|
Post by smallchunk on Aug 19, 2023 3:29:32 GMT -6
I should know by now that just broadcasting brassica and spraying a weak rye plot doesn’t work well 😅. 2 of the 4 plots I did at this spot are crap. Oh well, rye will come to the rescue in a week or so. Plot 1: crappy stand of rye. Only good germ is along the ditch/willows to the left that got some shade. Plot 2: heavy rye thatch and it germinated awesome Plot 3: super heavy grass/rye/weed thatch and it barely germed at all Plot 4: lightly worked it up and it turned out great minus where there is a crap ton of Shasta daisy that my harrow wouldn’t work up in the foreground of the pic.
|
|
windgypsy
Full Member
Posts: 126
Likes: 162
Location: Kanabec, Wright, and Itasca Counties, MN
Zone: 4A / 3B
|
Post by windgypsy on Aug 21, 2023 8:36:55 GMT -6
I've had a trio of sandhills camping out in one of my plots. I sprayed the rye just before seed became viable so I think they are hammering the rye seed heads but there's also plenty of grasshoppers in that dead thatch they might be eating. Hopefully they move on before a bunch of rye is broadcasted into everything in a couple weeks.
|
|
|
Post by smsmith on Sept 5, 2023 17:48:19 GMT -6
.45" last night. An inch or so of rain on Sunday/Monday should almost guarantee a decent rye plot. We got the fertilizer down this morning along with a few lbs of forage radish, turnips, and red clover. If it rains, it should be good. If it doesn't, it'll be a waste of time, seed, and fertilizer. I don't believe I've ever had a rye plot failure before. There's always a first time for everything I suppose.
|
|
|
Post by benmnwi on Sept 6, 2023 11:14:49 GMT -6
We got the fertilizer down this morning along with a few lbs of forage radish, turnips, and red clover. If it rains, it should be good. If it doesn't, it'll be a waste of time, seed, and fertilizer. I don't believe I've ever had a rye plot failure before. There's always a first time for everything I suppose. I hope you're right since I could use an acre of rye growing once my crappy soybeans go dormant. I keep waiting for a break in this dry weather pattern, but it just keeps going. I don't think we've had a slow, soaking rain since April. Rye grows pretty fast and can keep growing late into the fall, so there is still a chance.
|
|
windgypsy
Full Member
Posts: 126
Likes: 162
Location: Kanabec, Wright, and Itasca Counties, MN
Zone: 4A / 3B
|
Post by windgypsy on Sept 6, 2023 11:44:08 GMT -6
Got to the land on Labor Day to mess with cameras, set a blind, and broadcast Rye over the plots to hopefully fill in for the oats once they frost kill. The low ground plot is looking lush and the higher sandy ground one is looking stressed and thin on the edges near trees but good in the middle where there was lots of rye thatch. In general I'm real happy with how things turned out. If i had to tweak the seed blend right now, i'd have cut back on oats a fair bit and added more brassicas. Hard to say if more peas would be beneficial because of how they get crushed with browse. Things are standing up to browse pressure right now but the deer are really just starting to hammer it and browse pressure is ramping up a lot. This is the lower ground that doesn’t drain the best. This is the sandier soil plot, thin where there is more shade and competition from trees and less thatch and decaying organic matter from prior plants but pretty good out in the middle with the thick rye thatch.
|
|
|
Post by honker on Sept 6, 2023 12:11:14 GMT -6
Got to the land on Labor Day to mess with cameras, set a blind, and broadcast Rye over the plots to hopefully fill in for the oats once they frost kill. The low ground plot is looking lush and the higher sandy ground one is looking stressed and thin on the edges near trees but good in the middle where there was lots of rye thatch. In general I'm real happy with how things turned out. If i had to tweak the seed blend right now, i'd have cut back on oats a fair bit and added more brassicas. Hard to say if more peas would be beneficial because of how they get crushed with browse. Things are standing up to browse pressure right now but the deer are really just starting to hammer it and browse pressure is ramping up a lot. This is the lower ground that doesn’t drain the best. This is the sandier soil plot, thin where there is more shade and competition from trees and less thatch and decaying organic matter from prior plants but pretty good out in the middle with the thick rye thatch. I’d say it looks really good given how dry it has been. You must have timed those couple of rains in August right because it is bone dry around us right now. Are the greener strips in the lower ground plot the tire or mower path? Anything to learn from that pattern?
|
|
windgypsy
Full Member
Posts: 126
Likes: 162
Location: Kanabec, Wright, and Itasca Counties, MN
Zone: 4A / 3B
|
Post by windgypsy on Sept 6, 2023 12:30:41 GMT -6
I’d say it looks really good given how dry it has been. You must have timed those couple of rains in August right because it is bone dry around us right now. Are the greener strips in the lower ground plot the tire or mower path? Anything to learn from that pattern? I planted it all in 3 separate trips over about a week and a half starting the last week of July because of limited time to do it after work days. There was somewhat timely rain but not perfect by any means. I think the key to how well it's doing is that it's always been covered with a good amount of duff from prior years and a thick crop of last years rye, some clover, and weeds. I planted with a no-till drill into standing rye that I had terminated with gly in mid July. The greener strips you see are just the areas where the rye is nocked down flat from the spraying and planting process. It is just as green within that dead standing rye and in many cases more so because the peas and beans haven't been browsed as hard within it. There are handful of things that helped combat drought 1. With the low ground plot, it takes a lot to go dry because it just doesn't drain well 2. All the duff and thatch protected the soil from drying out and I never tilled it 3. Planting with a drill got the seed covered in moist soil where it is less dependent on ideal rain (compared to surface broadcast) and more resistant to failure from germinating and then drying out prior to good roots getting established 4. There have been 2 or 3 little 0.1-0.5" rain events that i caught in the second half of August that much of the state missed.
|
|
|
Post by smsmith on Sept 6, 2023 12:46:40 GMT -6
I don't believe I've ever had a rye plot failure before. There's always a first time for everything I suppose. I hope you're right since I could use an acre of rye growing once my crappy soybeans go dormant. I keep waiting for a break in this dry weather pattern, but it just keeps going. I don't think we've had a slow, soaking rain since April. Rye grows pretty fast and can keep growing late into the fall, so there is still a chance. I wasn't clear in my post. We have a rye plot failure this year. First I've ever seen. There's some spotty rye out there, but without rain for weeks again the plot is pretty worthless.
|
|
windgypsy
Full Member
Posts: 126
Likes: 162
Location: Kanabec, Wright, and Itasca Counties, MN
Zone: 4A / 3B
|
Post by windgypsy on Sept 6, 2023 13:11:52 GMT -6
Where is the dislike/thumbs down button?
|
|
|
Post by honker on Sept 7, 2023 21:39:58 GMT -6
The good I spread urea on this tilled brassica plot just before 3/4” of rain. This should be a solid draw in October The Bad Perennial clover is hanging in on the throw and mow plot, but not much of the new seed survived the lack of rain and Turkey/sandhill crane browsing The Ugly The first time I have had a total plot failure. I’m hoping to salvage it with rye seeding if rain ever shows up.
|
|
|
Post by Sandbur on Sept 16, 2023 17:22:27 GMT -6
Foodplot or bedding cover? I expect that does and fawns will bed in here during the firearm season. About 40% of the plot is good clean corn. One area is nearly head high with grass and some corn.
|
|
|
Post by wiscbooners89 on Sept 17, 2023 5:48:49 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Sandbur on Sept 17, 2023 11:19:57 GMT -6
I saw some of these reduced yields in my area. The CC are great for long term soil health and for holding nitrogen, but with extremely low rainfall, I have mixed feelings. For some reason, germination isn’t as good as tilled soil with no cc.
|
|
windgypsy
Full Member
Posts: 126
Likes: 162
Location: Kanabec, Wright, and Itasca Counties, MN
Zone: 4A / 3B
|
Post by windgypsy on Sept 18, 2023 9:33:53 GMT -6
Lots of things at play here but this seems like a definite consideration for guys planting corn/beans who want their seed in the ground and growing often as early as possible. My understanding is they want their soil temps to heat up faster to help germ and emergence early on where as throughout summer we want to keep soil temps from getting too hot for moisture retention. So from a fall food plotting perspective, i'm going to guess that having your soil covered through may, June, July is going to be a net positive in regards to moisture retention vs having a black field.
|
|
windgypsy
Full Member
Posts: 126
Likes: 162
Location: Kanabec, Wright, and Itasca Counties, MN
Zone: 4A / 3B
|
Post by windgypsy on Sept 18, 2023 9:37:22 GMT -6
The good I spread urea on this tilled brassica plot just before 3/4” of rain. This should be a solid draw in October The Bad Perennial clover is hanging in on the throw and mow plot, but not much of the new seed survived the lack of rain and Turkey/sandhill crane browsing The Ugly The first time I have had a total plot failure. I’m hoping to salvage it with rye seeding if rain ever shows up. Clover and brassica are looking good! That rain situation still isn't looking good in our neck of the woods. Haven't been to my place since labor day but from what I can see on cell cams, the 300#s of rye I broadcasted is likely a total fail.
|
|