Looking to attempt No Till type food plot this year on one of the "rocky" places on my new farm... I can see limestone on top in a few areas, so I do not want to really rip it up anymore than I have to- so what are my options? Just spray and do "throw and grow" type seeds, or anything else?
kkelly
New Member
New farmer, welcome to the club. No till is a great system of planting food plots and when done correctly can add a ton of value to your herd.
For starters check out Jeff Strugis on YouTube - Whitetail Habitat Solutions. He has some great advice for getting started.
Essentially, you'll want to prep the land by spraying glyphosate (and maybe some 2,4-d). Let it sit for a few weeks and then drill or broadcast your summer planting into it. At that point you can lay the dead material down by either rolling over it with a cultipacker or mow/weed eat it to create a thatch layer.
Come back in the fall and broadcast into the standing crops and terminate. Ultimate goal is to always have active roots in ground at all times as well as using the standing crops as slow release fertilizer for the next planting.
It's a great system when done properly.
A few resources -
Growing Deer Tv (YouTube)
Whitetail Habitat Solutions
Green cover seed company (for seed blends and YouTube videos)
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Good stuff! & here - dbltree forum!!!
To specifically chime in on your question.... agree. Your options are this: spray Gly, etc & broadcast. Can drill in lightly after spray.... with that situation you describe & u r saying “start or new”.... maybe clover or a rye clover fall mix is ok. Alfalfa might be part of it that is ok as well. Lemme ask u this..... is this a smaller plot where a perennial is ok? Or are u wanting a bigger plot with more food for a bit later in season?
side notes: I’d be looking to build soil... rye, peas, clovers, etc can help there. Cow Manure is your friend if you can find it. But- part of it likely in a rye mix blend (see dbltree cereal grain thread for example) will be your big steps on soil building to improve it while feeding some deer as well. I would also want some diversity in what’s planted if possible.