Hello All, We've had success with several food plots over the past 5 or so years, but this year we were hoping to plant one large food plot in corn so that we'll have a food source come winter or fall. The patch is about 2.5 acres and I was just wondering what we could expect to spend if we plant this whole thing in corn? Simply, how much is corn per acre? thanks in advance :D
Are you planning on someone else coming in to plant it, or are you going to buy your own implements to plant it? Turnips will do the same thing, and be a LOT cheaper in both implements, fertilizer, and seed. The only thing with turnips is that it won't produce cover.
With everything, it comes to around $100-$120 an acre - from my research. Corn and beans for us, next year. Nothing else compares. IMO (to our deer, anyway) We are going to plant some turnips too. RJ is right on the money, they are the CHEAPEST plot that can give you good late season attraction.
I planted turnips and they came up great. I haven't seen the deer on them much yet, but I am not sure we have had the frost that we need. Looks like it's coming this week.
They will start on the tops after a handful of hard frosts. They will eat them till they are gone. In my area, with a 1.5 acre plot.......this starts about 1st week of Nov, and lasts till mid december. Then they will start to dig the actual turnip root up and eat those. My 1.5 acre plot keeps pulling them in all winter and I usually have a few left when we thaw out in March......the leftovers will typically rot. The deer will use these from November till March if you plan enough of them.
This is my first year with them, but from what I was told, they will hit them until they are gone once they start.
Last year they hit the tops hard after the frists hard frost, like I thought they would. Once the ground froze and we got snow, they nearly quit hitting them. Just a few times did we see where they pawed down to get at them. So, can the turnips themselves freeze too hard, like rocks, causing the deer to stop hitting them?
Could be, not sure. We had a pretty hard winter at my place as well, but they kept on them. Maybe the deer had an easier food source to get at near you? At my place the turnip plot is right next to a sanctuary we leave alone, and they were able to get into the turnips with only a 50-100 yard walk, so they stayed all over them all winter.
We're on the edge of where farm country ends and the big woods start. The only other food source around us during the winter is their browse. The only two reasons I can think of that they would stop hitting them would be: 1. They freeze too hard. 2. Someone near us was feeding the hell out of them with corn. #2 is very unlikely as there are few people around there and none of them have the ambition to go out in the winter. It'll be interesting to see what happens this winter. We now have over 3 acres in a fall blend with a lot of good sized turnips. BTW, this is in WI not in Ontario.
Thanks for all the info. I should have mentioned that in addition to the late season attraction we're hoping to provide excellent cover as well as the big field is right next to our hunting camp. We planted PowerPlant (sunflowers, beans, sorghum) in half of it last year and deer were routinely in it all day feeding, bedding, etc. However, after about the first of october it had no feeding attraction at all.
I had the same experience with turnips last year. They nibbled them a little bit and come December they never touched them again. This year they are again eating the part of the bulb sticking ouit of the ground, but we have had a number of hard frosts and they aren't doing much with them. Some of those dang turnips are the size of volleyballs too! Is it possible they just arent accustomed to them and prefer the picked cornfields and bean fields yet?
We are looking at turning over more field (about 3-5 more acres) and planting that in corn for next fall. We haven't planted corn for about 5 years, but when we last did, we would see dozens of deer entering it in the evenings. I just don't think there is a better attractant here come mid-late December and for the rest of the winter.
Just out of curiousity (off topic) anyone know roughly how much a farmer profits on an acre of corn? That seems like a lot of money for an acre of corn to be planted. If that is accurate the farmer that hasnt' (and I dont' think is) harvested the corn around me, which amounts to a LOT of acres lost his rump.
Question for those of you that use corn for food plot purposes only. Do you harvest the corn and if so when?
Back to this turnip thing..... I'm thinking about brush hogging, discing and planting something in a 10 acre field. How much per acre does planting turnips cost. I have access to the equipment from a friend of mine. I'll throw him a bone but aside from that how much to plant it per acre?
I talked to a farmer in IL and he did say how many bussels he can get per acre, but I don't remember. Also, I believe that $100-120 per acre was low.
No, it would and has stood all winter. Its a food and cover source only and gets plowed under in the spring.
Lol......at the old farm I hunted as a kid we would brush hog a few rows every week and just let it lay........:D
Depends on if you need fertilizer and lime or not. Fertilizer and lime is the expensive part. For seed, plan on $30ish an acre to plant designer brand name stuff. I've had REALLY good luck with Biologic Full Draw if you want turnips, and have used a lot of other stuff I like too. I've heard of people having local grain mills mix them up stuff that worked well for a LOT cheaper. For lime I started with PH's in the high 5's to low 6's, and had to put down roughly 1.5 ton per acre for several years in a row. I don't remember how much I paid for it though to be honest, maybe $100 per acre every year? This would be a fixed cost no matter what I chose to plant for the most part. For fertilizer, I was using pure 46-0-0 urea for brassicas and turnips. I believe corn needs lots of nitrogen too so this would likely be a very similar cost for corn. If urea is bought in bulk by the truck load, it's a lot cheaper. If bought by the 50lb bag (like I do) plan on about 200lbs per acre (rough average for what I've done) @ around $10 a 50lb bag. If I remember correctly, Ben found a place for his plots that sells it in bulk for a super cheap price, I guess you just need to look around and find the best deal. To really figure out what you need to plan on spending, go pull a soil sample and send it off to the guys at Mossy Oak Biologic. It only costs $7.50 and they will tell you exactly what you need done for lime and fertilizer based on what you want to grow. http://www.mossyoakbiologic.com/content.asp?ID=565§ion=none You can also likely find a local farming co-op that can offer similar types of tests for cheap. The test is key, because fertilizer, lime, and seed isn't cheap.......this way you won't be spending $$$ on stuff you don't need, and you know that all your hard work and $$$ will produce results. Nothing worse than working your butt off and putting tons of money into a plot and having nothing grow.......I've been there before and it's all preventable with a simple test.
