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Broadcasting corn.... Chronicles of Blue Spruce Outfitters

BlueSpruceOutfitters

BlueSpruceOutfitters

Junior Member
941
71
Valley City, Medina Co. OH
Hey gents. I think I'm gonna start chronicling the adventures in habitat management here at our main farm in Medina county. We've been doing it for around 6 years now and have seen HUGE differences in both deer & turkey density and quality. Always looking to learn more and get some more ideas.


Here's a little background:

150 acres.
About 70% open field planted in Christmas trees and 30% wooded.
3 acres in current food plots plus another 3 acres in the works for this fall.
All needed farm equipment for planting.

We recently planted an acre in AgriGold corn but did something different. We decided to try broadcasting the field since it has pretty good fertility and our main goal is deer food/cover, not pretty rows. We also mixed in a little sorghum mix Lol. Here's a pic before planting the field. I'll keep you all updated.
 
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jagermeister

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,082
223
Ohio
Awesome! Looking forward to the updates. I think your corn will do just fine as long as you get decent seed to soil contact. I've seen plenty of volunteer corn come up over the years, in much less prepared soil.
 
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Iowa_Buckeye

Iowa_Buckeye

Smartest person here
1,782
85
Linn County Iowa
We tried broadcasting corn one year in a hard to reach spot. It grew, but we put it down waaaay too heavy and pretty much choked itself out. We ended up mowing it down late summer.
It should do well if you had the rate correct. Good luck!
 
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cspot

cspot

Member
2,650
94
Home is PA--- Camp is in SE Ohio
Iowa_Buckeye said:
We tried broadcasting corn one year in a hard to reach spot. It grew, but we put it down waaaay too heavy and pretty much choked itself out. We ended up mowing it down late summer.
It should do well if you had the rate correct. Good luck!
Click to expand...


I have tried to make a better effort in measuring fields and putting on the recommended amount of seed. Sometimes it seems like it is light, but the recommendation is there for a reason. Now clover and winter wheat I haven't had an issue with over seeding, but things like Brassicas, sugar beets, etc I have.
 
BlueSpruceOutfitters

BlueSpruceOutfitters

Junior Member
941
71
Valley City, Medina Co. OH
cspot said:
@BlueSpruceOutfitters Please keep us updated. I have been going to plant corn several times, but always end up planting something else. One of these days I will plant a few acres.
Click to expand...
We'll keep ya updated! We went heavy with the seedling rate due to broadcasting instead of drilling. We'll see how she turns out. At least, we'll have some thick corn-laded cover for the deer to hang in!
 
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Spencie

Spencie

Senior Member
5,051
145
Constitution Ohio
Are your fruit trees producing? How old are they? I started with 17 apple trees but I’m down to 6...maybe 5 after my dad backed into the best looking one with the tractor. None of them have even flowered and I have had them for 5 years now. The pear trees have had a few pears on them but nothing this year due to a late freeze.
 
BlueSpruceOutfitters

BlueSpruceOutfitters

Junior Member
941
71
Valley City, Medina Co. OH
Spencie said:
Are your fruit trees producing? How old are they? I started with 17 apple trees but I’m down to 6...maybe 5 after my dad backed into the best looking one with the tractor. None of them have even flowered and I have had them for 5 years now. The pear trees have had a few pears on them but nothing this year due to a late freeze.
Click to expand...
They're young. They're two years old now. So maybe 3-4 more years before they produce. The same ones I planted next to my house gave me two apples last year which would be year 4, so that's a plus. Theyre all flowering heavy already. I've planted around 20 apple and pear, 50 plum and 50 persimmon in the last few years. The plums and persimmons are tubed. The apples and pears are caged. I have 2 year plums that are poking out of 5' tubes so I'm optimistic. I spray around them every spring to kill any weed competition, then fertilize them in spring and let em go. Have only lost maybe 10% and no apples or pears.
 
Spencie

Spencie

Senior Member
5,051
145
Constitution Ohio
BlueSpruceOutfitters said:
They're young. They're two years old now. So maybe 3-4 more years before they produce. The same ones I planted next to my house gave me two apples last year which would be year 4, so that's a plus. Theyre all flowering heavy already. I've planted around 20 apple and pear, 50 plum and 50 persimmon in the last few years. The plums and persimmons are tubed. The apples and pears are caged. I have 2 year plums that are poking out of 5' tubes so I'm optimistic. I spray around them every spring to kill any weed competition, then fertilize them in spring and let em go. Have only lost maybe 10% and no apples or pears.
Click to expand...

I have two pear trees in the backyard that were loaded last year so I have hopes for the pears. My apple trees are Arkansas black and red Rome beauty which are supposed to ripen in November. But like I said most have died for various reasons. I lost quite a few to cicadas two years ago.
 
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