fallow to food plot
 

I was wondering how to be most successful going from fallow field to a food plot WITHOUT ROUND-UP. I have a Small tractor, 2 bottom plow, brush mower, disc, and 2 row planter. I know there will be some weeds but I am ok with that as long as the food plot in general survives. Let me know what you think. I have good growing soil and am located in Illinois. I have planted pumkins and indian corn in the past.

RE: fallow to food plot
 

Sounds like you got everything needed. If you have tall grass, I would bushhog it first to help the soil turn better when you plow. Burning is another way to reduce the chances of having the plow clog up with a bunch of debris. If it is not allot on the surface then I would just plow and let that decay for awhile. If the ground is hard/compacted I would disk it first. The main thing when it comes to plowing is to try to keep an even depth and keep you furrows straight as possible. When done right you should not be able to tell one pass from the next. I've seen guys wreck a field by creating ridges and holes that take allot to fix. Once it is plowed I would disc enough to get a firm seedbed, preferrably disk one last time right before you plant. Most corn planters use a different size planter-plate for the size kernal you purchase. Say you have a bag of MR=medium round kernal you will need the correct size plate to get the desired population per acre, which will be critical if you are going to try to go with no chemical. The better the stand of corn the more it will shade the ground, suppressing weed growth. I personally would not attempt to grow corn without chemicals due to the types weeds in my area: pigweed,crabgrass,lambsquarter,velvetleaf etc. One thing additional you will need is a cultivator to keep the weeds from over taking your corn after it comes up, you will need to make a pass through the corn about every 2 weeks untill it gets to tall to make a pass over.

RE: fallow to food plot
 

Yep sounds like your ready to go. Just one question why do you not want to use roundup, its a big asset.

RE: fallow to food plot
 

Greg, I know that roundup would make it easier to grow a planted seed, but, I just would rather not have to use any pesticides. I was thinking of planting buckwheat, or oats as soon as i can get in the fields then, put it under around August and plant turnips. The property I have is 20 acres 10 wooded. The tillable is broken into 3 to 5 acre plots. I may experiment a little in different areas. But on a side note haystack, you may not know it but, Pigweed and Lambsquarter actually taste pretty good. They are both a lot like spinach, but i think better. Don't laugh until you try it... just don't eat the stuff with roundup on it.

RE: fallow to food plot
 

Redskin I know many weeds are tasty and free. Deer absolutely love lambsquarter too. But you can not have a crop that you plant if you dont control the weeds, You are either going to have a nice crop you planted or a nice crop of weeds.

RE: fallow to food plot
 

Hay stack- I agree with controlling weeds. I would just rather stay away from spraying Herbicides. I just wanted to know if anyone had tips on growing foodplots in that manner. thanks

RE: fallow to food plot
 

I still control weeds the old way. Plow under. Wait two weeks for seed germination, disc. Wait another two weeks disc one more time and plant.
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