2021 Summer Food Plot

[Mountaineer]

The elbon rye I normally roller crimp has gone to seed and is dead. Wheat is in hard seed and the deer are hammering the seed heads. The crimson is long gone.I drilled straight into the standing small grains and it worked fairly well....assuming seeds don't rot from more rain.

I'm gonna do a video next week all things considered . Every year is a new year with growing things.

So when it dries out will you just drill and not bother with crimping since the grains are beyond maturity and just let the drill push over the stalks? At what point would you consider not planting all plots if it stays too wet, June? Looking forward to another video.

[Sleepy]

Got my peas/beans/sunflower in on May 1st just in time before the rain hit that evening. Looks like everything is taking off just fine. I may or may not have missed a strip when spraying the fall plot LOL






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[Low Fence]

VERY VERY disappointed in my plot! Frustrated

Looks like 50-60% germination rate and mostly WGS it looks like. Very little lablab, soybeans or leafy growth.

I grain drilled, got no rain or germination for 7-10 days then got 7 inches on it

3 big factors probably got ya here. 1 was planting too early. Soil temp is just as big a factor as anything. And this year is definitely cooler than normal... which you would in my opinion have been very early anyway

2. Days without rain in no moisture. Seed just sitting out dries out and birds eat way more than people think. Even drilled

3. Extremely heavy rain- can’t be controlled but can float seed out of rows. I had a hay meadow down hill one year with a great pea crop.... and I didn’t ev n plant it!

[elgato]

So when it dries out will you just drill and not bother with crimping since the grains are beyond maturity and just let the drill push over the stalks? At what point would you consider not planting all plots if it stays too wet, June? Looking forward to another video.

Yes I will drill without crimping. That is what I did with the 2 fields I already planted and it worked well. So far there is minimal weed encroachment in the fields so I am not planning to spray. I'm going to plant whenever conditions are right irrespective of time as I want living roots in the soil at all time.Also I plan to mob graze my fields with cows in fall so I have adjusted my mix accordingly.

[Low Fence]

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks. I’d say germination % would be.... SOLID. All this rain, plowed dirt would have been catastrophic

[gingib]

Odd that you drilled and didn't get good germination. Assuming you used inoculant?

Yes but only on the soybeans. I shouldn't have needed to as I have had it planted the last 2-3 years and should have plenty of Nitrogen

We got 5 more inches on it so we will see.

Sad and frustrated lol

[gingib]

3 big factors probably got ya here. 1 was planting too early. Soil temp is just as big a factor as anything. And this year is definitely cooler than normal... which you would in my opinion have been very early anyway

2. Days without rain in no moisture. Seed just sitting out dries out and birds eat way more than people think. Even drilled

3. Extremely heavy rain- can’t be controlled but can float seed out of rows. I had a hay meadow down hill one year with a great pea crop.... and I didn’t ev n plant it!

I think you are right on 1/2. A combo of bad things.

Soil temp has not been super hot yet and 7-10 days with no rain and likely birds and seeds drying out.

Nothing I can do now. We got alot of rain. On camera it has taken off and is very green with deer in the plot. BUT in person, its mostly looks like Sorghum(corn looking).

[elgato]

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks. I’d say germination % would be.... SOLID. All this rain, plowed dirt would have been catastrophic

Plowed dirt would have been catastrophic !!!

The more that is learned about soil health, soil microbiology, the plant microbiological relationship along with the deleterious effects tillage has on soil the better it is understood how important no till is.

[Mountaineer]

Plowed dirt would have been catastrophic !!!

The more that is learned about soil health, soil microbiology, the plant microbiological relationship along with the deleterious effects tillage has on soil the better it is understood how important no till is.

Very true. In addition to increasingly better plot growth every season, I’ve found soil drainage is better also. Areas that used to just constantly hold water after a rain have limited or no standing water since using no till due to roots opening up compaction to allow the water to drain. This is in blackland clay.


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[HappyM]

First 2 pics are of plots I am trying to do some soil building with sorghum Sudan and forage sorghum plants with a little millet thrown in and third pic is a bird plot that the buckwheat has gone crazy with the rain but the sorghum, millets and sunflower have been slow to show.

[gingib]

We got 5 more inches this week haha!

On my camera it looks like a golf course. Will go look at it this week sometime, but I suppose its about the same.

I will take some pics

[lovemylegacy]

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks. I’d say germination % would be.... SOLID. All this rain, plowed dirt would have been catastrophic

Lovin the thread.

Lot of plot planters underestimate or do not understand what you are doing. Killing the present crop, regardless what it is, with a crimper or spraying, is far more beneficial than plowing. Leaving the thatch covering the ground, deters weed growth, retains moisture, keeps the ground cooler and provides nutrients for the soil and that's just a few of the benefits.

My only knock on your method is spraying. Being a beekeeper, I cringe at the thought of spraying.

Great thread.

[Low Fence]

I wish I could skip that too, but it’s just not realistic in this area to just roll for a spring plot. I can for fall plots or shred

[gingib]

I wish I could skip that too, but it’s just not realistic in this area to just roll for a spring plot. I can for fall plots or shred

You won't spray in the fall before you plant your winter plot?

Shredding a standing(not dead) plot creates so much thatch.

This will be first time planting into a summer plot, so just trying to learn. My winter plots have been nothing short of amazing.

We got 7 inches this week, can wait to see the plot. Been 2 weeks

[Low Fence]

I will and have. Nothing is ever set in stone. Last year at fall planting I had peas waist high solid. I cut and planted into pea thatch no sprays

Spring I’ll have too many weeds and Forbes in competition. I want it dead!