Greeting's everyone, I might be taking on a project of 50+ acres in Tennessee hopefully within the next year. This property belongs to a family member that purchased it a few years ago with plans to develop and move there but because of the economy that was put on hold. I've planted the seed that I'm interested in managing their property and hopefully make something out of it so it's not just going to waste. As of right now I'm gathering all of the info of it's whereabouts & I plan to visit it within the next couple of months. What I do recall of the property is that it's undeveloped but has a couple of nice home sites, has several ridges, creeks, and caves, & the best part it's adjacent to a wildlife preserve My question for all of those in Tennessee and the surrounding areas is what type of agriculture grows best there? I know soil is a major factor but generally speaking what grows the best in which times of the year? What do deer in that area respond best to? I'm from South Florida so I have no knowledge of the agriculture or the wildlife behavior of that area.
What part of Tennessee? Terrain and soil type vary a lot from eastern to western parts of the state. I'm fairly familiar with eastern tn....I grew up just across the line in nc. Soil makeup, terrain, and what type of agriculture/ hunting practices the neighbors have should determine your starting point..... Btw....I love this kind of thing! Nothing gets me more excited than a new property and starting to manage it
I want to say that it's in Overton county? According to the map that's like the Central Northern part of the state. I'm trying to get out there soon so I could get a good look at the terrain, neighbors, etc.. I'm still trying to determine the property line but for the most part google earth shows its a pretty heavily wooded area. with various slopes, hills, and rideges some small bodies of water nearby as well. Judging by the map not very many neighbors and looking over the maps of the last decade not much has changed either. I'm extremely excited.
Sounds like a good area...putting some boot tracks down will be your most important first step. Once you have they lay of the land, you can use the info you gather while walking it and an aerial photo and decide what your management goals are
The whitetail Freaks app has a food plot calculator that works good for figuring out exact acreage if needed.
Here is the questions I ask people when they call me asking for help. First year virgin soil usually is a challenge and I always recommend year one as a year to build soil, suppress weeds, improve soil tilth and to learn while not spending a lot of money on expensive mixes. 1- Have you planted a food plot before? (inexperienced food plotters should plant soil building mixes that are near full proof. 2- Take a soil test!!!! (Soil tests should be taken every 3 years. Low pH soils will grow poorly and the only options for success on Low Ph. Soils would be rape, fall rye, oats and alsike clover.) 3. What is the soil texture comprised of? (sand/clay/loam) (sandy soil is usually low in organic matter and will dry out very fast. 4-What equipment do you have? 5-How many deer do you have per sq mile? (on high deer populations they might overgraze or consume many mixes. 6.-What are you trying to accomplish by planting a food plot? (are you trying to grow big deer, attract deer, or for cover?) 7-What is planted by farmers in the surrounding fields? (you will want to plant things different than the neighbors. If they neighbors have hay fields, you would be best to plant brassicas, soybeans, grains or grain/forage mixes.) 8-When do you plan to plant? Here is my year 1 recommendations for many people.. Plant a plot restore type product. The mix I sell has crimson clover, berseem clover and radish. This will fixate nitrogen, scavenge nutrients n add glucosinolates. I'd plow this down early august and plant fall rye with some rape or a product like deer creek seed's succulent succotash. Then the following spring after giving the deer early nutrition, you have many options depending on soil type, pH, organic matter etc etc. I'd put 1/3 year 2 into perennial clovers, 1/3 into brassicas and 1/3 into a bean mix that contains forage beans, lablab, and cowpeas. You will be giving diversity, building soil and working on weed suppression. You always should have something growing to maximize production and you should always be setting your soil up for next years plots.
