Food Plot Basics

[Garand]

I am doing something different this fall with my plan for planting. Instead of using more fertilizer I am planning on using less by adding more legumes. Why ? because by adding more legumes such as austrian winter peas I will be fixing more nitrogen in my soil because of the legumes rather than buying salt based fertilizers. I should have a net gain of N. I am waiting to hear from my OSU Extension agent on how much N that I can possibly expect to gain based on my plant rate of peas. My P and K is approx 95% adequate so I need little of that but I need some N. I currently have 6 #/ac of N so I may need to supplement a little 46-0-0 to get the ball rolling then with the incorporation of more legumes this fall I may have sufficient N fixed so I will not have a future need. Hopefully this makes sense to you. I am restoring the soil with a soil supplement and working WITH Mother Nature vs. against her. By using the supplements and fixing the nitrogen I am moving away from salt based fertilizers that create long term problems with salt in the soil. This past growing season I proved a 26% increase in protein on winter wheat and increased the production by 46% while breaking the clay soil down to a crumb. Where water, historically, has stood in a field after a 4.5", there is no standing water. This showed soil improvement. There were additionally improvements too. I am moving from short term gains with using synthetic salt based fertilizers such as 13-13-13 to long term gains with planting more legumes to fix N and the deer love it too. The soil is being restored, the deer are happy and I save money in the long term. This is where we need to be headed to re store the soil quality to where it was at the beginning of the 1900's before salt based fertilizers were being needed in the 1950's.

If anyone has a further interest in what I am doing to restore the soil then send me a pm and I will explain further.

Are you adding inoculate as well?

We just seeded a buddies area with winter peas that we inoculated, in an attempt to naturally fix the nitrogen in his soil.

 

[Okie4570]

Just personal opinion, but I'd rather plant in moist soil after a rain, as opposed to planting in the dust and waiting on a random OK rain shower during a continual stretch of drought conditions. Rain will have to happen in a hurry if I'm going to plant wheat for wheat pasture at the time we like to plant it. Deerwhacker444, what are you going to be planting this year?

 

[Okie4570]

Are you adding inoculate as well?

We just seeded a buddies area with winter peas that we inoculated, in an attempt to naturally fix the nitrogen in his soil.

You did good!! Any farmer that plants any legumes for a crop will add incoclulant bacteria at planting time, and for good reason.

 

[dennishoddy]

Nice Plotmaster!

 

[Garand]

Nice Plotmaster!

Nice Rental you mean..

Pretty nice setup actually http://www.gvtrophy.com/gv36

 

[Buzzgun]

Where do you rent that??

 

[Garand]

Where do you rent that??

My buddy rented it, I just pulled it around for him.

He rented it from some shop in Okmulgee, I don't remember the name, but its located where the OLD Pat's Archery was located.

~$100 a day if I remember right. (don't quote me)

 

[Buzzgun]

Thanks

 

[Garand]

Thanks

If you dig up the name of the place please post it. I'd like to know too. (my buddy cant remember either, he just knows where it was located.. lol)

 

[deerwhacker444]

Deerwhacker444, what are you going to be planting this year?

I'm planting wheat with a few winter peas.

I planted LabLab this spring and it grew real well until about mid July and then it couldn't hack the drought and went brown.