I have a piece of Kansas river-bottom land with about 250-300 acreas of timber, where some timber was cut down about 2 years ago, in the middle. It looks as if this place would make for a great hidden field, once plotted. Last year it was infested with weeds around 7 feet tall, which made it nearly impossible to hunt or even walk through. I'm going to till it, check the ph and add lime if needed, and then try a variety of seeds after reading different recommendation from this site. This is prime river-bottom farm ground, that the owner lets my buddy and I do what we want with it.

My question is, what should I put down to keep the weeds from taking over again, and still having a strong food plot? Thanks

Try commercial Round-up also known as glyphosate. Be sure you spray about three weeks AFTER you till the ground. Each time you disturb the soil you bring new seeds to the top where they can germinate.

I agree with criggster - you probably have many 100,000,000s of dormant seeds in the soil. I would mow it - then prepare the plot. When it starts to green up - spray it with Roundup and overseed with clover (or your seed of choice).

The weeds have to be actively growing for roundup to work.

Good luck,

FH

once you get a good plot established, weeds won't be a problem - they cannot compete with properly managed forage. plant with a cover crop (rye or oats) - that helps supress weeds during germination.

If it will grow weeds it will grow the good stuff too. Mow it, lthen till it with a disc or tiller, wait for that next flush of weeds then sprayand work again then plant, plant it in clover this spring, see how it does,

I am going to be the odd ball here and not suggest clover. At least not yet. Go with the glyphoshates (roundup) after tilling. Then plant roundup ready beans or corn. Spray roundup as often as needed the first year to control weed population. By fall, if not much is left of the foodplot, till, spray roundup again and try a cereal grain mix. Repeat this for the first two to three years. By the end of that time period, most of the weed seeds in the soil will have been depleted. Then plant your clovers.

An alternate to spraying, would be frequent mowings in the spring and summer to prevent weeds from seeding. Possible tilling the soil a few times inbetween mowings. Then come in and plant cereal crop mix in late summer, early fall.

Thanks for the info guys. Once I plant the new seeds of my choice do I need to keep putting anything on them to rid of the future weeds, while the plot is coming up? There is just a ton of weeds that will be surrounding the plot, so I'm sure more seeds will get blown onto the feild.

Once you establish the plot you may need to spot spray where bunches of weeds grow, but don't spray the entire plot or you will kill the food plot. If you are concerned about surrounding weeds you could spray out farther than your food plot, but the wind and animals will still disperse a few into the plot. Or, you could mow the area around the plot before the weeds make seeds. Good Luck!

If you were to plant the outside perimeter of the food plot in turf grass it will keep the weeds choked out, Use a perennial rye and KY 31 tall fiecue, it is cheap and plant it thick enough to come up like a lawn, keep it mowed, it will serve as a food plot as well for rabbits and a few deer will graze on it some..Be careful not to hit it with weed spray if you do plant RR soybeans in the plot.......

First I gotta tell you that is one big buck you are showing on your web site! How much did it weigh?

Now my 2 cents worth of advice ( you get what you pay for).

I'd brush hog the field instead of tilling it. Do it now if you can. Then when things are starting to green up spray it with Round-Up.
After everything browns up; then you can till it or disk it or even burn it, if that's a possibility.
For a crop Round Up ready soys would be one idea, they sure are easy to keep weed free but depending on the size of the plot and how many deer you have around they might not last till deer season. Even if they don't make it you could over plant with either rye, wheat or oats. Do that as soon as you feel the soys are about finished or just a short time before the first frost.

Another crop choice might be brassicas, they are easy to grow and will out compete your weeds.