Folks aren't trying to get 250-300 bpa. Average is closer to 150 in Alabama if memory serves me correctly.

I'm doing T&M on about 1/3 of my fields right now and rotating it with summer stuff. I am going to increase my number of T&M fields. The reason I'm not converting all at one time is that my soil is so poor in some spots that I've noticed your first year of T&M may not work out very well. It takes a year or two to get some good thatch going like what you see on the video. However, once it is there, it's great.

If my farmers are shooting for 150 then they'll go broke. Every acre of corn we plant we're putting down everything we can for 250. You'll go broke shooting for 150.

The vast majority of food plotters could be very successful by simply rotating a mix of cereal grains, clovers, brassicas with natural summer vegetation……Stop tillage except where it’s needed to alleviate compaction issues and concentrate efforts on balancing nutrients and increasing organic matter…..It’s really not a whole lot different than what many are doing now minus the heavy tillage. Simply ceasing that aspect of it would improve many plots….especially the really sandy ones that I see so much of. Also, if having to choose between one or the other….many folks will spend money on magic beans and skip things like lime and nitrogen. It needs to be the exact opposite if having to choose. The soil needs to come first. It’s literally the foundation.

And tillage takes SO much time and diesel. It used to be probably 75% of our planting effort. It would limit the amount we could plant due to sheer time. We can't spend multiple days a year planting food plots.

For sure........At my old hunting club we had somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 acres that were spread out over a 1500 acre parcel. We went from spending multiple weekends spraying, tilling, dragging, etc….To doing it all in one weekend from start to finish.

It seems like a no brainer when you’re on this side of things…..but we humans are some kind of serious stubborn when it comes to change. Some people will simply not try it no matter how much sense it makes or how many people prove it to work. It's all good though. I just find the psychology of it interesting.

I'll probly sell my disk at some point. I'm all no till anyway. Need a new 15' batwing cutter to shave my time down

I'll be the first to admit I LOVE the sight, smell, and even feel of a freshly tilled field. I might do more of it if I had the time. But at this point, the throw and mow (and spray beforehand) is just too appealing with the amount of time it takes.

Hell yeah…..I think you need one before this fall!……

That’s kind of along the same lines I’ve been thinking. At first I was all good using my little 5 ft bushhog because of the amount of time I was already saving. Now I’m looking at and thinking…..”I need to be taking out a bigger swath”……I've only got a 32 HP tractor so I'm limited on going much bigger on a mower...….I can go a lot bigger on a drag though and that's what I've done.

That's the smell of your organic matter burning up...

What hp is recommended for a 15' batwing? Also, who makes the best batwing?

Yep. But dang it's pretty....

I know what you’re saying……..I've been there too.

However…….Mother Nature would look at that same field as if it’s ugly and needing to be repaired. Part of the foundation of the no-till movement is built upon mimicking nature and it’s cycles. We’re now working WITH nature instead of against her. We’re not killing the microbial community and its home anymore……we’re promoting them and building them the habitat they need to thrive. We’re managing an ecosystem and not just a field of dirt.

Have you looked into the science of how the microbial community is killed? I understand it in principle, but still trying to understand and turning over the soil sets back of billions of microbes that reproduce like rabbits.

It probably has to do with the soil's moisture-holding capacity as much as anything. Hard for microbes to thrive in soil that's powdery dry and 150 degrees in the direct sun's heat.

70hp minimum for 15'. In my opinion Deere HX15 is best. Or that's what I want anyway

We have a BushHog 4815 (I think that's the number). We only cut 100 acres or so though.

Edit: (sorry didn't read it all, ours isn't for sale we just like it)

Lack of food……lack of shelter……lack of plant diversity……as well as being bombarded with chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in some situations. Those last two could be argued individually from one to another as to how much effect they have but I’m guessing we really don’t know the full effects of most.

The biggest thing most of us are missing as food plotters as a result of years of heavy tillage is soil organic matter in the top layer of soil. That’s a foundation link in the food chain. Many of the microbes feed off of the carbon in its various stages of decompostion….It feeds them and then other microbes eat those microbes and the links in the chain build. Take out the base food source though and the whole ecosystem collapses. Take away the organic matter and you take away much of the microbial community.......

Also, from a shelter standpoint it has a lot to do with temp like Remington was saying. The constant thatch layer on the top is like a roof on a house. It regulates the soil temps. It keeps it moderated and from going through large swings in temp on a daily basis which is “stress” to the microbes. If you till a field in the heat of the summer and expose it to direct sun…..soil temps may climb to 100-110+ degrees during the heat of the day. When it begins to reach those temps then much of the microbial life will be zapped. Keeping it covered will keep those soil temps from ever reaching those critical levels.

Growing constant monocultures also reduces microbial diversity. Each plant secretes sugars from its roots that attract different microbes. In order to have a diverse flouring microbial community then you need a diverse plant community.

Check out this video when you get a chance Joe......It takes a couple minutes to get going so be sure not to lose her before the 2:00 mark. That's when she starts talking about microbes...…

It's all a symbiotic relationship. They all thrive together.

Here’s another real short video of only a few minutes that breaks down “the microbial community” into the different types of critters…….fungi, bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, earthworms, etc…..



I like the way she talks……