about a clover mix or single type clover. Having a hard time locating a spring/summer clover. What’s recommended & where can I get it?

[txbowman12]

I’m going to leave my cereal rye standing this year to controls weeds and provide fawning cover, then throw and mow into it in the fall. I have a small strip in the middle I will plant in buckwheat, sunn hemp, and okra. Primary purpose being summer weed control and bedding areas. Deer have plenty of groceries in the summer where we are.

Rye already halfway up their legs a couple weeks since soil temps broke 65

[Sippy]

I’m planning on planting two plots. One I want to do with iron clay cowpeas
The other I thought about a clover mix or single type clover. Having a hard time locating a spring/summer clover. What’s recommended & where can I get it?

I would top seed with Alyce Clover (not a true clover but a great legume) after planting your peas.

[EastTexun]

Anybody else having issues finding the right seeds? I am struggling to find forage beans (non RReady) or Eagles, Alyce Clover and sunn hemp.