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Starting new plots. Question...?

S

stevep

Member
I've got 2 fields that I'm wanting to convert to plots. Both are about an acre and a half. They're hay fields right now (not sure what kind). Just starting to green up. My thought was to spray once over the next few weeks with glypho when they're green but still short....and then probably spray once more mid-May to kill anything that I missed the first time. Then disc up sometime in June and start the Doubletree rotation in the fall. Is that a decent plan, or is there a better way to do it. All of the plots that I've created thus far were from woods, so I didn't have to deal with the ground cover that hay provides....

Any thoughts welcome. Thanks!

Steve
 
I would do what you planned but plant beans in it after your first kill. Then you can spray it again when beans are up and still have a summer food source for deer. Then you can till beans under and start rotation.
 
Would you just plant the beans into the killed hay? Could I broadcast them, or would they need to be drilled? What kind of planting date?

Thanks.

Steve
 
Just my 2 cents. There are people on here that are WAY more experienced than me but here goes.

The cool nighttime temps right now will not do your gly any favors. The warmer it is, the better kill you will have. If your not in a hurry, then wait a little bit

Next, if you disc it and let it sit til fall, you will bring dormant weed seeds to the surface to germinate and will have a whole new crop of weeds to fight again.

If it were me, I would disc first, then spray as the weeds come to life. As for the beans in June, heck yeah. Why not?
 
Scott said:
I would do what you planned but plant beans in it after your first kill. Then you can spray it again when beans are up and still have a summer food source for deer. Then you can till beans under and start rotation.
Click to expand...

Bingo. That is what I would do much when starting a new plot to use a round up ready planting first.
 
Depending on temps, let it warm up good and around mid to end of april spray it. Plant in May, if you have a notill drill just plant, otherwise you will have to work up ground if your going to broadcast.
 
My only concern with the beans is that they're going to just get decimated with the deer density. It's not even 3 acres.
 
^ I am doing the exact same thing with some old pasture ground. The beauty of the beans is that you can grow a crop and still spray with gly to keep the weeds out. I'm hoping my beans do get decimated. That means they be used to coming to my plots all summer, and in the August if they look like crap I will till them under and start with dbltree mixes
 
Can I broadcast them into the killed pasture, or do they need to be drilled?

Thanks for all of the input.
 
If the hay was clover or alfalfa I would just mow them when they need it for now. Then I would spray half of it in July and put in Paul's brassica blend. Then around Labor Day I would spray the other half and plant Paul's rye mix. Then I would rotate them every year.
 
I agree with the idea of planting beans the first year to help with establishing the plot and controlling weeds. I've broadcast beans into disced ground with decent results, but you have to plant at a much heavier rate to be sure. If you can get a planter to it, that's better no doubt.

Two other ideas to think about. First, in areas where heavy browse pressure is expected, try planting forage soybeans. They grow through a fair amount of browse and stay green much deeper into the fall. A little more costly, but a good investment in these areas. Also, when early August rolls around don't be afraid to broadcast purple top turnips (or similar) in the bare areas of the plot, if they exist. Adds a little variety and fills it in nicely heading into fall. Good luck!

NWBuck
 
I think it depends on what kind of equipment you have access to, and how much $$$ and time you want to spend. If you go the bean route, they will most likely get hammered into nothing if it's only 3-ac. But at same time it is a great way to convert the field out of hay and give deer something they like at same time. Downside is you really do need a planter of some kind to get a good stand and also they'll cost you $60-90/Ac just for the seed.

If you do more what Jclaws suggests and just maintain it until brassica time in July, then spray half, wait, til it, plant that half.....then do same with the other half around Labor Day, you'll be on your way to a great and inexpensive food plot rotation for years to come.
 
Plenty of good advice on here. The only thing I will add that I have found makes breaking the sod up a lot easier is burning first whenever possible. Then when it greens back up you can smoke it with gly and it is a lot more workable.
 
stevep said:
Can I broadcast them into the killed pasture, or do they need to be drilled?

Thanks for all of the input.
Click to expand...

I'd say drill them or disc them in. I wouldn't just broadcast them personally. Discing will help release some weed seed and as it sprouts you can hit it with roundup (assuming you are using round-up ready beans), killing the weeds and leaving the beans behind to grow and feed the deer.
 
stevep,

Thought a few pics my help you have a better idea of what to expect. This was a broadcast pean plot I did a couple of years ago almost identical to what you're talking about.

If possible, burning is a big help to break up sod. We burned and did first disc on the same day. A couple weeks later it looked like this just before I seeded it.


Didn't take a lot of tools to get the seeding done.


Grass and weed pressure was significant, so I ended up spraying it 3 times that year. It looked like this after the first spray had burned down the early weed pressure. You can see there were some bare spots, and you should expect that. These were the areas I later seeded turnips into.


These beans got just shy of knee high that year. Not like conventionally planted beans, but still had plenty of pods set and held deer throughout the hunting seasons.


It worked fine, but even so, I'm putting beans and turnips back in that plot again this year and intend to get a planter in there this time and put in forage beans to help counter browse pressure. Good luck!

NWBuck
 
Guys. Thanks for all of the advice. I've had REALLY good luck with Paul's rotation on a separate piece of ground, so right now I think I might go the turnips and rye route for this first year, just because I'm going to have pretty limited time / equipment out there, and I feel like I have a pretty good comfort level with that rotation. (Not to mention the awesome success I've had with it on the other place). If I decide to go the beans route I'll check back in.
 
The very FIRST THING I WOULD DO is a soil test. See what kind of ground you have to work with first. Gonna default some of your work if you have a sub par or acidic pH level...
 
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