Food Plots

[JK22]

I am looking to do some plots on land I bought last fall 10 miles north of Park Rapids. It has a lot of 10' pines on it and the soil is really sandy. I want to make it about 100' x 200'. I plan on going up memorial day weekend and pulls trees out with a tractor. Then I plan on turning the ground over the best I can. Do you guys think I could plant some clover right away or should I roundup it then go back in a month and plant or just wait til next year. I also have trails I cut and tilled last summer. Can I till up the grass that has grown in and plant clover over that or should I kill the grass off. There is very few weeds present, just grass.

[JK22]

I am looking to do some plots on land I bought last fall 10 miles north of Park Rapids. It has a lot of 10' pines on it and the soil is really sandy. I want to make it about 100' x 200'. I plan on going up memorial day weekend and pulls trees out with a tractor. Then I plan on turning the ground over the best I can. Do you guys think I could plant some clover right away or should I roundup it then go back in a month and plant or just wait til next year. I also have trails I cut and tilled last summer. Can I till up the grass that has grown in and plant clover over that or should I kill the grass off. There is very few weeds present, just grass.

[Bear55]

I would go with Roundup first, I made the mistake of just tilling and planting a long time ago and although some clover came up it was choked out by grass by the end of the summer. Take your time and do it right, roundup everything, till and heck out of it and then plant it. Then maybe later this summer go back and spray a herbicide to take care of any grass/weeds that you missed the first time around. If you do it right you won't be disappointed, I just checked some plots from last year and they are coming up all clover.

[buckhunter21]

The way Bear said to do it would be the best way and you would have a nice weed free plot next year. But if you really have to have it in this year and are willing to spend a little more money there are products out there that you can spray that will kill the grass and not hurt your clover. A herbicide called Arrest kills grasses and wont damage your clover and I think the other one is called Slay and that kills broadleafs and wont damage your plot. They are pretty spendy though about 30 bucks for a half acre worth of spray. My uncle tried it on his clover plot last summer and it worked pretty well at killing the grass. But if you are willing to wait a year a would maybe work it up this year and spray it 2 or 3 times and then frost seed in the clover next spring.

[DuckDog]

I am looking to do some plots on land I bought last fall 10 miles north of Park Rapids. It has a lot of 10' pines on it and the soil is really sandy. I want to make it about 100' x 200'. I plan on going up memorial day weekend and pulls trees out with a tractor. Then I plan on turning the ground over the best I can. Do you guys think I could plant some clover right away or should I roundup it then go back in a month and plant or just wait til next year. I also have trails I cut and tilled last summer. Can I till up the grass that has grown in and plant clover over that or should I kill the grass off. There is very few weeds present, just grass.

i know a guy up in PR that is looking for some work if needed.

[JK22]

Duck-

Thanks for the offer. I plan on doing all the work myself. It is fun for me to do this. I have a cat, disc, atv, mower, sprayers, etc. Last year I did a 40' x 40' plot w/ corn and beans. I didn't fertilize or spray weeds and it didnt amount to much but I had deer in it numerous times during the season.

JK

[vister]

if there was no other agriculture around, the reason the plot may not have mounted to much was probably because the deer mowed down the beans quickly, and if the corn went to tassle, they ate them off, which would result in no corn cobs. 40x40 is kinda small for corn and beans. with no ag around, i would say one should set aside a minimum of 2 acres for such crops.

[aspen]

Lots of great info here for those people just starting out. We've been at it for about 8 years now and have learned the hard way many times.

First basic is what you have for land and what you are trying to do. We have about 300 acres of mixed old fields but mainly woods and are interested in good feed for deer year round plus fall attractant for hunting.

As far as soil prep, sray like most say, we use generic roundup, way cheaper. Work it up as much as possible the first year, leave it black if you can live without it for a year.

We plant clover as it is good food for spring through fall, ya got to have something for them to eat in the spring. We mow it twice during the summer, the last time about mid-August but not if it is really dry. If it is, wait for rain. They will feed in the clover during deer season but not if it is near a Brassicas field.

We plant Brassicas in the spring for fall hunting plots and early winter feed. We tried both late summer and spring planting and the spring works out way better. You get 4 times the food per acre and it lasts well into December, the fall planting was nearly gone by deer season. We have tried different brands including generic and the only choice IMO is Frigid Forage. Better variety, better growth, deer hit it harder.

We have fertilized the last 4 years and it does really make a difference, do it if you can afford it.

After this much time now we started losing some of the fields to weeds and last year put in round-up ready corn, this really worked great and now that field is ready to return to clover and or brassicas. We are going to rotate the corn around to beat back the weedy fields. With all the choices of food the deer have they really didn't eat much corn until after rifle season.

We have large numbers of deer and winter rye/wheat/oats never makes it even close to rifle season. If you are a bow hunter they love it but it won't last long.

Good luck with it, it makes deer hunting a year round sport now, I love it!

[lungdeflator]

thanks for all the great info guys. If the weather cooperates I will be out on thursday or friday doing what you guys said.

[archerystud]

My dad and I are NOW looking to buy a small tractor to break more ground.

What do you feel is too "late" for a Spring planting?

[Jameson]

Where are you located and what are you planting?

I'm west of the cities and have found that planting around June 1st for RR soybeans to be good. hint, hint

[JK22]

Thanks for all the good info/past experiences. My plot last year didnt amount to much because I didnt give it a whole lot of time. I have now bought toys to make it work. I plan on heading up friday to start working on it. I plan on removing/transplanting trees, leveling the ground, spraying, and keeping it black for this season. I am going to take a soil sample aslo. I am trying to make it about 200' x 400' or so. The nearest ag land is 5 miles away. My land is in the middle of a 40000 acre forest. Thanks again. JK

[vister]

corn can be planted when soils are cooler. the seed will lay dormant till the grounds warms up a bit more. beans should be planted in warmer soil, 52-55 degrees that is. and most food plot seeds, clovers, brassicas, etc, should be planted when the soil is 55 degrees or warmer. mine have been in the ground for a few weeks, and the turnips and rape are a couple inches tall and coming up fast. clovers and chicory are up too, but they grow slower. chicory will grow like heck once the taproot is established.

the plots i did this spring were all in newly tilled land. i didn't spray for weeds. but i worked the heck out of the ground and then seeded. once everything is 4-5 inches tall or better, i'll then fertilize with a 0-10-10 or 8-8-8 blend. i will NOT fertilize till the plants i want to grow have been established, because otherwise the grass and weeds will benefit from the fertilizer. mow once in the summer, and good to go.

[Bear55]

My dad and I are NOW looking to buy a small tractor to break more ground.

What do you feel is too "late" for a Spring planting?

I'd say just get the plot in when you can, call it a late spring planting or an early fall plot. With such a short growing season take advantage of the time when you can.

One year I planted a fall plot on Aug 1, well August was dry and September wall pretty cold and I ended up with just about nothing. The deer hit it but it was more like an appetizer then a meal.

[vister]

for spring planting, i would say anything beyond june is too late. i was born and raised on a farm, and bottom line, the earlier you get the crops in the better. 9 times out of 10 anyways. i don't think u have to worry about frost anymore, so get em in asap!