Well, I have all of my spring plots in and thought I'd share. Here is a plan that I had put together this winter and I ended up pretty close to what I had planned. This year was an expansion year for me. I added 4 new plots and also my first plot screen. These are in addition to the large soybean plot and my brassica plot. As you can see in the picture, I have planted these new plots mostly in WTI Imperial Clover, and some WTI Extreme. Hopefully these plots will last several years with only minimal maintenance. I ended up changing slightly from the drawing. The yellow, Extreme plot is actually half Extreme and half Trophy Clover and the soybeans take up pretty much the entire main plot and I moved the clover field on the south side just a little further to the south.
My first work of the season was to work on expanding the new WTI Extreme and WTI Trophy Clover plot cleared out. It has just been an overgrown grass field with lots of little trees growing up in it. I started by tilling a fire line. A couple days later, I came back and burned off the existing grass and weeds. The fire got a little heavy around a couple of my locust trees, and decided to burn off most of the thorns, which I had no problem with. Here's the finished product of the burn. Weather and my schedule kept me away for a while, but I got back at is and cut down several trees to help let light into the plot. I used Tordon on the trees that I cut to keep them from growing back. I also girdled several of the larger trees, then used the Tordon where I cut them. I'm hoping they will not grow any canopy and help light into plot. In several years, the thorns should have rotted off and cutting down the tree will be much easier. Time to head to softball practice, I'll try and get some more up tonight.
After I got it all cleared up and brush hogged it down, I came in with my tiller. I came back, tilled a second time and culitpacked it down and broadcast the WTI Extreme on the upper half and the WTI Trophy Clover on the lower section as it should handle the lower/wetter soil in that area. I didn't get any pictures of this process as it all happened at night. I was trying to rush a get it in ahead of some heavy rain that was on the way. I came back and checked it a couple weeks later and we have some germination.
My next project was to get my Egyptian Wheat screen in. As you can see on the drawing, I have a long strip planted along the timber edge on the open field/house side of my property. One of the issues I feel that I have had is getting into the timber and to my stand without getting busted. I hoe that the screen will do a couple things. Keep the deer on the timber side of my property and help them feel more comfortable out in the bean field. I also think it will help me get to the timber and into my stand without alerting the deer that I'm there. That's the plan at least. Tilling the strip. I broadcast the Eqyptian wheat at about 10lbs per acre then cultipacked it in.
May 15 was my target date for getting my soybeans in. I wasn't sure if that was going to happen with the weather pattern we've had this year. Hell, we had snow the first week of May. I got a break in the weather and was able to get a bunch of work done. First step was to brush hog the plots. Once I got it all mowed down, I came back with the tiller. I didn't burn this field because it had the standing beans in it and I didn't think it would burn very well, so I just tilled it. First pass. Here you can see the difference between the first pass and the second pass. After two passes. Once I got the second pass done, it was time to plant the seed. Since I don't have a functional planter or a drill, I had the pleasure of bag seeding, hand broadcasting 150lbs of soybeans over 3.5 acres. It just happened to be about 90 degrees on May 14th! Here's a picture after I had broadcast, but before I cultipacked it in. After Cultipacking.
While I was working on the big soybean plot, I also prepped 3 new micro plots that I planted in WTI Trophy Clover. I know that I was a little late getting the clover in, as I should have had it in by May 1st, but with our season being behind I'm hoping the clover will take. I'm hoping these micro plots will serve as staging areas on the way to the main soybean plot. This little plot is pretty close the the road, and will be shielded by my Egyptian wheat screen. I see deer cross the road just about every evening and feel like they stage up in this area until it's dark enough they feel safe to head into the main plot. This little plot is pretty close to the first one, just on the other side of the creek. It sits up on a little ridge right on the fence line. I have a nice stand set up right on the fence line that over looks this plot and the creek. This little plot is just to the south of my soybean plot. The deer enter my bean from this area a lot. I still have about a half acre that I'm going to plant with WTI Tall Tine Tubers. I'll be getting that plot in around mid July. I'm hoping to go over tomorrow evening and check out the progress. We have had some good rains and some hot days to go along with it, so I would suspect we should have some good germination.
I planted a very similar variety of Ag Soybean last year, but this is my first year planting the clover and the extreme. I'm not one to buy into the buck on a bag seed, but I really felt like the WTI clover is a good mix and I have had a couple people I know use it with success. Same with the Extreme. The persist forb is the backbone and it's supposed to be a favorite "candy" for deer.
Great thread! You've been busy! Did you already have soil tests done on the new ground you burnt off?
No I didn't. I know that is an important step for getting maximum yield, but my experience with this land is that it is extremely fertile, having been pasture land for the last 50 plus years before I bought it. I have tested for Ph however and came in at an average between 6.5 and 6.8. There are lots of contributing factors to why I'm comfortable planting without fertilizing. One would be my past experience with my other plots on this property, two would be that it had been pasture land, three is that it all sits down in a sort of bowl around a creek the collects runoff and it also seems to hold moisture down in the bowl. I did the same thing last year when I established my soybean plot. My bean out performed many of the farmers in the area. I had about 150 to 200 pods per plant, all full with 3 beans in most and 4 in some. I plan on rotating my crop after this year to a nitrogen using crop, as the soybeans will have fixed a lot of nitrogen in the soil that can be used up.
Sounds good. I'm in a similar situation with some ground I want to work up, and my thoughts mirror yours. Glad to see you had positive results. I may give my new test area that's currently and old hay field a shot.
