A year in the life of a farm

[Beargrasstx]

First shed of the year 87 4/8" with 24 6/8" mass A 5 yr old I think

Wow, you are living my dream. Keep posting, encouraging to see what can happen with proper management and nutrition.

[BolilloLoco]

First shed of the year 87 4/8" with 24 6/8" mass A 5 yr old I think

Pretty strong

[lovemylegacy]

Wow! Impressive

[Puncher51]

Heck of a buck! That mass is out of this world!

[Sippy]

First shed of the year 87 4/8" with 24 6/8" mass A 5 yr old I think

My lort

[HappyM]

Legato, awesome thread and very informative. I have been looking at the various Notill equipment on the market. Any words of wisdom on important features and maintenance considerations?

[ethic1]

Awesome!


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[elgato]

Legato, awesome thread and very informative. I have been looking at the various Notill equipment on the market. Any words of wisdom on important features and maintenance considerations?

THanks,

Yes, couple thoughts to consider. I find having a small seed box along with the bigger hopper invaluable. Allows you to plant larger seeds ...wheat rye etc along with clovers and other small seeds effectively. Be sure your tractor can pull the drill . They are a load.Not sure how you plan to terminate the crops you are drilling to but coordinating width has value. I use 8' roller crimper and 8' drill.

Start studying cover cropping now. Lots of great resources and the drill is perfect for multi specie plantings.Buy a copy o fDirt to Soil by Gabe Brown. You tube Ray the soil guy and Dave Brandt . Sell your disc.

Keep notes every time you plant on settings. The seed size does change a little each yr and settings are important. Keep up with the acreage meter each time you plant on each field. I find it best to put the exact amount of seed to the specific field each time even if it means more frequent refilling especially if you are doing multiple cultivars.
I could go on . Let me know any specific questions . The drill is one of my best investments ever!

[camoclad]

i bought a woods "drill" from cabelas a few years ago thinking about doing what you have done on your farm. i wish i had seen this thread before the purchase. im rethinking things and would love to get my hands on a genesis drill by RTP. after all the research and trial and error with the equipment thats out there i think RTP might have nailed this market (land managers as opposed to farmer geared equipment). they even offer a roller crimper with that land management philosophy in mind.

[elgato]

i bought a woods "drill" from cabelas a few years ago thinking about doing what you have done on your farm. i wish i had seen this thread before the purchase. im rethinking things and would love to get my hands on a genesis drill by RTP. after all the research and trial and error with the equipment thats out there i think RTP might have nailed this market (land managers as opposed to farmer geared equipment). they even offer a roller crimper with that land management philosophy in mind.

I just looked at the Genesis drill website and the video by Dr. Grant Woods. I like his work and have kept up with him for a while learning a lot. The drill looks great. Again an important key is matching drill size to tractor size. Also in the video the drill he was using did not have a small seed box. I think that very valuable and something you may want to consider. Once you have the drill big fun begins when you start to explore all the blends and things you can do with it.

[camoclad]

I just looked at the Genesis drill website and the video by Dr. Grant Woods. I like his work and have kept up with him for a while learning a lot. The drill looks great. Again an important key is matching drill size to tractor size. Also in the video the drill he was using did not have a small seed box. I think that very valuable and something you may want to consider. Once you have the drill big fun begins when you start to explore all the blends and things you can do with it.

Thanks for the advice Elgato. On our farm, the dream is a seamless rotation of notill cool/warm, cover crop/food plots that benefits wildlife/soil health/livestock/water quality all the while suppressing competing undesirable vegetation and limiting the impact of draught and flood years (as much as could be reasonably expected) year in and out. Easy enough right?

Finding that right rotation and blend as you stated above seems to be a knowledge our great grandfathers would know but we are just re-discovering. Im years into the process and feel like I'm just scratching the surface... your light years ahead. Thanks again for sharing.

[elgato]

Thanks for the advice Elgato. On our farm, the dream is a seamless rotation of notill cool/warm, cover crop/food plots that benefits wildlife/soil health/livestock/water quality all the while suppressing competing undesirable vegetation and limiting the impact of draught and flood years (as much as could be reasonably expected) year in and out. Easy enough right?

Finding that right rotation and blend as you stated above seems to be a knowledge our great grandfathers would know but we are just re-discovering. Im years into the process and feel like I'm just scratching the surface... your light years ahead. Thanks again for sharing.

We have much in common!. This year I'm going to experiment going completely organic on a few fields. The only thing I use now is a little gly before spring planting but I'm cutting that out to see if a 7 way thick cover can get ahead of weeds and grasses effectively. I don't mind a few weeds as I see the deer eating them too.

Haven't used synthetic fertilizer in years and have never used pesticides fungicides or any other chemicals. Going out to video a few of the fall fields today and plan to post you tube video link if I can figure out how...a big step for an old red neck from rural La.

[camoclad]

We have much in common!. This year I'm going to experiment going completely organic on a few fields. The only thing I use now is a little gly before spring planting but I'm cutting that out to see if a 7 way thick cover can get ahead of weeds and grasses effectively. I don't mind a few weeds as I see the deer eating them too.

Haven't used synthetic fertilizer in years and have never used pesticides fungicides or any other chemicals. Going out to video a few of the fall fields today and plan to post you tube video link if I can figure out how...a big step for an old red neck from rural La.

Excited to see your results, and looking forward to the YouTube channel. I'm also going to check out the resources you mentioned above. I'm no scientist and not the first to say this but I'm starting to firmly believe the key to healthy herds is in the soil...

[HappyM]

Elgato, so I appreciate this thread and it has really made me rethink a number of “practices” we have used for quite a while. I have not sold my disc ... yet, but I am starting on my notill journey this spring. We have a number of resource limitations but I believe the 2 most deficient are organic matter in the soil and infiltration rates. Would you have any suggestions for a starter blend that has worked for you ?

[GLM]

How do we find your videos on You Tube? I can’t find them under Elgato. Thanks!