best post ive seen in a long time, great job

Thanks Trophyhunter - I'm happy the post has helped and informed.

I thought some of you might enjoy an 8-11-04 picture on a mineral lick just inside the apple orchard bordering the soybean/corn planting. Not the biggest ever - but the nicest on film so far this year - I'd be thrilled to take it.



and

Thanks

FH

Here's another picture - I like the picture quality but not so much the rack! 7 different buck pictures so far on this trail leading to the soybeans - maybe I should start a different post?




FH

FH, That first one is a DANDY! The one behind him is not too bad, either, but he'll stand to use another year.
Brian

Sean it looks like the food plots are paying off, they all look like healthy ,well fed, full bodied animals. Even the last one with the less than perfect rack is a good healthy deer, just a rack that should be culled from the herd, maybe this year, to strengthen the genetics of that herd, and eliminate those genes from being passed on. Just my thoughts..

Awesome thread!

Sean the farmer friend that I help and I rode out into the soybeans last night and the early (first crop) beans are up to the mirrors on the pickup and they are setting the final blossoms now and they are blossoming awfully high on the stalk and as you probably know that means a lot of pods on the stalk i.e. a higher yield. We also checked the corn field alongside the "deer" woods and could detect a little deer damage on the first couple rows in some of the bottoms, other than that it really looks good , we expect corn to go 180-200 b/a , that's what we shoot for with our nutrient management program, we have had good rains this year, hope your does well up there in the North country..We are going to have a Dekalb field day the Tues after Labor day, if you would like to come down let know , I get you a couple tickets.. Ron M

Farm Hunter; the last picture shows a dug out area in the ground. Is that where you were putting out a mineral powder/block? I've seen the deer/animals eat the tree stumps that I put them in.

Dan O.

Ron - Sounds like your growing season was A+, I'm not surprised if you were able to get the crops in in the spring - with all the rain. As for the field day, I truly appreciate the offer, but I'm having trouble finding the time to get in my daghter's soccer games. If you go, let us know what the scuttlebutt is.

Dan - The pit is where I raked in a little mineral/salt - maybe 1/2 lb. Its not a true lick, and I only wanted the deer to pause on the trail & pose for the camera. They dug right in though as you can see - it was flat soil. I've never really offered a serious mineral supplement to our deer. I think you can get more minerals in the deer by improving the quality of the forage - than by supplementing - but I do not have any problems with those who put out licks.

It seems the summer has been flying by. Even with the cooler than normal weather and excessive rainfall - the corn plantings this year tasseled and eared out on schedule.

I was going to mak this the last picture update - but I think I will post back after the first frosts come - and all growth has stopped.

After the pictures here - I'll summarize what worked and didn't work for us in this experimental season.

First - Here are pictures of the Manually Cultivated field from 8-22-04. You can see that the corn has finally cleared the weeds - but at great cost. Less than 1 in 5 plants that tasseled will have much of any ear - and that many again never got above the weeds at all, and have no tassels or ears.



Second... The Round-up Corn really did do well. Also - its hard not to consider the RR Soybeans we planted with the corn - you'll see them in almost every picture - all 8-22-04:







in the next picture - the large tree in the backround is on a hedgerow that connects two wood lots - there is a 10 acre hayfield behind it - and a 10 yd lane between the corn & hedgerow. A 15 ft ladder stand gaurds the cooridoor.





So - I thought I'd summarize what did and did not work for us - and what I might do different next time.

First - with the manually cultivated corn - I probably will not do it again - But, that doesn't mean it cannot work - it worked for us the past 3 or 4 seasons to varying degrees! - Our biggest problem with the Cultivated plot - was that this was the 3rd yr on the same plot for corn with NO WEED control. Imagine the sheer numbers of residual seeds form the weeds in the plot over the previous years. Throw in a cool wet summer - and the weeds WIN.. If I were to plant corn like this again - I would start in a spot that had been hay the year before - or some other crop if possible. Then I would Spray Round up BEFORE plowing - wait 2 weeks and prepare the plot for Manual Cultivation. Cultivate at least 3 times - and figure 150 lbs N per acre (or as directed by the soil sample).

Second - Even though the Round up plot did real well - there are a few things that I plan to change for next year corn planting -

First - I would not plant it has heavy. Our bag of 80,000 kernals planted about 2 acres - it should have been more like 3 to 3-1/2 acres. We still got a very good yield - but it could have been better I think if the corn plants were further apart.

Second - I would like to try spraying a second time around 7-4 - at least in some areas - to see if it made a noticeable difference in yield.

Third - I did not igure enough Nitrogen in a couple spots - the cultivated plot included. Based on how the corn respoded to UREA in a couple areas - I would Up it for next year if I planted corn in the same spot again.

last - Since the weeds are killed off in the first spraying - I would probably put mor N (Urea) down at planting - or even Pre-planting - to help the corn get a better start. - I would at least try an experimantal area.

Overall I'm pleased with both plots - considering. Also - I Really appreciate so many people reading this post. If anyone has specific questions - please let me know.

Thanks
FH