Proper planning and timing increases the chance of a successful planting season.
Early fall planting for the hunting season is one of my favorite times of the year. The occasional cool morning and evening reminds us of what is just around the corner.
The anticipation of hunting trips and hopeful encounters with the deer we have been watching all spring and summer is at its peak. I really try to encourage guys to prepare and plan now so that busy time of year goes smoothly. The idea is to eliminate surprises that can derail a planting season.
Some of us are so busy that we try to squeeze all of our late summer/early fall plantings into one weekend.
While this may work for some with only a couple of small plots to deal with, I have heard countless stories about equipment breakdowns, unanticipated overgrown fields, trees over roads, and numerous other events that totally wreck a hunter’s intentions for a weekend of farming.
Here are a few tips to help the planting process to be effective, efficient, and productive.
Photo by Austin Delano
An obvious but important tip that can go a long way is to have tractors and implements in top shape for use. Many people’s equipment gets used only once or twice a year and is then parked in the weeds till next time.
Proper maintenance of bearings, blades, tires, belts, fluids, etc. are often overlooked. So, when a breakdown occurs it’s almost always at an inconvenient time. Recognizing and fixing potential problems early can help your planting season go smoothly.
When we talk about planting tips for the hunting season, it’s important to point out differences in the timing for where you might live compared to other folks. For example, the guy or gal who lives in northern Minnesota has a 45- to 60-day difference in the time of year when they would plant their food plots for the hunting season compared to someone planting in southern Alabama or Mississippi.
This is further complicated by the fact that some species of plants that are often used in food plots have varying ideal planting times.
This large gap is confusing to some and often leads to food plots being planted too early or too
late, which often results in sub-par plots. Using the previously mentioned areas as an example, the hunter in northern Minnesota who wants to plant an all-brassica blend should try and plant in the last week of July. On the flip side, the hunter in the Deep South won’t plant that same blend until mid to late September.
One issue that a lot of food plot managers often run into is what to do with plots that are planted with warm season annuals such as beans, lablab, or peas. They are still producing good quality food, but it’s also time to prepare that same plot for cool season annuals in anticipation of the hunting season.
I don’t know if there’s a perfect answer or solution to that issue. But I have found that leaving a strip or section of that warm season annual standing will enable it to continue providing food while you prepare the majority of the plot for your cool season planting.
Once a frost hits, or the warm season annual matures to the point of non-use, a cereal grain like wheat or oats that germinates quickly can be planted. This tactic I call plot partitioning. And in my experience, it’s very effective.
Another common problem I see wildlife managers trying to deal with is showing up to plant and their plots are three to four feet high in weeds and grasses.
The problem doesn’t lie in the weeds themselves but what happens when you try to incorporate a few tons of this green biomass into the top few inches of soil you are turning over. There’s nothing wrong with letting a field sit fallow during the spring and summer months. Those weeds and grasses often contain beneficial native browse and are good sources of cover during fawning and bird nesting.
There is also a lot of benefit in disking or cutting in a season of biomass and organic material. The problem comes when it is attempted the same day you are trying to create a good seed bed for planting. Ideally, this would need to be done at least a couple of weeks if not a month ahead of planting.
The other option is cutting and spraying, especially if you let fields sit fallow during the spring/summer but you intend to plant that plot for the hunting season.
You will burn less fuel and effort by cutting and then spraying the plot a couple of weeks ahead of your planned planting date. A properly applied non-selective herbicide will kill the weeds and create a very dry material that is much easier to manipulate.
“A question I am often asked is, What kind of fertilizer do I need to use on my plots?”
Seed bed preparation is extremely important in growing successful food plots. Many planting failures can be attributed to poor seedling survival or lack of germination due to incorrect planting depth and poor seed bed prep.
This is especially critical when planting small seeds like clover, chicory, brassicas, or alfalfa. These seeds need a covering of no more than ¼ inch of soil.
Oftentimes, when plots are disked or tilled, the seed bed is left fluffy. This is not conducive for small seeds to germinate. When small seeds are broadcast onto a very finely disked and fluffy seed bed, even a moderately heavy rain causes some seeds to be buried too deeply, which results in an uneven stand.
When planting smaller seeds, fields should be cultipacked after disking or tilling to firm the seed bed up. Seed can then be broadcast. And for the best seed-to-soil contact, fields can then be cultipacked again. This process creates a great environment for seedling survival by incorporating the seed at the proper depth.
Cultipacking also allows moisture to move through the soil profile properly and keeps moisture around the seed as it germinates. Leaving a seed bed unpacked and full of air space allows the soil to dry out much more rapidly, thus increasing the chance of plot failure.
Photo by Austin Delano
A question I am often asked is, What kind of fertilizer do I need to use on my plots?
That is a great question and one with a lot of variables. There is no substitute for an up-to-date soil test that gives pH and nutrient levels. Adding agricultural lime to neutralize the acidity of the soil is an oft-overlooked step but one that is a major factor in growing good crops.
For example, a soil with a pH level of 5.0 is 100 times more acidic than one at 6.0. At a level of 5.0, 60-70% of the fertilizer added is unusable by the plants. Not only will food plot crops grow better in a less acidic soil, deer will also utilize the crops better due to a better tasting plant.
For most all food plot crops—both warm and cool season—a pH of 6.2 to 7.0 is ideal. Many hunting clubs and individuals work on a pretty tight budget when it comes to planting food plots. When soil tests reveal a low pH level, money is much better spent on getting the appropriate amount of lime added to the soil rather than more fertilizer.
Adding lime is a chore I often relate to planting a tree when someone asks when they should do it. The best time was yesterday, the next best time is right now.
Lime takes time to break down. It doesn’t neutralize acidity and change soil pH overnight. In my opinion, fertilizing is a little different. Depending on your soil type, fertilizers break down and are utilized by plants. They leach out of the root zone more quickly than lime.
By way of example, if you know by a recent soil test that your plot needs a given amount of fertilizer for optimal growth, I wouldn’t suggest adding that fertilizer six months ahead of the planting date. I think you get more bang for your buck and better plot results by incorporating that fertilizer and disking it in just prior to or right at planting time.
This especially holds true when planting in hot and humid conditions and you are using a high
nitrogen fertilizer like 34-0-0 or 46-0-0 for cereal grains and brassicas.
It’s beneficial to work in these nitrogen fertilizers just before planting because in high heat and high humidity situations, a lot of the nitrogen can be lost through volitization if they are left laying on the soil surface.
