Thats a fat pig, congrats.

CNC,

I need some help if you can, please, sir. As outlined above, I tried this for the first time in a plot that has terrible soil. I lightly cracked the surface on the plot with a disc, then spread seed and fertilizer and then mowed. Initially, when it was raining, things were looking good, like this:



And this:



Went through several weeks with just a little rain, and now several places look like this:




And this:



Questions are: (1) should I try to repair these spots this late in the year? (2) if so, how? drag the disc lightly again? or just top sew wheat or rye? (3) Try broadcasting some clover on the bare dirt?

Thanks so much.

Your issue right now is likely that the plot productivity is too low to keep up with the browsing pressure. Put up some exclusion cages in your plots and see what they look like by spring.

It’s probably a little late now to spread any more seed. Just keep hitting it with low doses of nitrogen and look to the spring to get a good biomass crop growing. As the soil improves then so will the yield of your forage….as well as the plants ability to recover from browsing pressure.

I'll try the exclusion cage thing, if I can. thanks.

What kind of biomass crop should I look to do in the spring?

And this guy is as big around as my wrist and about 50yds down a trail from the second field.

It’s not as pretty as a basket but you can male a quick, easy exclusion cage by just dragging a small brush top out into the plot. Not something that will smother the spot you put it but something limby that will let light still get through. The deer will just browse around it.

Once spring gets here and the woods start to green up then the pressure on your plot will drop off some and it will begin to come back to life. Some of the stuff you planted will start to jump as well as some native vegetation. Between April-June we want to push as much growth out that vegetation as we can. What you’re wanting to do right now is try to keep the nutrients in check so that you’re creating a more fertile environment in order for these plants to thrive as much as possible under the conditions.

In June, spread some millet and keep going….but don’t worry about trying to grow a pristine millet crop….just grow vegetation…..keep hitting it with low doses of N through the spring and summer every 4-6 weeks or so. If you need to add lime then add a lose dose in the spring. If you need P&K then hit it right around spring green up.

I imagine this weekend the deer are gonna hammer thes plots

What do you consider to be a "low dose" of nitrogen? I haven't fertilized since planting about 8 weeks ago.

Something like 50 lbs/ac of 33-0-0 every 4 weeks in the beginning…..100 lbs/ac every 8 weeks later on down the road once you get a little holding capacity built up in your soil. I’m giving you what I feel is the ideal prescription….I understand its not always feasible to do. Eventually we want to get legumes thriving in the field to help take the place of some of the N applications.

There is lots of clover in there now.

Sure wish I could have put down some 34-0-0 yesterday

I tried to buy some but the two places I checked out had sold out with everyone stocking up before this rain.

I put out 300 lbs of 34-0-0 and 200 lbs of 19-19-19 on Sunday afternoon.

I am hoping for some big gains in tonnage. Not sure if mine has just been completely mowed down or the soil quality is that poor.

Plants were showing stress from lack of N and K.

Beginner question, why is now a better time to apply N than at planting? Assuming you have rain coming to keep it from dissolving.

Or, is it good to apply multiple times in increments instead of loading it down at one time?

Not sure that now is a better time to apply than planting. You need that initial fertilizer to get your plants up but eventually all of those nutrients are either used by the plants or leached out of the soil from rain and other factors.

After the first 60-90 days I like to reapply some Nitrogen to get the plants to continue to put out top growth which is what the deer are eating for the most part. This time of year with lower soil temperatures and slower growth you shouldn't have to put out as much fertilizer as you would at planting because it isn't being used up and broken down as quickly.

Your plants should tell you when they are becoming deficient by how they look. Yellow leaf tips is usually a sign of a nitrogen deficiency.

I want as much biomass as I can get right before it turns cold and the rut to hopefully bring in some deer to my fields and property. Healthy fields attract deer better than weak fields.

The rain should make your nutrients more soluable and easier for the plants to uptake.

CNC ....this snow is great for food plots is what i have always been told , would you agree ?

Seems like it would really help with water infiltration with the moisture falling slowly…..accumulating on the surface…..then slowly melting. That would really help the soil to soak up all the water instead of having runoff.

I just spread a little more N on my fields this morning in hopes that I catch the tail end of this rain/snow and the N is allowed to slowly soak in this time. I planted too early this year. My field is close to hitting on all cylinders now and its been like trying to feed nitrogen to a race horse. It's putting off massive amounts of growth but then running N deficient after using up the small doses I'm adding. I could have skipped some of that by not planting as early as I did. I can easily plant a field in mid-October and still be able to put on plenty of growth.

I think in the future my planting time will be on the first good rain of October no matter if the conditions are still favorable prior to that. If I didn't like to bow hunt I might even push it back a little farther than that. That's taking into consideration that my field is very fertile now. If you're still struggling to get any growth out of the ground then planting earlier may still allow you time to get ahead of browsing pressure.

Also, just to add a side note....spreading N by hand with a bag spreader has been horribly inefficient at getting an even spread. Gonna go ahead and get me another 3 pt spreader.

I was told that snow contained nitrogen and was really good for greenfields ...that might be an old wise tale though .

Heck the deer are gonna have to dig to get to my greenfields.