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A year in the life of a farm

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    A year in the life of a farm

    I've most enjoyed reading the threads about how folks manage their properties but feel like I have given little back. Thus I inaugurate this thread to share how we manage our La. property over the course of a year for the benefit of all wildlife including deer. I'll strive to make it detail and photo rich as the year progresses and include not only the whats but also the why's.

    First the background. I have owned and had total management of 1350 acres for over 40 yrs. I have lived and raised my family on the property for 35 years. In the beginning there were no roads, fields or improvements of any kind. Just a singular block of timber 70% hardwood [ mostly red and white oak ] 30% pine. Today there is a highly developed road system mostly right of ways 2 chains wide with over 160 acres of food plots. Uniquely I am joined on my west side by a childhood friend that owns 1130 acres who shares the same passion and vision I have. We work together very effectively.However for this thread I will focus primarily on my activities.

    I have been experimenting with various cultivars for over 20 years trying everything that might grow in central La. [And lots of things that didnt grow ] Today I have ~ 30 acres of perennial clovers ...mostly durano, red clover, some arrow leaf and chicory scattered over about 12 fields and R O W's. Also have 15 acres of joint vetch/alyce clover distributed in 4 fields. The rest is planted in a rotation between summer and winter feeds. Lately I have been experimenting with both summer/winter cover crops using various mixtures found on other websites. My long term goal is to completely eliminate synthetic fertilizers and herbacides. Our soils are very poor but over time we have seen improvement resulting from ag. practices.

    One goal I have is to maximize the genetic potential of the local whitetail herd. All of our herd is homegrown. We do no TTT, release no deer of any kind, no DMP, simply strive to develop the natural traits of the herd we are entrusted with. I have seen our herd develop from where it was rare to see a deer all year to now growing 190" - 200"+ bucks. We are currently experimenting to find the optimum age to harvest these La. bucks thus letting them live irrespective of how giant they may be at 4.5 or 6. That said we do take a trophy or two each yr. Beyond that we practice very intense herd mgt.

    I will let this serve as an introduction. My plan is to make regular entries posting the various activities that take place throughout the year. We manage very intensively and while the totality may not be for everyone hopefully some of this will be interesting or helpful.

    #2
    Cool. Tuned in

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      #3
      I'm in.

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        #4
        It's been raining all day and I'm stuck inside so I thought I would make my first entry. I've just finished putting together the summer planting schedule with seed order. Will start planting late April thru early May.The combo's are"

        45 acres--- 50 lb's/acre cowpeas, 3 lbs/acre sunflowers, 3 lbs/acre pearl millet

        15 acres---50 lbs/acre soybeans, 3 lbs/acre sunflowers, 3 lbs./acre pearl millet

        7 acres---- 50 lbs/acre cowpeas, 3 lbs/acre sunflowers, 2 lbs/acre sorgham

        15 acre----- 10 lbs/acre joint vetch, 10 lbs acre Alyce clover

        6 acres ---- 5 lbs/acre grain sorgham { to feed the chickens, Dont laugh! }

        I'll be planting all this with a no till drill in to a freshly mowed winter cover crop of Elbon rye, wheat, oats, crimson clover, Austrian winter peas,and radishes [ whats left of them]. The idea is the thatch suppresses weeds while the new crop gets started. The legumes fix nitrogen for the sunflowers and millet, and the radishes break up the soil and sequester nutrients. Of course the deer [ and the soil] like all this!

        Now for an opinion...I believe nutrition and animal health is THE biggest challenge and limiter in most deer herds. Age is simple. Dont shoot them. I believe genetics while important are far better in most herds than people understand. Rarely are genetics the limiter in a herd. However, getting nutrition in the 100th percentile year round for many years in a row is very challenging.But it takes that for animal health to fully manifest genetic potential. It is extremely hard to get wild deer free of all parasites, infections, and all the multitude of afflictions that compromise perfect health. But I believe that is what it takes to learn what a herd is capable of.

        OF course that is just my opinion. I'm not a biologist just a red neck from La. unencumbered by the scientific method.

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          #5
          Looking forward to your practices. Thanks for taking the time to share.

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            #6
            We need lots of pics!! Looking forward to seeing the updates.

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              #7
              Following.

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                #8
                Subscribed

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                  #9
                  Great thread. Don't forget the pictures. Those of us with ADD do better with pics.

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                    #10
                    40 years....CONGRATS!

                    Looking forward to hearing and seeing the progress.

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                      #11
                      Tuned in as well. Hopefully one day I'll look back and use some of those plot recipes on my own place

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                        #12
                        tuned in

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                          #13
                          Very cool. Following.

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                            #14
                            Subscribed

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                              #15
                              Subscribed

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