Trappertim
Member
THanks Paul!
2bowhunt
Member
I need some advice in the midst of a drought here in Southern Iowa. I currently have 3 plots, 1 acre of clover, 1 acre of soybeans, & 1/2 acre of clover. Initial plan was to put till under the clover plots for brassicas and have a nice stand of soybeans in the third plot.
Currently my beans are eaten down to nothing so I will till them under in late August/early Sept. and plant Paul's cereal rye combo.
My clover is brown and looking worse by the day. SO....with record high temps and no significant chance of rain in the forecast do I go ahead and till under my 2 clover plots(leaving 10% in clover around the edges) and plant brassicas? OR leave one or both clover plots in hopes they will bounce back and I'll have something green to hunt over in the fall/winter and forget the brassicas?
Just curious what you guys would do. If I do plant the brassicas I am looking at soon with the best chances of rain we've had in my area for a while mid-week.
Currently my beans are eaten down to nothing so I will till them under in late August/early Sept. and plant Paul's cereal rye combo.
My clover is brown and looking worse by the day. SO....with record high temps and no significant chance of rain in the forecast do I go ahead and till under my 2 clover plots(leaving 10% in clover around the edges) and plant brassicas? OR leave one or both clover plots in hopes they will bounce back and I'll have something green to hunt over in the fall/winter and forget the brassicas?
Just curious what you guys would do. If I do plant the brassicas I am looking at soon with the best chances of rain we've had in my area for a while mid-week.
Same boat here. Still doing brassicas this weekend and praying for rain. 10% clover is looking real bad. Going to leave it and just frost seed into it in the spring.
PYBucks
Member
Same plan for me.
Daver
PMA Member
Several of us will have to make some tough calls in the next few weeks. At this point I am rearranging my fall plot plans and will be leaving my established clover alone, because if I tear my clover up and we don't get any rain then I would likely have nothing alive all fall. Kind of a worst case scenario.
Although it is best to plant brassicas within the next 2 weeks or so, with timely fall rains I have seen good crops planted as late as Sept. 1 or so. But with the very dry pattern we are in though I am not counting on timely fall rains, so I will devote more acres to the rye/clover mix than otherwise. Worst case, nothing grows this fall, but both the rye and clover would grow next spring and provide some benefit.
dbltree
Super Moderator
The following mix will probably be the best bet under difficult, drought conditions including utilizing any clover stands that survive the summer heat :way:
That said...any of us may at anytime be blessed with an inch or more of rain in the next few weeks in which case having the brassica seed in the ground can pay off.
If you don't get rain, simply plant the above mix and take advantage of the fertilizer...although it may not seem like it now...eventually we will get rain....
That said...any of us may at anytime be blessed with an inch or more of rain in the next few weeks in which case having the brassica seed in the ground can pay off.
If you don't get rain, simply plant the above mix and take advantage of the fertilizer...although it may not seem like it now...eventually we will get rain....
jjohnson
Well-Known Member
My brassicas and turnips went in Friday. We got 3/10ths or so over the weekend. Several places in the county got over an inch. The rains were very spotty. Got another chance coming tomorrow night thru Wednesday. Nothing I can do now but hope. Like Paul said if all fails I'll wait and do a rye mix later on...
risto2351
Well-Known Member
I overseeded rye into my brassicas last fall when my brassicas where not
growing. When it did rain the brassicas did grow but the rye filled in the
bare areas. It was a smorgasboard for them. Not the perfect scenario
but the deer did not go hungry.
I am kind of on the fence of doing anything right now.
I have everything mowed and ready to go.
I might plow and disk everything and see what this weather pattern does.
Read this on accuweather.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/corn-disaster-rain-coming-but/68117
growing. When it did rain the brassicas did grow but the rye filled in the
bare areas. It was a smorgasboard for them. Not the perfect scenario
but the deer did not go hungry.
I am kind of on the fence of doing anything right now.
I have everything mowed and ready to go.
I might plow and disk everything and see what this weather pattern does.
Read this on accuweather.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/corn-disaster-rain-coming-but/68117
risto2351
Well-Known Member
I'm banking on the morning dew Tony.
They gotta grow first buddy.
Any dew off of the trees will evaporate before it hits the ground.
jmm46
Member
Last night I mowed my spring oats and clover plot, then ran tiller through it and planted brassicas...everything worked well, except when I was finished it was like a jungle of oats and green's all over the tiller tines and shaft...I spent an hour pulling and cleaning it out. This is an old tiller and the tines probably need to be replaced. My question is, is this normal?? Normally when I use tiller its on ground that I sprayed off and never had this problem. I'm trying to do what you guys do on here and not spray, by using oats as a cover crop till its time to plant brassicas. Does everyone else have this same problem, or will this be fixed when I put new teeth on it?? Or should I have waited a couple days after mowing before tilling??
dbltree
Super Moderator
No...I have owned 3 different brands of tillers and never had that happen so I suspect the teeth are too dull to cut thru the debris?
July 19th, 2012
With much of the corn belt in the middle of a severe drought...the news today was not much to look forward too...
I just finished up planting nearly 20 acres of brassicas into powder dry soils that without substantial rainfall, I have no hope of them actually coming up. A surprise is always possible however and since weather forecasters are unable to accurately predict the weather often within hours of a storm we may at anytime be blessed with life giving rain.
Many if not most landowners could care less about planting crops that feed deer and improve the soils by increasing organic matter and that means in drought years they will often end up disappointed. The use of crops like winter rye and red clover however quickly transoms soils and makes a dramatic difference....
Red clover coming back up thru a mat of mowed rye straw
The rye root systems below ground and straw above combined with the nitrogen fixing clovers that feed deer all summer help increase organic matter which holds onto precious soil moisture
We have not had rain for 3 weeks and are almost 4" below normal for the year which combined with scorching hot 100+ degree days sucks any remaining moisture out of the soil, yet despite that I disced this field and turned up moist soils where the rye and clover were. The area on the left was rye and red clover...on the right was brome sod that was planted to oats and berseem this spring....no moisture in the oats but plenty in the rye
This soil will require only a minimal amount of rainfall to germinate and grow brassicas while the low OM soils will require continuous and substantial rainfall to keep them alive.
I broadcasted 400#'s of 6-28-28 per acre before tilling
I prefer shallow tillage to keep the OM in the upper soil layer and use a disc on farms closer to home
It takes some work to get the soil loosened up but once done I spread 200#'s of 46-0-0 urea per acre and disced that in
Having incorporated the urea (it is critical to incorporate urea asap or it will be lost within 24-48 hours) I firmed and leveled the soil with a cultimulcher
This helps seal in soil moisture and prepares a firm seedbed for the tiny brassica seeds
Ready to plant!
I am blessed with larger equipment now but I have planted for years with nothing more then a bag seeder, one must use caution not to overseed however. If using a bag seeder, drop a few seeds in and open the gate just enough so the seed can slip thru rather then "pouring out"...weigh out enough for the given area to avoid being tempted to put on too much seed which will then result in brassicas that are to thick and end up small and stunted.
Had I used a bag seeder I would have packed, spread seed and re-packed the soil
Most landowners are probably best off with a tiller/cultipacker combo for one pass tillage and when I travel I use these tools...
Tillers are also shallow tillage tools and it allows me to incorporate the urea, rye and clover all in one pass
While slower it's a perfect setup for the average landowner and if hand seeding I would broadcast seed at this point and then run over it with the packer only to cover seeds in the top 1/8 to 1/4" of soil
Once soils are tilled, fertilizer incorporated and soil firmed with cultipacker...it's time to seed
One of my friends has a beautiful Brillion seeder which does the before and after packing all in one pass!
I used my GP drill on most however
set at the shallowest setting to avoid burying seeds
seeds should be dropped on top of soil using the small seed box
so that they will be just pressed into the soil
While not an option for most small landowners, drills allow very accurate seeding rates and often an old farm drill can be purchased for a song and would also work well
The no-till coulters on my drill do help cut thru trash on the surface
and insure even seed placement
Given the depressing long term forecast these plots may still look like this n September!
In which case I will no-till the cereal rye mix into the fields...for now however I will remain hopeful
that the strip plots will
be filled with giant turnips in November...
Note that by having multiple crops within every feeding area, it is never a "dirt plot"...in this case lush white clover
A couple inches of rain would be enough and as long as the soils remain dry the brassica seed will lay dormant, ready to go if and when it rains...the question is if the rains will come in time to get the brassicas any decent growth?
Below are the seed combinations I use in my strip plots that provide food year around...with the cereal mix and white clover being the most dependable and effective in difficult situations....
MO-APE
Member
dbltree said:The following mix will probably be the best bet under difficult, drought conditions including utilizing any clover stands that survive the summer heat :way:
That said...any of us may at anytime be blessed with an inch or more of rain in the next few weeks in which case having the brassica seed in the ground can pay off.
If you don't get rain, simply plant the above mix and take advantage of the fertilizer...although it may not seem like it now...eventually we will get rain....
Paul, are these seeding rates per acre combined mix, for example for one acre: 2 Bu of Winter Rye, 2 Bu of Spring Oats , 20-30 lbs of Winter Peas, etc?
Winter rye 50-80#'s per acre (56#'s = a bushel)
Spring oats 80-120#'s per acre (32#'s = a bushel)
Austrian Winter Peas or 4010/6040 Forage peas 20-80#'s per acre
Red Clover 8-12#'s per acre or white clover at 6#'s per acre
Groundhog Forage Radish 5#'s per acre
Plant in late August to early September, if following well fertilized brassicas only 100-200#'s of urea may be needed but first time plantings may need to be fertilized and limed as the noted for the brassicas.
I've taken care of the over seeding problem ,with small seed, by reducing the size of the opening with a piece of card stock and tape. I can make the opening as small as a quarter inch square. You can really dial it in closely for those of us that use the hand spreaders
Mike
Mike
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Paul, I have an old but working condition McCormack 7" drill, which, when I calibrate it , plan to use. This was one of those you said you could get for a song. Anyway , the question is ,the only thing closing the furrow is some drag chains. Would it pay to cultipak after?
Mike
Mike
dbltree
Super Moderator
Yes...the seeds listed plant one acre, use lower rates with low deer densities, higher where you expect intensive grazing.
I usually plant 50#'s rye, 75 oats, 50# peas, 12 red clover and 5 GHFR but you can vary those rates as needed for needs and budget concerns.
Start with a base of 50# rye and 12# red clover and add the other seeds as you feel are appropriate for your situation.