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Milo

C-LINE10 said:
Speaking of this, I had a 1 acre plot like this last year and have left it since, so now it is old milo stocks(fairly heavy yet) with many beneficial weeds etc. for pheasants. I assume it worked for nesting and brooding this summer as I saw a hatch close to it. It looked so good this spring that I couldn't get myself to tear it up. Its in the middle of a 50 acre field in a wetland contract of natives with many birds, and we have 2.5 acres of soybeans butting up to the milo. There is also about 7 acres of wetland water right up to the beans,(dike in between) Any thoughts on what to do now for the fall in this milo patch? I was thinking of broadcasting some rye grain right into it in late August/September possibly. Could probably even add some turnips then too, to give the deer some added options. If I do that, I would probably have to mow it maybe high to get some mulch/sun onto my seed and let the rain do its thing. Last option would be to disk it in, then seed, but I really don't want to disk. My thinking is that deer may get some food benefit out of it this winter with the turnips, and then in the spring I can again plant something for the birds right into the rye. Opinions welcome--thanks. (also, its a good spot, my son shot a 165" buck in the beans here last Christmas eve:)
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Love it. Awesome to hear about stuff for birds & that they doing well! Great comeback last couple years!!! Milo is maybe #1 plot for birds. Agree that some weeds are great as well.
could u hit with any herbicides? Brassicas sure be nice. Or rye, clovers, etc. or even a drill to seed. I’d avoid disc if possible.
 
Sligh1 said:
Love it. Awesome to hear about stuff for birds & that they doing well! Great comeback last couple years!!! Milo is maybe #1 plot for birds. Agree that some weeds are great as well.
could u hit with any herbicides? Brassicas sure be nice. Or rye, clovers, etc. or even a drill to seed. I’d avoid disc if possible.
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Sure can, as I spray it then broadcast it, that will probably knock the old stocks down enough that it should be good to go. Thanks for the replies!
 
July 25, 2021

What a difference a couple weeks makes, super sunny and hot temperatures in the 90s and I hardly recognize the place! :D

The Japanese Millet has nearly overtaken the milo now. I'm a tad worried about sunlight but it still looks very green despite the Millet "competition".

They say Japanese Millet gets 2-4 ft tall but some sections are clearly headed out over 6', no doubt due to the added N :oops:

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The 1 acre "strip" frames the field interior quite nicely now. Looking forward to converting / starting my fall plots soon down the (mowed) center section.

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August 1, 2021

First few Milo plants sending up seed heads. Was hoping these would get a little taller but the WGF variety is rather short, maybe 30" or so total in height. Perhaps a little "thick" with competition.. :oops: The Japanese millet is over 6' tall for comparison.

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Creating quite the "mess" of food and cover.

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Aug 15th, 2021 (Milo/Millet - 70 days growth)

Now about 95% of all the Milo plants have seed heads. Japanese millet is starting to dry down from the bases. Hearing doves all over when I'm out in the field now, jumped a pair further down out of the more "open" sections of millet. Can see they're finding it quickly.. :)

Milo - Aug 15.jpg
 
I planted some milo and EW via no-till drill earlier this summer and also sprayed the ground with Atrazine to keep weeds down. The next time I saw it I thought I had a failed planting, harrumph...but another couple of weeks later I was back and the milo and EW was fair to good after all. I did have some bare spots due to unknown reasons, but I definitely will have some plants and seed heads for the birdies this year. Go figure.

The Atrazine certainly seemed to work as intended too, as the fields were pretty dang weed free. Now then...this guy needs to work on his seeding rate for such small seeds, as I unintentionally had it on way too thick in most spots.
 
Bassattackr said:
Deal! Here I was relying on you as the resident Milo "expert".. :p
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Well if "how not to do things" about 3/4 of the time is the criteria...then I AM an expert, perhaps even THEE expert. :) I have had good outcomes and bad outcomes, related to various circumstances over the years. But milo is one crop that I REALLY want somewhere on my farm every year primarily for upland bird food and winter habitat.

I do think that I know how to make it happen, but for various reasons, not every year is a success for me. Now that I have a good drill myself, I hope to stabilize my success ratio. :)
 
Bassattackr said:
Daver - Would love to see pics of how your plots are coming along!
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OK...by request...here are some snapshots of my milo/EW plots. I must say that I am VERY pleased with the outcomes, especially since I thought in the 2-4 weeks following planting that I was headed towards another failed milo/EW effort. It is also true that the only overly dry time that we had this year was immediately after drilling the milo/EW. I am probably 50-50 on success over the years, due to a variety of circumstances. But I think the combination of drilling it, even though I accidentally went way too heavy, and good moisture throughout the usual dry months for us in the summer and PLENTY of N combined to make some pretty tall stuff!

A few learnings from the school of hard knocks this year...

1. Check the outfeed gate on the fertilizer cart prior to spreading expensive N. Yikes! The positive is that I have gigantic EW and stout milo...the negative...once I realized that I was running out of fertilizer, it was too late and I had to order a second cart. $$$

2. I need to work on my spacing/seed drop rate...badly...as my plant spacing is WAY too close...but I was able, accidentally :), to at least partially defeat that mistake by doubling up the N. :) See #1 above. :) I believe my primary whiff here was using the "large" seed box and mixing both seeds at once. I will try the small, "fluffy" seed box next year. Note - this past weekend I used the drill and loaded my oats in the large seed box and my rye in the small seed box...as rye is a smaller, harder seed than the oats. I then ran the peas in a separate pass in the large seed box. It appeared to work well.

3. Mixing EW and milo seed in the same hopper is not the best idea either...as the smaller of the two seeds "ran out" way sooner, so my attempted mixing strategy ended up weird, with patches of nearly straight EW next to nearly straight milo. The quails won't care, so I am OK with it, but another lesson learned. :)

4. My weed control ended up actually quite good. I got a little bit of atrazine from a friend of mine and that did the trick. I have some foxtail...but that is just good cover. :)

My worst plot...the site of an old barn with a dirt floor. The taller EW is at least 10' tall here.
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There is milo hidden in the foxtail.
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Note the shorter milo in the foreground, with the taller EW behind it.
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That EW is over 10' tall, maybe pushing 13' or 14'. More milo hidden in the foxtail. At any rate...I feel good that I have given the little birdies a winter home. Last year we had a tough winter and I had little to no milo/EW and there are FAR FEWER quail whistling this year. Harrumph! I feel like I left my little buddies exposed to the elements and many of them perished. Not this year! :)
Milo_EW4.jpg
 
Looks great Dave! Thanks for sharing! What kind of drill do you have?

Great notes on winter cover..

I have some decent sections of foxtail as well in mine, adds to the diversity as far as I'm concerned. One of the more "favorable" weeds IMO..
 
I have a pull behind, Truax Flex-II. I have only had it for a little over a year now, so not a lot of experience using it...yet. Interestingly...I drilled in rye/oats/peas on Labor Day and the ground was almost too wet. I had trouble a couple of times with mud...which is not something that we are used to having at this point in my area of the state, we are often in some form of drought condition. But hey, I'll take it. :)

The other thing that I am learning fast is that thatch is a bigger enemy than mud. That REALLY clogs up the mechanisms and makes for an "Angry Plotter". :) I thought it would be good to have the thatch to cover the seed, hold moisture, etc. But it was almost unplantable in some places...so I need to dial in on how to not have totally bare soil, BUT not have too much thatch that I can't keep the ol' drill running too. Always something...

I also don't mind some foxtail, it is easily controlled if I want to get rid of it and while it doesn't stand well on its own once winter gets here, mixed in with milo/EW stalks...it kind of adds some cover low to the ground IMO. So I don't get too wound up about it.
 
September 18th, 2021

Well this was very interesting.. I got white milo! The milo in RWW Upland is actually a white milo, not a red. As you can see in the photos, much of it is being ravaged already by local birds, many heads will be gone completely. Not ideal for deer hunting purposes but still a wildlife magnet.

On the positive note, between the milo and the millet (dropped heads in top of photo), I've never seen so many doves on the property in my life.

I will definitely do another mix like this again, however I will likely make my own or go with a different brand in the future.

2021-09-18 Milo.jpg
 
Looks awesome! Like…. Full of pheasants later if still seed left. Is the red supposed to produce more or be better after temps dip? (Tannin reduced with Lower temperatures & sugar increased I’d imagine). Saw lot of red in Kansas years back. Looks cool & update how wildlife uses & reacts as season goes on. Great update!
 
Red milo (especially WGF milo) has a higher tannin content, so birds don't tend to bother it until it turns red and ripe around this time of year. White milo has virtually no tannin, being sweet from the moment the seed heads are green on the stalks. I was starting to wonder earlier on, as the green seeds were getting stripped even before ripening.. Makes sense now.

Not a plus or a minus, just that most of the white milo tends to get wiped out earlier on, before winter. I would say a good portion is gone already. Not ideal as a late season food source unfortunately. Still a fun "project" either way. I will likely continue to tinker with it next year, albeit with a red milo.
 
June 2nd, 2024

New year, new attempt! Brought out the big guns this year..

Previously disced in, hoping the drill gives me a better stand (more rain maybe this go around?!). This thing is built like a tank.

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- Spread 2.5T Ag lime / Ac + 0-75-150-20S / Ac (Winter)
- Disced in 100# N / Ac
- Drilled 8# / Ac RS 230 Red Grain Sorghum + 65# Asgrow Conventional Group IV Non GMO soybean mix

A few grasses remain, nothing that will affect my stand badly.. About 1.5 acres total.

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Awesome, keep the updates coming! and thanks for starting this thread again, wish I found it two months ago before planting/planning my milo
 
July 28th, 2024

20" of rain later... and its chest high! :D Excellent deep green color - Very happy plants. Most in boot stage now, should have a great stand come this fall.

Can tell where the drill misses spots here and there, a good row planter would do wonders for this crop. Still I think I nailed the rate.. or maybe a touch high, all things considered..

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Had to hold my phone well over my head to get a view of the whole field..

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