With the current forecast, what yall thinking on planting?

My fields will be ready to go tommorrow and will get planted next solid rain event or when it gets dry enough I can “dust” them in without worrying they will germijate

gonna plant saturday

I planted 7 acres just outside Andalusia behind the rain we got off Helene. Plenty of moisture and caught another rain a few days ago. Still have a lot left to plant middle of the month but got that 7 acres off my plate.

I will get the fields ready to plant, but no seed or fertilizer until several decent rain chances in forecast.

Planted mine at the house a couple weeks ago, we have had several good rains on it. It is located just above a river bottom and gets plenty of morning dews.. looks good so far but will top sow some clover and fert when we get another chance of rain

Planted behind the house 3 weeks ago right ahead of a rain and it’s looking pretty good

I planted last weekend, friday, saturday and sunday. Went out and broadcast cereal rye and fertilizer and disked it under the moist soil. That is all coming up and doing well. I am holding off on the brassica's and clover until I know more rain is coming. I hit every field I planned on putting clover on with 0-46-0 ahead of the last rain, so that has helped too.

The longer you wait to put brassicas in the ground the less likely you are to see any growth. Brassicas need to be planted early.

I’ve done decided to hell with the rain. I’m doing hay and I won’t worry about planting until later on when and if it starts raining. If not then I’ll hunt over corn.

I planted this past weekend. We haven’t had any rain at my place in 3 months so I covered everything deep and it will be there whenever it does rain. I’ve done it several times like this and never had a problem. It’s the same as being in the bag if there is no moisture in the ground

I planted this past weekend as well. Turkeys have found it but I dragged over it. We didn’t have rain for over a month last year and it came up fine. Be nice to have some though lol

I dont think we get rain the next 3 weeks

Then December we will get rain everyday and will not even be able to go use roads cause to wet even for a polaris

I will hit my miserable fields with some clover that i had left over right before a rain which prob be a month from now - typical 😀

Cant hav nothing

I never worry about planting until November . Same ol dry october almost every yr

I had about a half inch of rain at one of my spots last Friday. Almost planted the next day but came to my senses and waited. Come on November...

I planted a 3 acre plot that stays wet all hunting season on 10/1 and got 1/4-1/2" rain on 10/4. I used T&M method and had good layer of thatch so not really worried about it. Wheat is about 2" tall and there's still moisture in the ground. Unfortunately, I have to plant the rest of my fields this weekend as I will not have another free weekend until 11/16 due to travel baseball tourneys and 2 trips. Fingers crossed.

We will probably just hunt over the corn feeders early and about Feb 1st when it matters for us..... the fields will be looking like a John Deere green wheat and oats buffet.

Be about 30 deer out there.


Yep.... not in a hurry.

If you plant into this drought you will probably have issues. Still can't get my head around planting early. Deer prefer the tender young growth. When you have a drought the plants get stemy and tough that's just biology which some of you all claim you have an expert degree in. But you don't know how to apply what you have learned apparently. I have a degree in 2 areas.... #1 common sense. That's key. #2 identifying some BS. Also very helpful when dealing with "experts" on various subjects. Planting seeds that will germinate in my pickup truck bed is just one of those subjects.

^^
Dick head

What do u care know it all? Never mind - u too stupid to converse with - u earned a degree in peckerhead

I know i should not post this - but why be a prick? I was in a club in s bama that planted last weekend of sept for decades - i was in it over a decade and it didnt work out once. We still threw seed and had fields and it was the best club i ever been in that might hav 3-4 good racks laying on the ground opening gun weekend. The deer were half tame and what your numb nutted butt don't know or ever comprehend - opening weekend if the weather right and u hav stayed out of the fields - can be way - way more successful/successful than the rut - ya dip!!!

As long as the seed is covered it will be fine. Every year we go through this same sound and dance. It's food plots not a fraking corn field

I think its just his personality.....

Lots of folks agree with you Tdog. Some folks just can't help being a peckerhead.

Goat killer, I agree with the consensus. Dickhead. I'm 61 and have been planting food plots since the early 90s, before it was a big thing and we have always planted after labor day before the first significant rain event, which typically coincides with a hurricane. Plant with rain in the forecast, 2-3 days of rain, not by the calendar. Every bag of seed says plant sept-nov, 30 days before first frost. Deer are browsing on our plots now. That's why we plant them, to feed deer.

We’re going plant next week, whether it’s in the powder or mud. Doesn’t matter to us. We just plant them to say we plant them. When you put corn out by the drum loads under the security lights, food plots never really come to mind.

There are ways to relay thoughts, information, and opinions to others WITHOUT sounding like a know it all prick. Goat Killer has not mastered that aspect of communication. Either that or he simply chooses not to persue it.

I’ve gathered he puts great effort into the way he responds. I’ve not ever seen one single post where he wasn’t condescending and everybody who don’t do life like me is an idiot attitude.

He’s just one of those people that were born knowing everything about everything and is real happy to let everyone know he knows everything about everything. Just ask and he will tell you. I have to restrain myself because I could have lots of fun with him but I was always taught to respect my elders. Even when he tries to tell a retired farmer of 35yrs that he has no idea about anything to do with farming. I just read and laugh. Life to short to bother with people like that. I deal with enough people in my job now that I don’t let much bother me anymore. Sometimes he does share some really good knowledge and wisdom which I’m sure he is a wealth of, but just has a bad way of getting it out their.

To answer the OP's question, I'm looking at the last week of October . Before if we get a good rain in the forecast. Retirement has it's advantages .

BTW, I'm not jumping in the ring with Goatkiller, AKA Mr. Knowitall tonight, looks like y'all already got a TKO.

Ive planted some that are doing well now. Ill plant some more before it rains again. I live where im planting mine though. No more that a 5min tractor ride to any of them. If you have to travel to your hunting spot, i reckon you plant when you can.

Meanwhile………

Nice!

Looks like you got yours in the right window. I got two 1/2 ac experimental throw and mow plots in just before we got .5 inch a little over and they are doing great. Wish I had done more. The rest is tilled and ready to go. I will probably give it another week to really dry up enough not to kick off germination, plant and wait. Does not look like any real rain chance here the rest of the month.

Yeah we hit it right. Started Sept 18 and those fields have had 10+ inches on them. The ones I planted 7 days after our last rain are up 3-4”. Drilling them into the moisture is a game changer on germination and survival in these drier conditions. No rain anywhere in sight.

Matt, your fields are looking great. Mine are too. We planted around the same time.

Lucky dog ,I doubt we've had 10" of rain since May .

got it done this weekend just need some rain!!

I think y'all may have hurt Goatkiller's feelings on this one and run him off.......

Nah. That's the response he was wanting.

No regrets here on planting right before the Hurricane.

nice bpi

Thanks ! It could use some rain, no doubt, but it should be fine for a few more weeks. That on the right is the wild pear / kudzu kingdom that I've been at war with for 2 years. I'm thinking about getting it dozed into windrows and keeping it cut till it all dies off.

the pear tree produce ??

The only thing these produce are 4 inch spikes.

10 more dry days forecasted. Corn Cotton and beans should all get picked. Green fields not looking good

Ours at the club are about 6” high already but they are thirsty.

Every year........

What are y'all going to do? Re-plant?

.......Asking for a Friend........

Hi Goatkiller...welcome back

Yes. Welcome back Sunshine !!

Once you get it up 3-4 inches with a good layer of thatch covering the ground, it'll be fine for a long time. Heavy dews help. Just sprouted plants with no thatch, your in trouble.

If less than 4" diameter Remedy + diesel as a basal bark spray. Larger than that I'd hack and squirt and there are several good options for herbicides.

Most of these are over 4 inches. What kind of herbicide do you suggest for it ?

50% Glyphosate in water or 20% Imazapyr in water or the Harper mix (50/40/10 Garlon 3/water/imazapyr) I’ve used all of these for HNS at one time or another. Triumph is the generic Tordon RTU and runs about $20/quart. It’s my go to for honey locust which
imazapyr is weak on. There are other options and I’m sure 007 or Hunterturf may have better insights.

If you want to kill any unwanted trees on road or field edges go ahead and cut the tree and treat the stump. They going to fall across your road or into the field once dead. Ask me how I know

What's up ladies.... Y'all gonna rent a water truck and hit your plots next week?

There was rain showing on accuweather on the 29th-31st. Its back to 0% now. Next chance at all is 11/12

This one’s still thriving, a few more to plant if it ever decides to rain again

I’d be afraid to have a full plot with no rain though…Shawn that field looks great! I just hope turkeys don’t eat all of mine. I planted first of October but covered over

What variety of turnips are those? They look great.

Good recommendations above..

For those two species, you could foliar spray with 12 oz/A of Method 240SL + 1-2 oz/A of Escort. I will always recommend an MSO for brush. This mix will kill both very well, However, Method will smoke pines, even just taking it up by the roots, so don’t spray that around pines you want to keep. The Escort at that rate can also knock the crap out of oaks through root uptake. BTW, Method is money on locust species.

Method isn’t cheap, but it works great on most legume species and conifers, among many other species.

It’s chicory, forage turnips and daikon radishes

I’ve had plots that looked like that, until they wiped them out mid season. After that, they’re done. I had to switch to a more oat/wheat/rye type plot to get through the entire season.

There’s wheat and oats in this and another strip of just wheat beside these. You’re right though, when they start on em they eat em down

Some of y’all must not have many deer. Most of my plots will stay low due to browsing. I planted early this year to see if I could get better growth but lack of rain has them slow goin. I did plant a plot of turnips and collards at home here back in September. The plants got up to about 6” tall. I noticed the deer nipping on the leaves and I picked one good mess of turnips. The next day a doe and two fawns were in there late that evening. Now the garden spot looks like it’s just been tilled. I plant a whole lot more turnips at the swamp for the meat deer but if those deer hit the brassicas like the deer at home did, they’re done for. That’s why I’m not sold on planting the brassicas in September. I bought a 200 lb mineral block and it was gone in a bout one month. The does and fawns were eating the milk weed in the plots around the block also.

Brassicas are not a good choice in high deer density areas, even in a good year with adequate moisture. I’ve noticed they’ll browse them down to having no above ground foliage at all in very short order. The plots we planted in high percentage cereal grains and clovers are being browsed, but they’ll be ok. We’ll get rain in 10-14 days and they’ll rebound quickly. I don’t expect my brassicas plots to come back. The damage has been done.

Finally got some showing up in the forecast mid to late next week. 🙏🏼🤞🏼

Nice Halloween surprise! We got a good rain on Thursday.

Some of us have a good chance next week. If you haven't planted, you might want to soon.

I got 1/2” on one property Thursday night and 1/4” on the other place.
Both properties are getting planted tomorrow and Monday.
According to the forecast, we should be getting more rain by middle of next week.

On another note, all my turkeys are showing up on my cameras again.
Took them about 3 weeks to eat all the neighbors’ food plot seed that they spread during the drought.

Just threw some clover on 3 of my fields and marshall rye out on 2 fields. Supposed to rain in morning

Hope my land gets it…our fields look like the Sahara desert

I put out some good stuff - but that was long time ago. This last move was desperate cheap
Move before season - should work

Once again the rain chances last night evaporated. Looks like the middle of the state got a little.

something wet coming out of my gutters this morning. Haven't seen it in over a month.

Took off work and got 12 acres planted. Finished in the dark and woke up to my gutters leaking as well

Well I just finished up the last little bit I had left to do in anticipation of the great soaking rain I just know I will get tommorrow. A good bit of what I previously planted Is popping up even in the dust so if it comes it will get green quick

Marshal Rye all day long

Over seeded this evening on my two plots, tonight. Praying for rain

We started planting Saturday and finished this afternoon in the rain. We got 3/8 of an inch today. We planted 13 acres in awnless wheat and 7 acres in wheat and three varieties of clover to try and make food plots into permanent clover plots.
If it works this summer I will do another third next fall and the rest the next fall using a mix of Crimson, Arrowleaf, and Red clover.

Finally got some rain and more should b on the way
Greatful

I went up to camp after voting yesterday to re-plant my little plots. Got there at noon and it was raining by 12:06 but not to hard. Kept it simple with a 3-way mix plus some elbon rye. I think the rain chance is 80% today. I’ll fertilize next week.

Threw out a little overseeding yesterday evening, now I just need rain.

Still waiting in central Al. Nothing yet

Just checked the rain guage on gate. In the last 24 hours we have received 1 1/4 inches of rain.

Rained a few miles from the house, but nothing here

I worked from before daylight til after dark yesterday getting the rest of my fields planted.
It was perfect timing because I got soaking wet riding the tractor back to barn in the rain last night!
Had a slow rain for about an hour, so I’m good to go!

VERY, VERY Disappointing rain. A FEW were lucky, but nothing like the weather apps and stations said we would

I sure hope we got some at the camp.

Got another 1/4 inch since yesterday!

There must me a cover over my property because I haven’t had more than a dew. Damn seed is still laying in dry dirt and the birds are getting fatter

same with ours...not a drop for a month. Turkeys have gotten fat which is a good and a bad thing

Got another good shower on my fields this evening.

Still nothing and these forecasts keep evaporating. Still have a few plots to plant, both local feed stores are very low on seed. I have a little left over from my spot I have already planted and found some elbon rye and black oats yesterday. probably going to cut back on what I plant

Got another good shower this afternoon about 2:00.
I wasn’t expecting it and got caught out in it.

The fields I planted Wednesday are already sprouted after getting a good soaker Wednesday night.

Mine have little green sprouts poking up. I was going to fertilize but I’ll wait a bit. It was 80% rain chance tomorrow 2 days ago. Now 25%. But the ground is moist down at least 4”.

Just a few light showers late last week....Win lose or draw, I'm planting mine tomorrow. Got the tractor and disk moved this afternoon and spent about 2 hours prepping a few fields. Got 3 ready to seed, and working on the 4th one when it got dark. I have fairly sandy soils, so lots-of-dust. Maybe it'll rain in east Elmore sometime before Christmas.

Got some rain last week and getting some now - fields should b good

Between three different rain events and my place hasn’t seen enough rain to wash out my foot print in the dust. The ground has been wetter from early morning dews than the rain we have had. I reckon I’ll be hunting over dirt and three blades of grass this year

Top field drilled 9/18 and the bottom one around mid October.

This was dirt two weeks ago. I didnt disk it. I built the little bridge in the pic out of a 5ft culvert cut in half. I scraped dirt up with my skidsteer to cover it and sowed seed on top of the ground ahead af a rain right after i finished. I rode over there and looked at it this morning and was amazed what a little rain did. Wheat, elbon rye, clover, winter peas

photo host

Shade sure don't hurt moisture retention. Nice little patch there.

Nothing still

Think timber company may hav sprayed my big field. The sprayed place to kill
Undergrowth vegetation. They sprayed about 4 weeks ago. They sprayed my new field that i already had limed. I threw rye last week and my buck field is green and located in an area they did not spray. My 1 and 1/2 acre big field did not hav a sprig in it. Having a mud field all season sucks and it screws me over when it rains and i cant get to that field. Will not hold deer if that happens and i would not hav put up that large nice shooting house this year had i know that. 2 of my 4 green field will be mud and 1 of the 2 green fields with grass is in a bowl amd hard as heck to hunt!

Good times !! 😀
One of my biggest likes of deer season is seeing a beautiful green field - kind of sucks and i planted it twice 🤣🤣🤣

What timber company?

They hav been good to me and i really like my timber guy a lot - but i think hitting the big field could hav been a mistake.

I am fortunate to have the lease and the spraying will likely help the turkey hunting

Its possible that side of 250 acre side of the property missed the rain - but my buck field was already 3 - 4 inches high grass yesterday from the rye - 0 sprigs at big field and that stuff can grow on a cement driveway 😀

Even if it missed the rain - with rye i would think u still would see 1/2 inch sprigs just with the due on rye. Probably not on anything else - but rye probably would sprout. Maybe its just the rain that could hav missed.

The did tell me my new field would get hit and not make it. We will see on acre and 1/2 field

Weyerhaeuser

We have a Weyerhaeuser lease that will soon be partially clear cut , we have some small plots in. Have you had any experience with newly planted pines ? I know the lease says they will plant all openings except natural openings unless paid for.

You are going to have a hunting club with no green fields, can only hunt the woods??

Let's go back to NO RAIN = thin plots that will soon look like dirt patches if you have any sizeable deer herd.

Look at the pictures posted in this thread for reference. That's how they look when you don't plant enough seed in a drought.

I do like Jwalker's little woods plot.... that will actually work. I put a few of those in every year with a leaf blower and a bag of seed. I just don't do it until after the leaves are down.

Looking good Matt and Walker. Mne have started greening up good from the overseeding and the orginal plantings. The recent rains have helped a lot. I plan on adding a little fertilizer today before the rain.

Checked the rain gauge before work and it was showing 1.5 inches from last night. It's still raining so I expect 2 inches or so. Much needed.

2.3” in Thomaston. Marengo county

Barely wet the grass in Dale County KMA

Got a little over an inch at farm.

2.58”!!

Got good rain at the house. PTL

We need another good round of rain soon. Last one dries up fast

My field looks pretty good, except for the Johnson grass

We got 4 inches even since Monday morning