fatcatz
New member
I am new to farming and tractors, I am going to be mostly planting deer plots, rape,alfalfa,clover,soy bean. what is there now is pasture grass(old pasture grass). what good imp. are out there to help???
deer plot imp
- Thread starter fatcatz
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Darren
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I hope you're located in the eastern panhandle because in central WV we have too many &\%$ deer now. They're destroying the understory in the forest and are literally killing people on the highways. It's not unusal to see herds of 25 or 30 deer during daylight hours. I once counted at least 50 on a 17 mile drive in daylight hours to a nearby city.
One of the guys who hunts here asked me to put in a food plot once. He knows he can forget the food plot and he'd better kill does if he wants to come back. I'll probably still have to get a damage permit from the DNR come spring and kill several more. Even at that we still have too many.
One of the guys who hunts here asked me to put in a food plot once. He knows he can forget the food plot and he'd better kill does if he wants to come back. I'll probably still have to get a damage permit from the DNR come spring and kill several more. Even at that we still have too many.
Bowhunter
Gold Member
To answer your question, you will really want more than one implement. First you'll need to kill the pasture grass or it will compete with what you planted in your food plot (found this out the hard way). If you have a sprayer (atv mounted or 3 ph) spray the area with Roundup then spray it all again about a month later.
For planting, a tiller makes a great seed bed for clover and alfalfa. If you don't have a cultipacker you can broadcast the seed over the tilled soil then drag an old bedspring or a length of chain link fence over it to lightly cover the seed with soil. You want about 1/4 inch of soil over the seed. For soybeans however you want around an inch of soil covering the seed, and the cheapest way to do this (if you don't have a planter) is to use a disk to work the soil, broadcast the seed, then run the disk over it again lightly to cover the seed. This method also works well for oats. The disk also works for the clover and alfalfa, it just doesn't make as pretty of a seed bed. I've never planted rape so I can't advise on that. Right now I have 2.5 acres of clover, 1 acre of alfalfa, and .5 acre of oats planted. By next fall I hope to have two more 1 acre plots of seed blends. Good luck and have fun. Planting and maintaining the plots is a lot of fun.
Oh, almost forgot, after you get the plots established you'll want one more implement....a rotary cutter to keep them maintained.
For planting, a tiller makes a great seed bed for clover and alfalfa. If you don't have a cultipacker you can broadcast the seed over the tilled soil then drag an old bedspring or a length of chain link fence over it to lightly cover the seed with soil. You want about 1/4 inch of soil over the seed. For soybeans however you want around an inch of soil covering the seed, and the cheapest way to do this (if you don't have a planter) is to use a disk to work the soil, broadcast the seed, then run the disk over it again lightly to cover the seed. This method also works well for oats. The disk also works for the clover and alfalfa, it just doesn't make as pretty of a seed bed. I've never planted rape so I can't advise on that. Right now I have 2.5 acres of clover, 1 acre of alfalfa, and .5 acre of oats planted. By next fall I hope to have two more 1 acre plots of seed blends. Good luck and have fun. Planting and maintaining the plots is a lot of fun.
Oh, almost forgot, after you get the plots established you'll want one more implement....a rotary cutter to keep them maintained.
Indydirtfarmer
Platinum Member
There's about a million directions you can go with this. Most of your choices will be based on how much you want to spend.
There's two distinct types of crops. They're row-crop and solid stand. Examples of row crop would be corn, sunflowers, or MAYBE soybeans or milo. Solid stand includes clover or any forage grass, or soybeans and milo can be planted that way also. There's dozens of other examples. Also, some people will plant my choices of rowcrop as a solid stand, or vice versa. My "examples" are just that....
That leads us to a choice for a planter. You can use a small (maybe 2-row) planter to seed crops like sunflowers or corn. Options on solid stand include a grain drill or broadcast seeding.
Do you want to till the land, or go with a no-till plan?
You might want a conventional moldboard plow, then disc, then plant. Also you could use a roto-tiller (with or without plowing. plowing under the exsiting sod will help with weed control TO A POINT)
No-tilling requires a planter capable of penetrating unworked soil. You also need a sprayer or a spray contractor.
I do "custom planting" for several hunt clubs and private individuals. I have a 3 point sprayer with a 14' boom, a 2 row planter, and an 8' drill. That covers all the no-tilling. I plow a few tracts, then disc or till others. At that point, I use the same choices of planters.
The folks I do work for will tell you that the most successfull plots are the no-till ones. Around here, corn, soybeans, milo, and sunflowers are the most popular, with clover mixes being close on their heels.
Long story short....You need to narrow down your options, or buy a LOT of equipment
Contact me at jfugit@iglou.com and I'll give you some more recomendations, including a GREAT website dealing with foodplots and nature areas. John
There's two distinct types of crops. They're row-crop and solid stand. Examples of row crop would be corn, sunflowers, or MAYBE soybeans or milo. Solid stand includes clover or any forage grass, or soybeans and milo can be planted that way also. There's dozens of other examples. Also, some people will plant my choices of rowcrop as a solid stand, or vice versa. My "examples" are just that....
That leads us to a choice for a planter. You can use a small (maybe 2-row) planter to seed crops like sunflowers or corn. Options on solid stand include a grain drill or broadcast seeding.
Do you want to till the land, or go with a no-till plan?
You might want a conventional moldboard plow, then disc, then plant. Also you could use a roto-tiller (with or without plowing. plowing under the exsiting sod will help with weed control TO A POINT)
No-tilling requires a planter capable of penetrating unworked soil. You also need a sprayer or a spray contractor.
I do "custom planting" for several hunt clubs and private individuals. I have a 3 point sprayer with a 14' boom, a 2 row planter, and an 8' drill. That covers all the no-tilling. I plow a few tracts, then disc or till others. At that point, I use the same choices of planters.
The folks I do work for will tell you that the most successfull plots are the no-till ones. Around here, corn, soybeans, milo, and sunflowers are the most popular, with clover mixes being close on their heels.
Long story short....You need to narrow down your options, or buy a LOT of equipment
Contact me at jfugit@iglou.com and I'll give you some more recomendations, including a GREAT website dealing with foodplots and nature areas. John
KubotaSteve
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There's way too many deer in the eastern panhandle too. With all of the federal park land, they are everywhere. My brother's house is backed up to park land near Harpers Ferry and they are constantly in his yard eating shrubs and killing trees. He figured they wouldn't bother jumping the 4 foot fence with all the park land around but they go right to his yard.
With all of the people moving from the cities out to the eastern panhandle and not knowing how to drive on country roads, I have seen more than enough road kills. I think they need to extend the doe season or something because they are getting out of hand.
With all of the people moving from the cities out to the eastern panhandle and not knowing how to drive on country roads, I have seen more than enough road kills. I think they need to extend the doe season or something because they are getting out of hand.
sorry but yes right dab in the middle, gilmer co. I will harvest some doe's. but the crops grown in that area is mostly hay. for a health deer heard you need good nutrition, and hay just dont cut it. If you develope good food plots with high nutrional values the deer with not distroy the forest vegitation as much. there is more to managing the harvesting. I will tell you this, the farm that I have been hunting on grows corn, and the way that farmer saves his corn field is to plant a small strip of alfalfa along side of the corn, the deer will leave the corn alone. BUt I do agree with you there are lots and lots of deer around that area, a deer hunters dream come true.
Soundguy
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Lots of people I know use disc harrows for small food plots.
Soundguy
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Darren
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Welcome to Gilmer County. If you haven't hit a deer while driving at night, it's only a matter of time. You might want to get a forester to look at your woodland areas for deer damage first if you or your family ever plan to harvest timber before doing the plots. Feeding the herd will only increase the numbers and stop the commercial tree species from reproducing. If you need the name of a good forester, PM me.
Most hunters only want a buck, which leaves the does to drop twins every year. If you want trophy bucks you will have to limit the deer, especially the does. Unfortunately they're already out of control.
If you're planning on buying a tractor I can give you some info on the local dealers.
Most hunters only want a buck, which leaves the does to drop twins every year. If you want trophy bucks you will have to limit the deer, especially the does. Unfortunately they're already out of control.
If you're planning on buying a tractor I can give you some info on the local dealers.
theboman
Veteran Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I am new to farming and tractors, I am going to be mostly planting deer plots, rape,alfalfa,clover,soy bean. what is there now is pasture grass(old pasture grass). what good imp. are out there to help??? )</font>
30-06, 170 grain will do the trick. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
A friend down the road, a fella trail cam builder and owner of a B7800 got pretty fired up when I told him I had a tiller for my B7500. He instantly said that would be good on a deer plot.
30-06, 170 grain will do the trick. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
A friend down the road, a fella trail cam builder and owner of a B7800 got pretty fired up when I told him I had a tiller for my B7500. He instantly said that would be good on a deer plot.
