No-Till Corn

Every year we try to expand our foodplots in size and quantity, but we usually run up against time constraints especially when you factor in the weather and rain. Something that I have been thinking about is mowing and spraying the grass in a new foodplot site, and then no-tilling in corn with a corn planter, and a few weeks after germination spraying again with roundup and top dressing fertilizer. Has anyone done this before with success? Obviously it's not the preferred method of planting corn, but would it produce a viable crop and start a no-till rotation without having to spend the hours discing?

I have been thinking about the same concept with brassicas in existing grass and spraying with clethodim after germination.

Thoughts?

 

Quite a few farmers here are going to no-til around here. What it seems to involve is a lot more spraying of weed control and lots more top dressing with fertilizers.

 

That's how I've grown corn for several years now, nothing new about it...works okay. Zero till, chemicals takes the place of some tillage. I don't like chemicals but I don't like soil disturbance or my butt in a tractor seat for weeks on end pulling a disc either.

 

Think it would work to no till into sod?

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I think that it will work for the corn but I think the grass would overtake the brassicas.

 

Think Clethodim will keep the grasses at bay?

 

Hope you're talking in Brassicas - it'll kill corn.

 

Correct, I would round-up the corn and clethodim the brassicas. I would think using a cultipacker would work well with seeding brassicas in a no till operation, I just don't have a culitpacker

 

I think you'd be better off spraying the grass with roundup and then seeding the brassicas into that before it's completely dead. Use the dead grass as a mulch. I don't think a cultipacker will do a thing in a true no till system.

 

Right, I was just expecting to have to spray twice. You don't think there is a need to pressing the seed into the ground to get seed-soil contact?

 

Timing is everything........ I try and seed right before a god rain.

 

If you get some dead grass mulch on it and like elkguide said, time it before a nice rain, I don't think so.

Do you remember the picture I posted last fall of our cattle in tillage radish? I sprayed the grass (pasture) with roundup, and about 3 days later went in with the four wheeler and broadcast the tillage radish into the grass. It worked awesome and sounds like it would be the same situation you are talking about.
*added picture below*

 

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Yeah I do remember that, how much grass was there before you sprayed it?

 

6-8"

 

Ok, I will be trying to get those areas mowed this sunday before pheasants start nesting and then keep them sprayed until either corn of brassica planting.

 

I'd chime in that it's 6 of 1 half dozen of another. Meaning if you don't til you have to do something so your weeds don't choke off your plot.

I'm a fan of discing myself and not a fan of chemical spraying.

To each their own. I'm a city boy who learned plots from hunting a sweet corn farm in south Florida from a super smart farmer. He'd drop a no plant bed field of corn or cracked oats or cow peas for me in an area away from his "hot" fields in order to attract animals towards me and off his crops.

Turnips never worked for me in south Florida. I assume because we get no snow ? Cow peas are like GOLD !


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I find I have to spray at least once. Roundup will only kill growing plants so once you till up the soil and plant your seed, there will always be weed seed that germinates too. So for tillage, I don't spay before I till. Then I plant and spray once the plot is about 6" tall. If I were no-till, I would spray to kill everything, plant and spray again when the plot was about 6" tall.

The problem I have is some of those later season weeds that germinate after I have sprayed. It doesn't seem to affect how deer use the plot, but it's just doesn't look as nice. I would like to work my way towards no till planting though.

 

I too, if I have the option, prefer tilling before planting. As to the timing of planting, I live in the middle of an Ag area with lots of wonderful crops for deer nourishment and it's hard to compete with 1/2 acre plots next to 50 acre fields of the same crops. So I try and plant so that my crops mature a few weeks after the farm fields have been harvested. The deer are already used to those crops and are looking to maintain their favorite meals so here I am!!!!! I have the most success with clover or corn crops.

 

IMO, if you broadcast your seed in after you've sprayed with glyphosate, the dying grass will hold enough moisture to get those little seeds to germinate. I wouldn't disc at all to plant brassicas in your situation. JMO.

I'm with ya on the no-till, Skywalker. Covey has me convinced it is the way to go.