Missouri Food Plot
05-16-2015, 05:57 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Southeast Missouri
Posts: 2,178
Missouri Food Plot
Well it's that Time of the Year where I play Hobby Farmer and try my Luck at putting out a Food Plot.With all the heavy Spring Rains the window of opportunity is narrow when praying for the rains to stop long enough for the ground to be dry enough to get out the Tractor and break up some soil.
I hit a spot that was planted with wheat last year and was smooth as glass from the previous planting,months of rain and then snow and back to Spring raining had it beat down then We mowed it off and I ran a 6 ft disc across it several times then walked it with a hand spreader putting down Purple Top Turnips and Raddishes and I had a few left-over lbs of Whitetail Institutes Tall Tine Tubers Turnip Blend to add in to the mix.I didn't want to cover it too deep and wasn't able to get me a light Chain Drag that I wanted so I opted to grap a wooden pallet,flip it over and throw some heavy cut blocks of wood and proceeded to drag it across the plot lightly covering the new seeds!
More heavy rains came in the past 2 weeks and lots of wonderful fresh sprouts are reaching out to the Blue Missouri Sky's making this Hobby Farmer look like a Pro!
The BIL went to 1 of our bottom Fields and sprayed it with Weed Killer so the weeds will die off and after several weeks or more We will mow it down,disc it under and plant Clover or a mix of something for a Fall Food Plot?
I hit a spot that was planted with wheat last year and was smooth as glass from the previous planting,months of rain and then snow and back to Spring raining had it beat down then We mowed it off and I ran a 6 ft disc across it several times then walked it with a hand spreader putting down Purple Top Turnips and Raddishes and I had a few left-over lbs of Whitetail Institutes Tall Tine Tubers Turnip Blend to add in to the mix.I didn't want to cover it too deep and wasn't able to get me a light Chain Drag that I wanted so I opted to grap a wooden pallet,flip it over and throw some heavy cut blocks of wood and proceeded to drag it across the plot lightly covering the new seeds!
More heavy rains came in the past 2 weeks and lots of wonderful fresh sprouts are reaching out to the Blue Missouri Sky's making this Hobby Farmer look like a Pro!
The BIL went to 1 of our bottom Fields and sprayed it with Weed Killer so the weeds will die off and after several weeks or more We will mow it down,disc it under and plant Clover or a mix of something for a Fall Food Plot?
Last edited by GTOHunter; 05-16-2015 at 06:01 AM.
05-16-2015, 06:47 AM
#2
Spike
Join Date: May 2015
Location: South Central Missouri
Posts: 8
Fantastic. I'm way behind the power curve this spring. I was out of town for the prime planting months and am now waiting for the rain to stop long enough to get out to the farm I hunt. I have all sorts to try this year. of last years plots the only perennials that stuck were one clover mix plot. The rest are in poor shape. I am also awaiting my soil results back from the Mo Extension so I know what I need to add. I plan to put in some corn and soybeans. I know I'm pushing my planting opportunity. I also know I'm late for the clover, but wonder if I could squeak by with a late May planting on a clover mix. I also have a wildlife conservation mix I picked up at MFA that looks promising. The bad part is I have access to a tractor, disk, plow and brush hog. What I don't have is time or a landowner that will allow me to use non-organic herbicides. So, I'll have to brush hog low, and try to burn it then plow and disk.
05-17-2015, 06:58 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Southeast Missouri
Posts: 2,178
If You can get out soon and put some Seed down I think it will still work out...Clovers a Gamble right now but we will probably still have some Storms thru May and You might get Lucky?
We Planted a mix of grasses,Raddishes and I top dressed some of the Pennington Durana Clover along the Tree Line of our Ridge Field last Fall in a swatch about 12 feet wide and a good 500 Yards long and it's really looking good,I have a few ladder stands along the wood edge and hopefully it will pay off this Sept's Bow Season into Rifle/Gun Deer Season?
We Planted a mix of grasses,Raddishes and I top dressed some of the Pennington Durana Clover along the Tree Line of our Ridge Field last Fall in a swatch about 12 feet wide and a good 500 Yards long and it's really looking good,I have a few ladder stands along the wood edge and hopefully it will pay off this Sept's Bow Season into Rifle/Gun Deer Season?
05-18-2015, 04:31 AM
#4
Spike
Join Date: May 2015
Location: South Central Missouri
Posts: 8
I finally got out to check the ground yesterday, and it's wet, but should be dry enough to work this and next evening. I discovered why I had one clover plot that looked like it died. I pulled game camera cards and had deer all over it. It's a nice little 1/10 acre plot in the woods. I plan to add a few radishes to it and plant a small ajoining 1/10th acre with clover and radishes and turnips. Depending on what is left come late August I may reseed the radishes and turnips there again.
05-18-2015, 08:12 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
We have never tried any of the members of the Brassica family for summer plots. We do in the fall .... purple top turnips. It is a big cool weather crop for us.
We have maintained several acres of perrenial clover over the years. We added a few more acres this year. Right now we have plots that are in Durana, Ucchi Arrow Leaf and White Ladino. So far we have had good rainfall and all of these fields. We've been able to do a good job of keeping the weeds out of the clover with selective herbicides. The deer have been hitting most of these fields hard. Our other fields were planted over the past 3 week period with most of the acreage going in last week.
Again this year our main summer crop is Sunn Hemp. We are experimenting with Red Hemp this year as well. We planted it on a 1 acre field. The seeds are very small and supposed to be high in protein. It, like the Sunn Hemp, is supposed to be drought tolerant. We mixed in some Quail Haven soy beans on some of the plots where we planted Sunn Hemp. I am skeptical that this crop was worth the $$$ and effort to plant.
The Chufas areas were replanted last week ... 3 different road strips, total of about 1.5 acres. We may be feeding more raccoons with the Chufas than turkeys !! Next year, we are planning to condition about 3-4 acres of log-sets from this past year's thinning and plant Chufas there as well. We are doing this in hopes of attracting and holding turkeys on the property .... plus Chufas is a good winter food source for them.
We have one more summer crop to get in the ground .... one of the guys wants to try Tiosente'. I have zero experience with this corn/maize crop. It will be interesting to see how well it does and/or if critters like it. The grain seeds are supposed to be preferred by turkey. Deer are not supposed to like the stalks/leaves, but will eat the mature seed heads. We have enough to plant about an acre. We'll see.
This will be the most acreage we have ever committed to summer plots in the 15 years I have hunted on this property. All in all, if I have figured it up correctly, it will end up being abuot 22-24 acres.
We have maintained several acres of perrenial clover over the years. We added a few more acres this year. Right now we have plots that are in Durana, Ucchi Arrow Leaf and White Ladino. So far we have had good rainfall and all of these fields. We've been able to do a good job of keeping the weeds out of the clover with selective herbicides. The deer have been hitting most of these fields hard. Our other fields were planted over the past 3 week period with most of the acreage going in last week.
Again this year our main summer crop is Sunn Hemp. We are experimenting with Red Hemp this year as well. We planted it on a 1 acre field. The seeds are very small and supposed to be high in protein. It, like the Sunn Hemp, is supposed to be drought tolerant. We mixed in some Quail Haven soy beans on some of the plots where we planted Sunn Hemp. I am skeptical that this crop was worth the $$$ and effort to plant.
The Chufas areas were replanted last week ... 3 different road strips, total of about 1.5 acres. We may be feeding more raccoons with the Chufas than turkeys !! Next year, we are planning to condition about 3-4 acres of log-sets from this past year's thinning and plant Chufas there as well. We are doing this in hopes of attracting and holding turkeys on the property .... plus Chufas is a good winter food source for them.
We have one more summer crop to get in the ground .... one of the guys wants to try Tiosente'. I have zero experience with this corn/maize crop. It will be interesting to see how well it does and/or if critters like it. The grain seeds are supposed to be preferred by turkey. Deer are not supposed to like the stalks/leaves, but will eat the mature seed heads. We have enough to plant about an acre. We'll see.
This will be the most acreage we have ever committed to summer plots in the 15 years I have hunted on this property. All in all, if I have figured it up correctly, it will end up being abuot 22-24 acres.
05-24-2015, 04:54 AM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Southeast Missouri
Posts: 2,178
The Durana Clover is suppose to take over browsing and keep coming back,so far the Smaller Plot I planted is taking over and keeping the weeds at bay pretty good.I spread some 13-13-13 fertilizer on it about a month ago and it's really thicken up since then!
Last edited by GTOHunter; 05-25-2015 at 07:06 AM.
05-25-2015, 01:44 PM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
GTOHunter ... You may already know this but clovers such as Durana do best in soils with a pH near 6.5 to 7.0. In soils on the acidic side, not so well. Correcting pH is simple and relatively inexpensive. If you have not already you might want to have the soil tested for pH. Now is as good a time as any. As for the 13/13/13 .... the soil test will give you fertilizer recommendations too.
Ours have done OK at about 6.8 pH and 0-10-20 at about 200-300 pounds per acre. A good thing to do is to mow it 2-3 times a year ... high. Say 6" - 8" or so in order to stimulate new growth. This is best done just before a good dose of rain is expected to mitigate the stress. We do use selective herbicides to keep invasive weeds out. This additional expense may not be necessary on your plots but it certainly has been on ours. We've had a heck of a time with Congon grass, bitter weed, and what I call Bull Nettle. I think we are on our way to knocking these down big time.
We have good fields of both Arrow Leaf and Ladino going as well. Fields are healthy, thick and being used heavily, In fact, deer have been on all of our clover fields heavier this spring than past 5-6 years for some reason.
Ours have done OK at about 6.8 pH and 0-10-20 at about 200-300 pounds per acre. A good thing to do is to mow it 2-3 times a year ... high. Say 6" - 8" or so in order to stimulate new growth. This is best done just before a good dose of rain is expected to mitigate the stress. We do use selective herbicides to keep invasive weeds out. This additional expense may not be necessary on your plots but it certainly has been on ours. We've had a heck of a time with Congon grass, bitter weed, and what I call Bull Nettle. I think we are on our way to knocking these down big time.
We have good fields of both Arrow Leaf and Ladino going as well. Fields are healthy, thick and being used heavily, In fact, deer have been on all of our clover fields heavier this spring than past 5-6 years for some reason.
07-24-2015, 10:41 AM
#8
Spike
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 10
Bowhunter food plots start to finish. Great read on poor man style food plots from the Buck Advisors
http://www.buckadvisor.com/2651/bowh...art-to-finish/
http://www.buckadvisor.com/2651/bowh...art-to-finish/
Last edited by OhioAssassin13; 07-24-2015 at 10:44 AM.
