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Drought

I got 3/10" out of that whole 2 day weather system in west central Illinois. Some places close to here didn't even get that. It has been brutal here since about mid-July. We just keep missing everything. Oh well, at least it looks like a good acorn year around me.
That’s crazy how the pockets can change so much. We’re on 2-3 days of continued rain. It’ll come to IL!!! Around here.... if this switches and folks complain about too much rain- I might lose it!!
 
I’ve dumped 3” out of the rain gauges this week. One pond hasn’t budged on level, which tells me the ground sucked it all up, no run off. We were dry, only getting 0.2” since the Aug 10 derecho.


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Deer hate pumpkins
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One pumpkin plot last year was 1/4 acre.
Had a pile of pumpkins/ squash.
Deer had em almost gone by the time I started hunting in late October.
Same plot this year, I did about 3/4 acre. They grew extremely well this year with all the rain we had.
Pulled into the plot at about 4 yesterday and there were 14. 15 deer in it.
They are HAMMERING them!!
 
We gonna need a PUMPKIN thread!!!!^^^^^

on soil health & dealing with the drought(s) that WILL BE COMING in ur future..... here’s one example of a good listen. When u r in the car - throw this on... it’s very well worth it. Million other examples out there & topics to cover ur goals. Give this a listen.
 
We gonna need a PUMPKIN thread!!!!^^^^^

on soil health & dealing with the drought(s) that WILL BE COMING in ur future..... here’s one example of a good listen. When u r in the car - throw this on... it’s very well worth it. Million other examples out there & topics to cover ur goals. Give this a listen.

Thanks, Skip. Fascinating. Are you applying these principles in a production Ag setting? Or know anyone in Iowa who is doing this on more than a hobby farm? Been learning from the likes of Joel Salitan (sp?) and a few others and formulating how we can apply them to our small farm. Thanks for passing this on.


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Thanks, Skip. Fascinating. Are you applying these principles in a production Ag setting? Or know anyone in Iowa who is doing this on more than a hobby farm? Been learning from the likes of Joel Salitan (sp?) and a few others and formulating how we can apply them to our small farm. Thanks for passing this on.


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I do some & more each year. Some of those things- clearly u or I are not going to do. I’m not grazing cattle for example .... I just spread manure when able or make sure manure is applied every few years.
Yes: NO TILL, multispecies cover crops & manure .... those are the 4 main areas I focus on & feel like most folks can. Even if u started with just NO TILL & some cover crops.... HUGE improvements!!!!!! Then, u pencil out some cow or chicken manure when u find a guy that can do it when he’s not swamped - it’s very price efficient & no doubt better than conventional.
BOTTOM LINE FOR FOOD PLOTTERS OR SMALL FARM OWNERS: start with NO TILL- that alone is huge advancement. Work in your cover crops.... Our food plots are the ULTIMATE heaven for building soils as we can play around & not doing it for production. & u really can figure out how to make legumes eliminate the need for N inputs/$. After that go from there & continue to learn, get advice or take on a next step...

All these things tie beautifully with the DROUGHT topic!!!! My fields that are almost all no till for maybe 7-8 years now.... I had the same drought as everyone else. Those fields look perfect!! It works and can help ALMOST drought-proof a crop.
 
Got a question for the no till guys how do you incorporate your fertilizer? P and k just broadcast on top? And nitrogen/urea? Wait for a big rain ? Any help appreciated! I'm asking for crop like brassicas. Thanks!

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Got a question for the no till guys how do you incorporate your fertilizer? P and k just broadcast on top? And nitrogen/urea? Wait for a big rain ? Any help appreciated! I'm asking for crop like brassicas. Thanks!

As I drift more and more to no-till, now that I have a no-till drill :), I am also curious about this. It is my understanding that the risk of evaporation applies really only to urea. At least I hope that is right, as I have spread P&K on top of the soil and waited for the next rain to take it in. I still have tilled in urea(N) though.

I understand that you can get a treated urea, but I have no experience with that at this point. As you said already...fertilizing and planting just before a rain are the best no matter what else is happening.
 
I do some & more each year.

Thanks! Good info. Similar to our current approach. Although I’m looking for ways to add cash flow. Right now, we are just renting out our pasture, custom farming out 40 acres is crop and will have some walnut trees to harvest in a couple years. Do you do anything for generating cash from your property?

Thanks!


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Got a question for the no till guys how do you incorporate your fertilizer? P and k just broadcast on top? And nitrogen/urea? Wait for a big rain ? Any help appreciated! I'm asking for crop like brassicas. Thanks!

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I asked similar question in a habitat forum. So if you want full technical answer, check out Yoderjack’s responses at
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...-approach.12526/&share_type=t&link_source=app

Bottom-line was that one goal of notill is that you don’t have to add synthetic fertilizer—your plant mixes in cover crops supply all the nutrients the soil needs. I’m not there yet, but working towards it.


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I put on my P and K with my corn planter but you can spread it on top and it will get into the soil provided you no-till so your soil has pores for water to infiltrate and leach it down. I've been broadcasting treated urea onto my corn when it's about a foot tall, for about 5 years now. Works great. The treatment is a liquid you mix into the urea. My coop does that for me but I'm getting quite a few tons at a time so I don't know how you would work that on a small scale. You can buy pre-treated or encapsulated urea but I don't know where it's available. Golf courses use it so they don't burn the grass. Your best bet is to watch the weather and apply right before a rain. Tough to do during a drought! I've been frost seeding red clover onto brassica and rye plots and spraying with R'up before planting and that seems to eliminate the need for extra N. You can also apply urea earlier in the summer when it's more likely to rain and if you no-till, most of that N should be there when your food plot crops need it. If you till before planting, you'll probably lose a lot of the N that's in the soil.
 
I probably should clarify. I'm a farmer so my P and K goes on with my corn planter. I only plant one small food plot to corn. My other plots are rotated from winter rye to brassicas and back, with red clover as the off season cover crop. They've been no-tilled for many years and I haven't put P or K on them except for the occasional fertilizer left over from corn planting, maybe once every 4 or 5 years.
 
Thought this was a drought thread.

Dumped another inch out of the rain gauge last night, bet there is at least another inch from today.


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No till.....
Nitrogen: 1) on surface as treated urea. No need to work in. One heavy rain & N (gas) leaches into soil. 2) manure. 3) killing legumes that fixed nitrogen (& nitrogen scavengers like rye & brassicas) - usually around that 100 lbs to the acre of N produced. 4) could do liquid N sprayed but lil more hassle & more corrosion issues.

P&K: 1) manure. 2) surface applying commercial. It slowly breaks down.... decomposing plants & recycling (worms, etc) will move it around, etc. I’ve not had any issue with getting to plants. 4) like above said.... soil isn’t a concrete block.... pores & natural ways for it to work down. 4) knifing in manure (not practical for plotters). 5) “healthy soil“ with fungus & bacteria will break down unavailable P&K as well over time.

for folks on limited time- vid above i posted.... watch 1st 10-15 mins of it. That’s more the basics that pertain here anyways.
 
Dumped 1.4” out of the gauge this evening, about 5.5” for the week so far. Night crawlers on the blacktop on the drive.


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We are at 2.75” Slow and soaking. Planted 3 more plots to cereal rye tonight.

Some of the peas and brassicas we planted 5 weeks ago are popping through. Didn’t see any beans. Maybe if it warms up next week.


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