FOOD PLOT????????????????????????

[wasp]

I have got winter wheat planted,iam thinking of about in feb.to seed it with clovers.then in the summer mow the wheat down. what kinds of clovers will be best. for deer turkey. i want the clover coming up good for turkey season. i had the field in clover till cows got in it. so i had to plant wheat. if they get in it this year, i will be eating beef ha.ha. the land i got had been timberd about 20 years ago.there is logging road, i got the one field on one side of my land. iam opening the log roads,iam thinking about planting the log roads, you think a mixter of clover,wheat next fall will be ok?? i have tried bio-, and all that stuff, it is to much money.i think red,white, ala, wheat is good,cheater, what do everone else use? you think if i plant them log roads it will not got full of leaves.it some what open,but got good cover around, thanks wasp

[Multidigits]

Ladino seems to be fairly easy to start. You'll need lime probably, unless you have soil tested to see what the PH is. Depending on the size of the patch, you can use pellitized lime or quick lme, or ag lime from the rock quarry if it's a bigger patch.

[KYhunter]

Ladino is a good one. Also a local "ag" guy says that a red clover named Kenlan(sp) I believe is a good clover(and heavily used in Central Ky) because it was designed for this soil. I would not mix alfalfa in with it.

[Marcus]

Winter wheat sure is a good food source. I would recommend Ladino and white dutch clover if you are going to mow it at least once a year. Yellow clover is good clover but grows high and will crowd dutch and ladino out if planted thick. The red-top clover works fine for deer and turkey absolutely love it. The turkey stay in the clover while the red tops are in bloom the most but the red clover only comes up one season. Remember, clover responds well to fertilize. Fertilize will cause the clover to have an inherent higher content of protein. The deer won't have to eat as much to benefit from it. Hope I helped. Good luck.

[Strutter]

I think though that if you fertilize clovers you want to use a type with little or no nitrogen as clover produces it's own nitrogen. This is what I was told anyway.

Strutter

[imported_admin]

Your best bet before planting any food plot is to get a soil sample (take some soil from several different locations in the field you want to plant. Take it to your county extension agent (I believe) and have it tested. There is a small fee, but they can tell you exactly what and how much fertilizer/lime to use.

[Marcus]

Way too much fertilize can be harmful to many plants, but if you put just a little extra fertilize, the plants will use what they need and the rest will break down in time. Fertilize will mean the difference in clover with 10% protein and up to 16 or 18% protein. "Admin" has a good idea of getting the soil tested to see what ratio of fertilize and lime you need for your specific crop. I just never did get the time to do that for my food plot.

[Fur and Feather]

Another thing to remember, while doing plots, is to test the soil every year. After you plant anything, it will change the composition of the soil. Just as mentioned, clover affixes nitrogen to its roots and reestablishes it back into the soil. After you fertilize and lime, according to your extension office's recommendation, and raise a plot, be sure to do this every year and you will have great success. Even applying herbicide changes the pH of the soil slightly.

Additionally, there will be different recommendation they will make according to the plant selection you intend to use. A good plan goes a long way. One other thing to consider is rotating your plots. While ladino clover is by far the most beneficial plot to raise for whitetail deer, due to their need for protein, and other species', it will over nitrogen enrich the soil. Try clover one or two years. Ladino will come up healthy for a few years. Then try milo for one year. The milo will benefit from the clover being on the plot previously and the clover will benefit from the milo inturn. Corn can also be used, but if you have an erosion risk stick with milo. It is also short enough to hunt over, provides cover, and is cheap.

The last thing to remember is application. Take into consideration the erosion risk of your soil. If you are in a bottom land, it will not be much of a difference, but ridges and hilltops with alot of rock can erode quickly. In any situation, the use of no-till drills is by far the best thing out there. They do not disturb the weed beds under the soil the way plowing and discing does. And as always eradicate any fescue in the plot before planting.

A good thing to do is to start out with a milo plot. It is an annual and will have to be replanted every year. What this does is allow you to kill off any fescue before and after your first planting. Over the course of the year you will have residual fescue creep back into the plot. Fescue is highly competitive and will kill any small grasses or clover. Milo is tall enough to provide plenty of nutrition the first year, but allows for the residual fescue to be exposed over the course of this year. Then, lay the milo down after deer season. Just drag a log behind an ATV and it will do the trick. This will break it down before spring, and expose the residual fescue, when you then reapply herbicide to kill off the residual fescue. Now you are ready for clover.

Last thing to think about in highly erodable soils is to mix your clover with a quick rooting, non invasive grass that wildlife can benefit from. Orchard grass is very good, some folks like rye. However rye will spread more than the orchard grass will and will end up competing with the Ladino Clover.

Sorry so long winded, but I hope that this experince helps you a good bit. I hate to see folks get discouraged because of a bad experience. Ladino clover is not cheap, and having to kill off a plot of clover, just to keep up with the fescue every year is a shame.

[wasp]

THIS IS WASP. IAM GOING TO SEED MY WHEAT FIELDS IN FEB, WITH MIXES OF CLOVERS. CAN A MAN SEED ALALFA THE SAME WAY AS CLOVERS??????? I MEAN IN FEB, ON THE SNOW???? IAM GOING TO STICK WITH RED, LADINO, I HAD A SOIL TEST LAST YEAR, SO IT SHOULD DO GOOD.I WANT THE CLOVERS COMING UP FOR THE TURKEYS,I DO NOT WANT TO PLOW ALL OF IT,IT WILL BE TO WET TO PLOW THIS SPING, TURKEY SEASON WILL BE OVER THANKS FOR EVERTHING,,,,,,,,,,,,,, WASP

[KYhunter]

Wasp- stay with clover- forget the alfalfa.

[GSP]

I agree with KY on staying away from alfalfa. I don't
how big of field this is, but you may want to mix a
small amount of grass (timothy) in with your clover.
Clover does good with a little shade in the late, hot
part of summer. Also grasshoppers will cling to it and
turkey poults will work them over.

[wasp]

THANKS FOR EVERTHING, IT WILL HELP,I WILL STAY AWAY FROM ALALFA, AND STICK WITH CLOVERS, CAN YOU PLANT TIMOTHY IN FEB??????? IAM GOING TO PLANT CLOVER IN FEB, WHEN THERE IS HOPEFULLY SNOW ON, THANKS AGIAN WASP

[GSP]

I planted in late Feb and early March.I've had good luck
with it. You don't need much. I went with
1/4 the recommend amount per acre (on grass)and heavy on
clover. I am no biologist, but it has worked for me
on a a 5 acre field that I converted from fescue.
This field does not "hold" feeding turkeys in the spring for
hunting, but it does hold the nesting hens and poults all
year.

[wasp]

gsp, that field i got is about 2ac, when i had clover in it early fall the turkeys was in it ever day. my cows got out and eat it all up.so i had to plant wheat. i found a planting guide it said you can plant clover,timothy feb.1 i just moved here last aug, igot 40ac,so i made foodplots in the woods. there where turkeys everwere, i didnot get one but seen alot. gsp, why dont the turkeys use your field in the spring????????? it dont seen right. wasp

[GSP]

Let me change that. I do get lone hens using the field in spring on their way to and from nest. The way the area lays out around my farm, I get more gobblers using the ridges with clearings and strutting areas than I do in fields with clover. I quess they have something more on their minds than eating. The clover helps hold the birds in a general area the entire year, but the field itself is really not a good hunting setup. That is just the way my fields lay out. It may be different in a more flatter area. Having fields that are in wooded areas like yours may be a great setup. About the only thing I know for sure about these birds is, don't ever say "never" or "always" when talking about what a turkey will do.