A year in the life of a farm

[unclefish]

Love it. Can't wait to see some pics.

[ETXbowhunter]

I Love this thread!!!

[KR-oldmexico]

Tuned in!

[Sticks&Strings]

I'm ready for some cocktail hour cruise photos

[elgato]

Planting a 16 acre field in soybeans today. I know most of you know the steps but to repeat: mix a little sugar in water as a sticking agent and stir with the inoculant. Pour into the drill and away you go. These are group 5 NON GMO soybeans.

[elgato]

Here are the inoculated beans ready to plant. We are drilling in to a mixture of 100 lbs wheat, 50 lbs rye, crimson, and daikon radishes.

[PopArcher]

Following thanks for your efforts...

[deer farmer]

Thanks for all the info u put here. it helps me in what I do @ my place. I was wondering about the clover and when to mow, so thanks again. please keep it up.

[EastTexun]

For everyone that likes to grow big bucks:

Based on the foundation laid with habitat and herd mgt. the next 90 days determines the quality of the bucks for the year! Showtime.

It is finally drying out here in La. The tractor will be running solid for the next several weeks. Starting tomorrow we will finish planting the summer crops. So far I only have about 14 acres planted with a lot to go. It will take at least 7-10 days of all day every day planting.

Next will be mowing last years vetch and Alyce clover. If it hasn't started sprouting yet I will spray after mowing it. If I can I'll spread a little fertilizer on it weather and work load dependent.

After the vetch I'll mow certain clover fields where I can be confident there won't be any fawns. The bigger fields will have to wait until the end of May to avoid chopping up any babies.

I ran a dose of wormer thru all the feeders in March and from now on they will stay loaded till the end of August. Even with all the green new weed growth and clover, the deer are hammering the protein. As stated before there is no question in my mind that even with abundant agriculture, pellets add inches and health to the herd.

I think we have finally broke the code on coon proofing the feeders. Cameras will tell for sure. If so I'm interested in measuring the impact of non target specie waste. I suspect it is significant.

This is one of my favorite times of the year. Getting everything planted then getting to watch the bucks all summer. Cool stuff.

Pictures to follow as we crank it up.

Thanks for all of your insight that you have given. Its some great info and much appreciated. Can you share regarding the coon-proofing? If you did already, I must have overlooked it.

[elgato]

Thanks for all of your insight that you have given. Its some great info and much appreciated. Can you share regarding the coon-proofing? If you did already, I must have overlooked it.

Your welcome. It's fun. Before I get to cocky about defeating the coons I want to run cameras a bit to verify. Probably will start that next week. I'll post pictures with results then.

[perfectstorm]

Your welcome. It's fun. Before I get to cocky about defeating the coons I want to run cameras a bit to verify. Probably will start that next week. I'll post pictures with results then.

About worming the deer- what inspired you to do that & what are the results you've seen since?

[elgato]

After drilling ( 65lbs/acre ) soybeans into the thatch we come back within 24 hrs and spray with gly. This kills any weeds in the field and gives the beans a chance to get ahead of any weeds yet to sprout.

We have planted 28 acres of beans and sprayed this week.

[elgato]

About worming the deer- what inspired you to do that & what are the results you've seen since?

WE worm the deer because the environment here is wet which enhances parasite growth. The wormer takes care of liver flukes which are common in such an environment plus other internal parasites.

It is impossible to assess the value of such a program on wild deer. I believe it's lots of little things like this that ultimately yield big results. The knock on worming deer is that it might weaken their immune system. I don't buy that. Certainly excess parasitic loads are detrimental to health. frankly I think it makes them healthier . We have plenty of deer living to old age and have never seen signs of inappropriate natural mortality.

[perfectstorm]

WE worm the deer because the environment here is wet which enhances parasite growth. The wormer takes care of liver flukes which are common in such an environment plus other internal parasites.



It is impossible to assess the value of such a program on wild deer. I believe it's lots of little things like this that ultimately yield big results. The knock on worming deer is that it might weaken their immune system. I don't buy that. Certainly excess parasitic loads are detrimental to health. frankly I think it makes them healthier . We have plenty of deer living to old age and have never seen signs of inappropriate natural mortality.

That's what I was thinking. We live in a similar area in Texas & I think it may be beneficial as well. I had heard that reasoning for not to do it but we worm our cattle & horses so I can't see why you wouldn't do it to deer as well. Thanks for replying.

[Shallowater]

How did your bees do this year?