A year in the life of a farm

[the marshall]

Keep the thread going. Lots of good information and ideas shared.

[Mex Polack]

Awesome as always, 1st Class Operation, enjoy the info, pics, and hearing from you!
Thanks again for sharing Rusty, Peace Out!

[elgato]

Here's a pic of a typical 5 acre clover field. I drilled 25/lb acre of wheat with some radishes and turnips in the fall as an attractant. Now the wheat has gone to hard seed which the deer love. The seeding rate is light enough to allow the clover to flourish underneath it. In fact the field is full of Durana, red clover and a little crimson. With luck on the summer weather it is a valuable food source year round. You can see an apple tree in the foreground and a pear tree in the background. I have a full orchard surrounding the field of apples, pears and persimmons. Probably 30 trees.

[Mr Sid]

Even non-hunters should like your set up. It's a great place to be a deer. Many live their lives out fat and healthy. Thank you for showing us how it should be done.


Mr Sid

[elgato]

Here is another 13 acre dual purpose clover field. I planted it 3 yrs ago in crimson and it has been regenerating every since with no additional planting required. You can see it is starting to dry out with the seed hardening. About May 1 I will plant it in sunflowers for fall doves. The nitrogen and om from the crimson feeds the sunflowers. The crimson regenerates on its own and of course is a great deer feed late winter and early spring. Low maintenance and easy. And the dove hunting can be superb.

[Patton]

Keep the thread going. Lots of good information and ideas shared.

x2
I thoroughly enjoy this thread. Much to be learned.

[BM322]

With the Crimson, what do you do to keep it replenishing itself. Mowing at a certain height or herbicidal treatment?

[elgato]

With the Crimson, what do you do to keep it replenishing itself. Mowing at a certain height or herbicidal treatment?

Not much needs to be done. The trick is to let it seed out completely. Let it die then I drill sunflowers in. If herbicide is required to kill weeds after crimson is completely dead and before sunflowers sprout I will spray gly. Next fall I drill about 25 lbs/acre wheat into the field. This usually disturbs the soil enough to assure seed soil contact with the crimson seed which has remained dormant all summer. Come late fall rains and cooler weather up comes the crimson.

[GarGuy]

Thanks for continuing the thread. Those sheds are fine....He should be a giant this fall..

[elgato]

Spring planting time is here and the seed is in the barn! Soy beans, cow peas, sunn hemp,sunflower, grain sorghum,Egyptian wheat, and joint vetch. I'll start planting next week weather appropriate. Pics to follow as process begins.

While I love planting summer stuff I believe you get the most bang for the buck with fall cultivars. Small grains, clovers, chicory, and the brassicas are easier to cultivate, highly nutritious, and with proper mgt. and planning can be available most if not all year.

Nonetheless, I love seeing the summer plots in full growth...and a big bachelor group filing out just at sunset.

[texasdeerhunter]

Do you fertilize your plots? If so, what ratio fertilizer are you using? I'm about to do a soil test to figure out what I have, and then will plan accordingly. But I was curious what you use

[texasdeerhunter]

Also, what sunflower seed are you planting?

[elgato]

Also, what sunflower seed are you planting?

I haven't used any commercial fertilizer in several years. Last year I spread chicken litter on most of my fields. I think I also get a lot of fertility from the way I cover crop. I do no tillage. I drill directly into the thatch , let that be mulch to control weeds and feed the following crop. By growing legumes for nitrogen and an assortment of other plants each delivering its own nutrient value I haven't really needed commercial fertilizer.

I'm planting regular black oil sunflowers.

[JeffK]

Hope you keep this going. Really enjoy seeing what you are doing on the farm as well as the pics of those Louisiana deer.

By the way, did y'all end up harvesting that really palmated deer? I believe y'all were on the fence about harvesting him the year before.

[ethic1]

Awesome!!


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