first time food plot farmer - need tips

[jerp]

First of all forgive this city boy's ignorance - I've never planted anything that didn't involve a bag of potting soil and whatever flowers my wife brings home.
Here is the situation. We want to plant a small food plot in long strips around a field that borders a heavily wooded creek. It seems to be good creek bottom soil but we have not had it tested. We don't have a tractor - we will be using a Tarter disc/culti-packer pulled behind a UTV. Like this:



The field is all native grasses and has not been mowed/brush hogged in about a year so everything is around knee high. So what are the steps? Does it need to be mowed first? My understanding is that we should disc it a few times (straight or angled discs?) then go over it with the culti packer. Then broadcast the seed and go back over with the culti packer. Is this correct? Any tips would be appreciated. I know I left out the final and most important step - pray for rain!

[darralld]

Kill the grass. wait a couple weeks then mow & disc. Depending on what you are planting you may not need to disc the soil. Small seed like clover & turnips I just broadcast & let the rain do the work.

[Dale Moser]

The best way would be to mow it, spray it with round up, then disc after a good kill.


You will find the effectiveness of that little disc very disappointing, I'm afraid. Putting some set (angle) will help it dig a little better, as will adding weight....but then you stress the machine more.


Good luck!

[jerp]

Hmmm... We recently had a guy bulldoze roads in a few areas, mostly 2 blades wide. Since that ground is already bare, maybe we should disc strips along the edge of those and plant there - especially given the equipment we have to work with. When my buddy bought this place that disc/packer came with the deal but we have not used it.

[Shane]

You'd probably spend less time and money on a couple protein feeders, to be honest. And your odds of successfully having something good for the deer to eat will go up exponentially that way too. Dry land farming around here is a hit and miss deal, even with the best equipment.

But, yeah, kill and mow the grass. Then plow it up. Then scatter the seed and lightly cover it with dirt (not too deep). Then pray for rain. Pray for no bugs or worms IF your crop comes up good. And pray all of that happens early enoug in the hunting season to matter.

[Palmetto]

Throw & mow. Do a search.

I have my seed oats, and I am just waiting on a good chance of rain to knock it out.

[gingib]

The best way would be to mow it, spray it with round up, then disc after a good kill.


You will find the effectiveness of that little disc very disappointing, I'm afraid. Putting some set (angle) will help it dig a little better, as will adding weight....but then you stress the machine more.


Good luck!

No need to spray if gonna disk. Disking will kill it. Neither will prevent next round of weeds in the spring

[AlwaysGigEm]

In the past we've sprayed weed killer, and then disc'd it. Was both of those necessary? Idk, but it worked for us.

[Dale Moser]

No need to spray if gonna disk. Disking will kill it. Neither will prevent next round of weeds in the spring

But if the roots are still alive, they'll keep that little disc from breaking the ground. At least they will in the soil we have around here. May have better luck if it's sandy.

[Drycreek3189]

But if the roots are still alive, they'll keep that little disc from breaking the ground. At least they will in the soil we have around here. May have better luck if it's sandy.

Yes, spray it with gly. It kills the roots as Moser said and you need those roots dead especially with that small disc. Disc it more than you think you need to, drag it smooth with something, disc it again very lightly with disc gangs straight to cut some shallow grooves in the soil. Plant and fertilize, then drag it smooth again.

Weeds and grass are going to try to come up next year, but that’s a fact of life when tilling the soil, you release weed seed that have been in the ground for years. If you plant fairly heavy with grain, like wheat, elbon rye, etc., you can somewhat choke out the weeds. If you plan on a spring plot, do it over again and plant something different.

Lots of info on the QDMA site and on the Deer Hunter Forum. Good luck !

[Roy D Mercer]

It is late enough in the year that I would skip the roundup. Mow, disc, seed/fertilize and cover.

[NelsonV]

I’m guessing no soil test? If not I wouldn’t waste the time or money. That’s the most important part of the whole process and can save you lots of dollars.


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[Radar]

No need to spray if gonna disk. Disking will kill it. Neither will prevent next round of weeds in the spring

Discing it will not kill the weeds, it will create more weeds. Shred and spray wait two weeks and disc and plant.

Jerp, I would plant those little areas along the new roads you speak of this fall with throw and gro. Wont cost much to do that, and it may be good.

[hopedale]

It is late enough in the year that I would skip the roundup. Mow, disc, seed/fertilize and cover.

x2

[lovemylegacy]

Jerp, as mentioned above, spray, plow and plant 14 days later. Soil sample will help you decide what fertilize you should use, also what you plant will dictate what fertilize to use. Moisture content is important at seeding time for the success of your plot. If you can plant just before a rain would be great.

I use a small ATV plow also and it does great in sandy loam type soil, heavy clay is a little tougher.

I would plant on the newly made roadways right now with any seed that you have available.