I�m beginning to see a number of patches of volunteer EW perking back up now in the test plot���.

First cowpeas showing up this afternoon. If we could have just caught that storm yesterday it would have been ideal. Looks like we have to wait until Monday now.

Just remember farming is full of if's!!!

The biggest �if� I have in these sandy soil conditions revolves around water. That�s one of the reasons why I�m willing to sacrifice optimal seed bed prep in order to have optimal moisture infiltration and retention. It doesn�t bother me if my fields aren�t �orderly�. By having a diverse mix going like I do now�.I know my field will fill up with plant life and the deer will be there just the same. My focus is on good plant health and pushing the productivity of the field. Even if I still have some spots of crabgrass come in (which I�m sure is going to happen)�..I want to see it healthy and vigorously producing biomass. If it�s struggling to grow and turning colors, then that means that I still have soil issues that need addressing. I want my engine finely tuned and turning over some RPM's....not just struggling to idle and going put put put....

It's good for us that use tillage too to watch the forecast close. It's not too hard to figure out what's right and when it's wrong. Planted 6 more acres of corn today. I'm staggering my planting dates hedging against a dry spell and deer browsing. Got 8 acres of ankle high sunflowers. 4 acres of hand high corn. Today planted 6 more acres of corn. Sunday I'll plant 5 acres of milo and 3 acres of sunn hemp.

What kind of soil are you dealing with up there 257 ??? What's the average CEC value of your fields?

Abernathy silt Loam undulating phase and Decatur silt Loam level phase on my farm. But here

Cool maps!��Mine is a Conecuh Fine Silty Loam. The CEC when I began was around 2.1�,,I�ve gotten up in the 5�s now with the increase in OM. My OM has gone from less than 1% to 3.8%.

Alright Two Fitty��.It�s on like neck bone now.

I didn't know this was a contest? You asked I answered

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The top three pics are of my bottom field which always does the best. It has good soil for the most part. We bush hogged it spread seed then went over it one time with the disc. There is still a lot of thatch on top in most of the field except where it was thin. The last pic is my top field that is really rocky with poor soil and we just seeded it then ran over it one time with the disc. I have a lot of seed coming up and plan on fertilizing this weekend with rain back in the forecast next week. I'm looking forward to the results this year.

That looks really nice Turkey....That's a really nice crop of biomass you produced in that first pic. I think you'll appreciate having that hay layer on top of the soil as our temps keep getting hotter. One day last summer I checked the soil temps each hour for one area of my field that was covered and one area that had bare soil. I then compared them on a graph and the difference was pretty substantial. Ideal growing temps for most plants are in the low 70's...Once you start climbing higher and higher then plant growth is effected. If it gets hot enough then the plant will just shut down.

My buckwheat is filling in nicely. I over seeded with sunn hemp and milo today. The buckwheat is flowering. How can you tell when it goes to seed? The 13-13-13 I added last week really gave the plot a boost.

Really, really nice bambam. Congrats!...You've just done what many said is not possible. Welcome to the Throw and Mow Method........

Does anyone need their Kool-Aid freshened up?...... 257 and Riverwood are coming around with a fresh batch.

I'll be filling a cup before long. Just ordered a new rough cut mower today and I plan on trying some throw n mow on my gas line. I'll have 11,000 questions within the month.

Ask away......

This is pretty much my first time growing buckwheat but I would think that you will see the flowers start disappearing once it goes to seed.

257......Are you familiar with buckwheat?

Only experience I got is we usually fly it on some wet holes in July to duck hunt over. It's a very short maturing plant. But that's about it. I tend to stick with the traditional type crops I'm more familiar with.