I purchased my first piece of land (150 acres) this past May. Long story short it is a clear cut that was just destroyed 7 month before purchasing and left with no access. I had a bulldozer put in fire breaks and roads and push a few food plots. I have roughly 10 acres worth of food plots and power line that is plantable. I threw out wheat and white clover in October on all of the fresh bulldozed plots and it tried to come up and between the drought and what now I’m learning poor quality soil and no fertilizer I was left with dirt (and should have use rye grain and not wheat) The planted power line was destroyed again when the power company came in and replaced the poles and I was left with rye grass thrown on the whole power line (roughly 6 acres). The rye grass on the power line is all that’s growing and the new food plots are now just dirt. I have the soil test done and as soon as it’s dry enough I am going to line hopefully the next couple months (ph is 4.8-5.1). I like the no till throw and mow idea (even though my first attempt was a failure) and I don’t own a drill just a disc, bush hog, cultipacker/crimper & seed spreader. Do I just throw out my lime and fertilizer (just the P&K) and wait until next fall planting to try the throw and mow again. Or do I go ahead and disc in the lime and fertilizer and plant something over the summer? Or just throw out something like buckwheat or millet and cultipack it after I throw my fertilizer and lime this spring and let it try to come up. Again my food plots are still dirt and my powerline is straight rye grass about two months old. Thanks for the help.

And I guess I should add do I go ahead kill the rye grass?

For throw and mow to work best, you need to have a good stand of summer grass to cut or crimp down as your mulch layer. Doesn’t really matter what it is, you just need to get stuff growing there. I wouldn’t waste time and money spraying the rye grass. Hopefully it’s keeping the power line from eroding. It will terminate on its own when it gets hot in May or June.

If your plot areas weren’t sterilized for some reason, things are going to grow there without your help. I’d concentrate on the lime and getting the pH up to at least 6.2. Depending on your soil type, I’ll assume it’s a sandy loam, you’ll need to add lime regularly and keep in mind it takes months to do its work. Let the plots grow up in whatever will volunteer. If they are really bare in July maybe some buckwheat will help. Let it grow and go to seed, mow it off and let that seed come back up. Start with cereal grains in the fall and clover if you want to take another swing at it. I get these to grow just fine by either broadcasting into standing vegetation(less than 1 foot tall ideally) and mowing it down to 4-5” OR spraying to kill vegetation, wait a few weeks, then broadcast seed and use a drag to scarify the surface and get good soil contact. Do either right before a good rain with more rain in the forecast.

Lime, yesterday. Buckwheat or millet as soon as soil temp is high enough so you'll have something to plant into later.

This is where I was 7 years ago this April. If you would like to know what all I did, pm me your number and I will be happy to share. It has been a process, but well worth the results. Congrats on the purchase, reclaiming my farm has been one of my most rewarding endeavors.

Thanks for the help. My samples called for 2 tons per acre of lime and like 300-500 lbs an acre of 0-20-20 so my gut was to get this out as soon as it dries enough that I can drag the buggy across them. I appreciate the replies.

What kind of soil are you dealing with and in what part of the state. Answers will help determine a path. Loam, sandy, clay or some other type?

I’m in Monroe County/Wilcox County Line not far from the Alabama River (Hybart). According to the NRCS it states that I am Lenoir Loam (still learning but I’m assuming this is more clay) and Sandy Loam. The Sandy Loam section definitely has areas that look like beach sand.

I have had good success on sandy and sandy loam with throw and mow. Throw and bush hog with no need for chem. Sandy sites go with Abruzzi cereal rye and sites with more loam winter wheat or a combo of both. Have not done late Spring/Summer but Buckwheat is supposed to build soil and control weeds. In our part of Alabama, you can expect 1-3 reseeding periods until you throw and mow in fall. That’s the theory anyway. Going to find out for myself this year.

Thank you for your reply. I’m kicking myself for not throwing out rye this fall but thinking of trying the same with buckwheat but also thinking sorghum and millet.