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Old 08-02-2010, 02:55 PM
  #5  
Soilman
Fork Horn
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: MN
Posts: 342
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A soil test is certainly needed before anyone can give you specific fertilizer and lime recommendations. I would suggest you take as many soil samples as you can afford, and send them to a WI certified lab (UW Madison has a lab, $7 per basic "farm field" sample). Instructions for taking a soil sample can be found on the web. Ask for fertilizer and lime recs for crops you may want to grow, and do not pay extra for food plot tests (same tests, just charge you more money). If you want to group plots together, do so by soil type or landscape position (for example: all black soil plots in 1 sample, all hilltop plots in another sample).

You will not be able to mix lime into the soil effectively with a rake, so I would not try it (especially since you do not know if you need lime). Spraying with roundup ASAP will certainly help your plots grow food for deer and not weeds. Oats and Winter Rye are great options. With 6-7 plots, I would try both to see if the deer have a preference. You may want to try a peas and oats mix instead of straight oats. All of these seeds will do fine this fall if planted by Sept 1 (S of highway 8), do fine on poor soil, they need little fertilizer, they are cheap, and you can get them at a local coop (don't worry about variety either). For this fall, use regular lawn fertilizer for the plots (not with any crabgrass or weed preventer). One 25 lb bag of 25-0-0 would be enough to fertilize about .15 acre of small grain (6800 ft2).
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