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Post by terrifictom on Jan 11, 2022 15:11:01 GMT -6
Deer digging sugar beets on one small section of 4 acre field. I would guess only 12-15 tons per acre this year because of drought. (usually 20-25 T per acre) Most on cam at one time was 15. Pics taken 1 day after heavy snowfall.
When did you plant? Where did you get the seed? PM me if you don't want to say on forum. How soon do deer start hitting them? Did you do a straight planting of sugar beets?
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Post by nhmountains on Jan 11, 2022 15:17:17 GMT -6
Pic from another part of sugar beet plot.
Nitro, Is the whole plot sugar beets or a mixture? They all seem to have their own little territory and are spread out.
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Post by nitro27 on Jan 11, 2022 16:32:00 GMT -6
Whole plot was sugar beets, and weeds, the gly purchased from tractor supply (farmworks) did not kill weeds as good as actual roundup used on other sections of plot.
I had even mixed it at a slightly higher rate up to use the last of the jug.
When planted, usually middle to end of May, seed??? LOL
Heavy use usually starts in Sept, Oct. especially after heavy frost. Leaves of plant laying on ground are picked up and eaten like spag. deer just sucking them in. They nibble on beet all season long, but after frost is when heavy use starts.
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Post by Foggy on Jan 11, 2022 16:41:55 GMT -6
^ Seed??? Grin . Growing sugar beets aint for everybody. I tried 'em twice and had poor luck. Battling weeds can be rough. And getting regular rainfall is rougher.
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Post by nhmountains on Jan 11, 2022 17:00:13 GMT -6
Whole plot was sugar beets, and weeds, the gly purchased from tractor supply (farmworks) did not kill weeds as good as actual roundup used on other sections of plot.
I had even mixed it at a slightly higher rate up to use the last of the jug.
When planted, usually middle to end of May, seed??? LOL
Heavy use usually starts in Sept, Oct. especially after heavy frost. Leave of plant laying on ground are picked up and eaten like spag. deer just sucking them in. They nibble on beet all season long, but after frost is when heavy use starts.
Do you plant anything in the spring as a cover crop to help prevent those weeds? Could you seed winter rye late fall after the first frost?
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Post by nitro27 on Jan 11, 2022 17:51:05 GMT -6
No cover crop, beets hate anything else growing with them. Usually gly handle weeds very well. Just not this year very dry. Also had/have 5 acres beans, and 2 acre plot of winter rye. The rye gets an extreme amount of use in spring, usually looks like it was hit with a rototiller. Then its left alone as soon as other plants green up.
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 12, 2022 12:46:13 GMT -6
How does the sugar beet tonnage and deer usage compare to a standard brassica mix? I have some boone and crockett purple top turnips this year in my brassica mix, but I'm not sure how they would compare to a crop of sugar beets as far as deer preference or total food quantity. It would be nice to get as many pounds as possible of late season food from an acre. Are RR sugar beets readily available or do you still have to know a guy who knows a guy?
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Post by nitro27 on Jan 12, 2022 13:44:21 GMT -6
In the spring I've never found an uneaten sugar beet, not even the leave which they consume first. When I have planted purple top & golden globe turnips the deer don't feed as heavily on them as the sugar beets. Guess one is like candy to them.
A friend plants a mixture of Radish, sugar beet(not RR I believe), turnips, kale and 3 varieties of rapeseed Called BEASTY FEAST from RJ Hunt seed of Wadena. I can see how they like the sugar beet leaves that mixture and the leaves are eaten first. I will be planting a couple of acres of this mixture next summer. I hope mine does as well as his planted mid July. Pic of his plot...
50 lb. Nitrogen, 25 of sulfur and ample amounts of Phosphorus and Potash
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 12, 2022 13:48:47 GMT -6
In the spring I've never found an uneaten sugar beet, not even the leave which they consume first. When I have planted purple top & golden globe turnips the deer don't feed as heavily on them as the sugar beets. Guess one is like candy to them.
A friend plants a mixture of Radish, sugar beet(not RR I believe), turnips, kale and 3 varieties of rapeseed Called BEASTY FEAST from RJ Hunt seed of Wadena. I can see how the like the sugar beet leaves that mixture and the leaves are eaten first. I will be planting a couple of acres of this mixture next summer. I hope mine does as well as his planted mid July. Pic of his plot...
50 lb. Nitrogen, 25 of sulfur and ample amounts of Phosphorus and Potash
. I don’t know him much sulfur beets need, but Robert Hunt often recommended 25 pounds of sulfur on lighter soils, even for red clover.
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 12, 2022 13:55:14 GMT -6
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Post by Foggy on Jan 12, 2022 14:12:21 GMT -6
In the spring I've never found an uneaten sugar beet, not even the leave which they consume first. When I have planted purple top & golden globe turnips the deer don't feed as heavily on them as the sugar beets. Guess one is like candy to them.
A friend plants a mixture of Radish, sugar beet(not RR I believe), turnips, kale and 3 varieties of rapeseed Called BEASTY FEAST from RJ Hunt seed of Wadena. I can see how the like the sugar beet leaves that mixture and the leaves are eaten first. I will be planting a couple of acres of this mixture next summer. I hope mine does as well as his planted mid July. Pic of his plot...
50 lb. Nitrogen, 25 of sulfur and ample amounts of Phosphorus and Potash
. I don’t know him much sulfur beets need, but Robert Hunt often recommended 25 pounds of sulfur on lighter soils, even for red clover. I had a nice conversation with RJ Hunt about ten years ago. He really stressed to me to apply sulfur to our sandy soils here too. Two years ago.....I bought two 50# bags of sulfur and applied it to the 4 acres of ground where I grew a bumper crop of corn. It was unreal the corn that ground put out. Never thought about it until now.....but I wonder if the sulfur had an effect on it? I had also put down substantial fertilizer.......so, there is that too. The guy that operates the feed store in Pine River told me that the only other guys that buy any sulfur use it on blue berries.
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Post by nitro27 on Jan 14, 2022 15:16:32 GMT -6
First buck with antler loss this year.
Hope he lost in the plot so it's easy to find.
Got one more pic on camera of a small spike missing one also. (not posted)
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Post by badgerfowl on Jan 14, 2022 15:42:36 GMT -6
First buck with antler loss this year.
Hope he lost in the plot so it's easy to find.
Got one more pic on camera of a small spike missing one also. (not posted)
Gotta keep those giants secretive.
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Post by smallchunk on Jan 21, 2022 13:14:10 GMT -6
Got out to check trail cams that I hadn’t gotten to since the end of November last weekend. Snapped a few pics of the two little plots that had activity. I found it very interesting that of the 4 plots that I planted, I roughed up only two of them a bit with the drag and drug them after planting. I’m talking very lightly. Those two grew way better than the other two and are getting the only use. The other two true “no till” plots were a desert which is unfortunate because they are the two plots of decent size. Standing in clover section, brassicas where they are digging. Sidewalk to next plot Heading to the next plot where there was little to no activity
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Post by nitro27 on Jan 22, 2022 16:02:19 GMT -6
Everyone puts pics of turkeys, geese etc. Thought I'd share pic of a sharptail grouse.
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