? with food plots

[moparmaddnes]

Just gave my brother the all clear that I am done hunting on the property that I am able to hunt on in WI. Half of the property is going to be pulped this winter. In one corner he wants to put in a food plot. That is were I come in. I have a tractor on old Farmall M to do some of the work along w/ a 4-wheeler. I want the plot to help with keeping the herd healthy, don't want to have to do a lot of work. I live about 3hrs away, and with family don't have alot of time to get away. another question is where does everyone get the seeds for there plots. thanks
Matt

[cornfedkiller]

I have had good luck with Brier Ridge seeds..I planted a mixture of clover, chicory, rape, kale, beets, and turnips. I have however decided that my next plots are just going to be straight soybeans. Soybeans will get hammered all summer, fall, and especially late season. Usually farmers have extra bags of soybean seed after planting in the spring that you can get for a decent price. I would suggest getting roundup-ready..it makes your life 10 times easier.

With stuff like clover and alfalfa, you want to keep it mowed to keep the most protein and fresh growth, as well as the weeds down, which requires you to make several trips to your property with equipment to mow it. With roundup-ready soybeans, all you would have to do is spray it twice and your stand will be clean..

[moparmaddnes]

Thanks Cornfed what is ment by roundup ready? Is there something done with the seed? Can I just breadcast soybeans or do you have to have a planter? Having something for the animals to eat in late season and winter is something I am very interested in. I am planning to plant sometype of apple and pear trees, I would like to get berries growing to. Thanks
Matt

[Grasshopper]

mopar: Roundup is a herbicide you spray to control weeds. When you buy roundup-ready beans (or corn) it means you can spray the plot after the seeds have germinated (they're up and growing) and the roundup kills the weeds, but not the plants you want (beans or corn). Its a pretty slick deal!

And yes, you can broadcast the beans, you don't need a planter. I've done this several times with good luck. I would suggest dragging them after you plant.

Good luck with the plots. And with the logging going on you're going to have tons of food for deer. They love nothing better than a young clearcut

[moparmaddnes]

Would planting winter weat with the beans be ok to do? Where would I go to buy the seeds? thanks
Matt

[south40]

Not sure about the winter wheat in the beans. We planted soybeans this year for the first time and had good results. We bought our beans from a local farmer who had some extra open bags ($25.00 per bag). We plowed the plot with a small ATV disc and broadcasted the beans with a hand held spreader the same day. We came back and sprayed roundup about 3 weeks later. With the rain this year the plot turned out awesome. Tons of deer pics early and into mid September. We saw very little activity on this particular plot during october and november. When the snow started falling in December the deer started piling in. Around December 10th the beans were pretty much untouched. Right now the beans are almost all gone. We planted about a half acre. If you want to feed deer into January and February you need to plant as much as you can. Probably an acre or more depending on how many deer are hitting it. Here is a pic of our bean plot.

[cornfedkiller]

Excellent advice here..I would talk to a local farmer and see if you can buy some of his left over seed. One bag should cover about an acre (it does when using a planter..south40 can confirm how much he used while broadcasting), but $25 an acre is really cheap for food plots..I was getting the stuff I was buying before at a discount and it was like $30 some an acre..

Also, round-up ready beans produce roundup ready offspring, so if a farmer has a bin full, Im sure you could buy a few 5-gallon buckets from him for market price. Harvested beans cannot be re-planted because of the technology fee (basically monsanto's patent on the roundup-ready genetics), but for someone who is just going to plant small food plots with it, I wouldnt worry about much..

Although farmers are usually more than willing to sell ya their left-over seed from the spring..

[moparmaddnes]

Thanks guys for the great advice. So the beans will reseed themselves every year or do I have to plant them every so often? We are only going to have about an acre for a food plot, so that is why I am wondering about putting another food source in with the beans. I was looking for something that would be ready at a different time of year or later so there is a food source in a longer duration of the year. The area of the hunting land is in St. Croix county. I should be able to get the beens from a farmer down here. I didn't even think of that as on option. Thanks again
Matt

[BUSCHY]

When looking at "mixed seed" plots I would just check out the local elevator. A lot of times they have some that was mixed that they can't retail without spending a ton of time separating. A friend of mine gets a great deal doing this every year. They will even mix in more for him so he gets the clover, alfalfa, and whatever mixture he is usually looking for.

Hope this helps

[cornfedkiller]

Thanks guys for the great advice. So the beans will reseed themselves every year or do I have to plant them every so often? We are only going to have about an acre for a food plot, so that is why I am wondering about putting another food source in with the beans. I was looking for something that would be ready at a different time of year or later so there is a food source in a longer duration of the year. The area of the hunting land is in St. Croix county. I should be able to get the beens from a farmer down here. I didn't even think of that as on option. Thanks again
Matt

No, the beans will not reseed themselves..I suppose a few may fall on the ground and grow again the next year, but you will not get a "crop" of them again the next year like you would with clover or alfalfa. If you want something that will be ready a different time of the year, I would suggest clover or oats. Do not mix the two though when you plant..just split your plot into two, and plant beans in one part and something else in the other..

[Grassbag251]

All good info. My two cents worth of advice is think into the future. When establishing virgin ground into food plot your number one priority is (should be) weed control. Roundup ready seed is invaluable in this application. For the first year I would put in corn. Not only will it fend off any weeds that manage to stay alive better than beans, but also with the virgin soil you have all the nutrients you could ask for. If you put in a legume (beans in this case) you’re going to be dumping nitrogen into soil that is more than likely already nitrogen rich. Another tip on first year weed control is over population. Put your seed on heavier than you normally would and you will starve the weeds right out of the plot. You might not get the grain yields you need to keep animals fed through winter, but at least you won’t be fighting weeds every year. Prior to contrary belief corn germinates well after broadcast seeding just drag well until you get the majority of the seed down a couple inches. There will be a lot of seed on top but the turks gotta eat too. Second year put in beans to regain your nitrogen and put the protein into your herd. If you spend the money and get a soil test done and your low in nitrogen you can stick with beans, unless of course you’re like me and got a bunch of hunting buddies full of crap that you can use as fertilizer. Once you get your weeds well under control think about mixing in seed that isn’t roundup ready. Remember deer are browsers so they like to have the variety. Having a good amount of taller plants like corn gives them a feeling a security. Just don’t forget your plants on the bottom need light and water too. Whatever you decide I'm sure you'll have fun.