Stressless Farm Blog - Wildlife Habitat Improvements

[Stressless]

I've been thwarted a few times trying to get switch grass established to add screen and a softer edge to some plots.

I think I've gotten the process and timing down in TOO. These are first year frost seeded Big Rock switch.

1. Kill the area hard in the fall - ok to have a winter annual - this had rye and crimson clover.
2. Frost seed switchgrass in Jan when there's no snow, I do about 8#/acre.
3. Spray Simazine 2.5 Quarts / acre prior to greenup, I've had good luck during a thaw in late Feb or early March.
4. Hard kill right where you frost seeded and sprayed simazine just past greeenup - Mid Apr - start of turkey season with 2 quarts Gyl (41%) and 1 pint 24D Ester / Acre - Switchgrass germinates about the same time soil temp as corn.

Established switchgrass seedlings in three areas from these steps above.

I have one area with 2 y/o switch grass from the same planting/establishing method. THe 'dead grass on the left of the plot.
1. Mow the first year to clip other annuals down to the height of the swtichgrass.
2. Over spray simazine at the same time you do for establishing a new switchgrass plot.
First years end of year look.

Second year switchgrass along the left of the plot.

 

[Stressless]

Bottom Plot where I shot Dutton last year came in nice mid April here.

This field stated off at 4.7 pH in 2018

- two split applications ag lime applications of 2.5T/acre and one of pelletized lime 1500#/acre got it 6.8 pH.

So the area above the edge of Bottom is a extension of this bottom legume plot sweeten the line of movement along the edge instead of just crossing this pipeline.

I hit both the established Bottom Plot and the new extension with the same hot IMOX and crop oil mix, 8oz IMOX/acre and quart of crop oil/25 gal tank.

About 45 days after hitting it IMOX. - This field has not been cut in 2022 - that's just the IMOX working.

On IMOX the defined line of spray from the established part of Greenbrier plot and the area I'm trying to build organic matter....

Kinda in between but this pic shows the 12' wide strip of switchgrass frost seeded Feb, Simazine in Mar, Gly and 24D Ester in mid Apr..... the only thing growing in there is switchgrass.

One area I'm really interested with is the Dam plot which I haven't hit with anything except Ag lime applications - no herbicide at all. Just frost seeding and mowing. The legumes are doing really great - had my excatvotor guy in an d he asked how I make this crap soil perform as he siad they look better then a couple of his hay fields.

I 'think' I have the plots dialed into the minimum maintenance for the max draw and movement on the property

- Single food source across every plot so distribute the pressure
- Frost seeding legume plots with a light 6-8# / acre anytime Feb-Mar
- IMOX at 6.5 oz / acre with crop oil in mid Apr just past gtreen up but after the second set of leaves on the frost seeded legumes
- OPTIONAL - Mow once or twice over summer when not drought stressed
- 8-12 Sep overseed 150#/acre Cereal Rye and 15#/acre crimson clover / Mow plots after seeding

 

[Stressless]

I have made a couple time lapses and I've come to enjoy reviewing the "time" going thru all the pics and getting one per day to watch a progression of effort sometimes it's a win sometimes not and this is one is definitively a not. It is frontpad plot from last year, it went feral in 2020 and I didn't burn it down and frost seed - I tried annuals and they got smashed, the trick with this "plot routine" is you have to get a solid buckwheat catch and growth. I got a good catch but it got over-browsed and there was no thatch to cover the next annual seed / peas beans oats and brassicas.
It's all described above but here it is in pictures.

http://imgur.com/71Nl0av

 

[Stressless]

Neighbor Cliff got us hooked up with a local farmer that likes to brushhog so I got some of the plots cut and had planned to get the roads and trails cleared on Sat as well but the clearing team got rained out which is just fine - need rain bad.

Moving the plots back into a year round planting cycle seems to meet my goals pretty well. Albert's chat with Jesse (episode#8), the soil chemisty and interactions, reinforces my thoughts and way ahead with the plots I offer the herd this year. I am activly considering trying to not bait. Set the feeders up but just let the plots and other effects I've made soak...

I'll be able to monitor some of the plots/trails via cell cams and if there isn't any movement bysome arbitrarily time in Oct I can always go fill the in place feeders. Based on what I'm seeing I'm about 50/50 on that plan.

FrontPad - same plot as in the timelaspe above, got trimmed Sat and for the no till food plot, this is with one application of IMOX in Apr and frost seeded in Mar. My biggest concern was planting something that could best withstand the browsing pressure it is bound to get. They come in like it's an ag field, browsing for 8-9 hours.

It got cut about 3" shorter then I would have cut it, that's easily remedied with a conversation over a beer with the dude that cut it. Those graphs @at1010 shows on how much browse / loss reduces the efficacy of the plant makes a great point, whether it'slost to browsing or mowing- its lost to the plant.

We got a nice rain and another last night that should kick start the weeds and crops growing, hitting it with Cleth this week (got rained out on Sat as well). Another ref to Episode #8, I'm very curious to the usage on the 8 plots I have spread across the farm as they are all in the same blend, some different weed issues but the difference, if any, would be the soil!

Cliff reported that FrontPad has 60-70% BFT that caught and is growing well. with clover and chicory spit about 70/30.

Overseeding right into this with Tillage radish next weekend or so. In 5 weeks I'll overseed crimson clover and rye.

Right now thou, they're killin' it.

 

[Stressless]

Neighbor Cliff getting it done right in front of an excellent forecast.

He's 70 this year, just seeded 11 (7/4) acres, his and mine. Brassica crimson clover and his pheasant blend. He's headed out to CO in a couple weeks in an extended self guided elk hunt. I'll plant his fields with rye in a few weeks after this blasted election and faq'n back pain.

I truly enjoy the co-op nature of this friendship. The first time we met was right after my brother passed in 2013, so it was in 2014, and I went to assess the property. It was gonna be his so I didn't do much or think much about it. Saw a Ford parked in my 'neighbors' gated driveway. Very rural area. So I parked in mine and walked over asked this person if everything was okay?

He said "ya."

This goes on for less than a min and he lets me know he's the owner- all good then he holds this out his window ... had just found it by one of his stands that day.

LoL. We hit it off and are good friends he's been my big buck mentor and I've disappointed him yearly-

But we've learned food plotting together, my systems engineering and his chemical engineering play well together.

 

[Stressless]

Really happy with the state of things as we enter into the month hunting starts. I'm very pleased that my experiment with the buckwheat and greens last year - but- left a number of plots in my legume mix. The frost seeding and letting the older plots roll was a good guess. They are all in some form or fraction of great to good based on zero food plots prior to 2017. In five years I'm learned from some really great stewards of land proper management and how to properly measure results.

One measure is browsing pressure - that's the utilazation cage in the upper left.

Without that UT cage I would've thought the plot was way under-performing... with the UT cage I'm impressed it's this good with the pressure, the drought from June on, and the poor ridge top soil!

A couple plots pics to show they're all in this condition:

So the areas I've invested for fall greens and attraction have really paid off. I'll stick with this legume blend and over-seeding rye for now, one fixing N and one taking N.

The tillage radish this year - we'll see...

 

[Stressless]

Plans - they're what you change. Planned to do all this with the two buddies I've got coming in after labor day, rain in the forecast trumped that like a lead ace when you're two suited.. and that ace isn't one of them. Got the five new dirt areas from excavation seeded with 15#/acre live seed of the legume blend and 160ish#/acre of rye on them and also overseeded into the legume plots. 4.75 acres total and all 11 acres of Cliffs food plots overseeded with 100#/acre of rye.

Pepe, my ATV that I bought used for my brother in 2009 when he was diagnosed with his heart condition, is still going strong. Just spread 2800#'s of pulverized lime and 38 bushel of cereal rye.

 

[Stressless]

Rye poppin up nicely in the bare dirt. 3 days since sown. The legumes should be popping in a couple days.

 

[Stressless]

Spent some time at the farm over the last couple weeks and helping get mom all lined up with her needs at 91. On the farm with the finances settled from my two kids weddings and the election fund recovered I had some work done that I just can't do anymore. Knocking trees over to create better and more movement now that I have the crops dialed in.

This is a continuation of the plot plan I started in 2016, and at least as far as I'm concerned the last major work I'll be doing for the next 5 years. 5 years is my planning window, trying to connect next years details to the items I'ld like to do in 2-3 years and opening opportunities to synergize them in 4-5 years although those 4-5 year items are usually vague .

I brought Caleb back to get the heavy work done and Mooch and Chris came in after Labor day to help this somewhat broken/bent guy get some other tasks done.

Edge Plot is that little strip that is to the South of BackPad across the gully that we leveled.

All done opening up where the trees I killed last year were to make this expansion.

Got the seed, legumes and rye down the 3rd as well as lime down the 2nd.

12days after the seed was sown.

Pipeline is going back to nature, I'm helping as it's a poor location to hunt and directly on an accessible border. Increasing the forage in this area 2" (Two Inch) plot makes a barbell with Edge and BackPad to create a 1.5 acre set of plots. All the opened dirt got lime and seed the same day in front that wet spell at the end of Aug.

Haven't put any bait out. Not sure what my plan is on that this year. I'm holding many many family groups with the same crops in every plot - it has spread the pressure out and with the thickening of the bedding areas the plots the travel routes should be great hunts for those special 10 days or so around 7 Nov...

Chris Mooch and I got the two Rednecks up and 4900#'s of gypsum across the plots. The new dirt didn't get gypsum as the bikes would have tore up the newly germinating Rye and legums seeds - that'll happen later this year after the hunts.

The blinds well, I'm supposed to be a grandpa for the first time 5 Apr, 2023 so the Mrs didn't put up too much of a fight when I explained that they're really for the kids... LoL.. I mean it's true but I'll get to break them in for awhile before they come out.

 

[Stressless]

Overview: Just consolidating the last five years experiments results into one post.

Almost all my plots are on ~70 y/o spoil banks from strip mines and hot (pH) as hell. There's a 1/2" or so of organic material on them then rock, shale, clay and other sterile compositions.

---------------------------------------------------

Bare dirt recipe, first year only.

- If you know your soil is below 6 pH, anytime prior to planting apply 2T/acre Aglime

- If dirt opened up more than 3 weeks before planting your fall crop rye and legumes

-- Spray 2 quarts/acre Gly with 1 pint 24d ester + AMS

-- If less than 3 weeks just spray Gly and AMS

- 150#/acre Rye o/a Labor day

- 15#/acre Legume mix Live Seed o/a Labor Day

- Do Not terminate the rye the first Spring let bolt and cut when dead in June.

- Soil Sample and apply the correct TNV (Total Neutralizing Value) of lime to get your plot to 6.8pH

- Add fertilizer, P and K as needed

- Spray IMOX 6.5oz/acre with crop oil directly after cutting rye

- Spot Spray broadleaves Jun and Aug

- Spray clethodim in July or Aug after a good moisture event so grasses are growing

New area I opened up 27 Aug, Lime, rye and legumes went in 3 Sep. Pic is 6 Sep.



^Treat as an established plot thereafter

Same bare dirt plot 50 days later.

-------------------------------------------

Established Legume Plot recipe.

- 6-8#/acre LiveSeed Legume mix in Feb-Mar (Frost Seed)

- Spray IMOX 6.5oz/acre with crop oil once mid-April when weeds are 4-6" and growing aggressively.

- Spot Spray broadleaves Jun and Aug

- Spray clethodim in June + or - 3 or 4 days from mowing

- Cut plots to 6-7" as needed over summer

- 6#/acre tillage radish o/a 1 Aug

- 150#/acre rye on o/a labor day

- Mow plots directly after seeding rye

- Soil Sample every other year amend as suggested



^ Repeat annually

----------------------------------------

The yearly mix is what I've found to offer a blend of crops they desire and that withstands the browse pressure in my small plots while also improving the soil to make the crops work in a bit of harmony. The legumes are all inoculated so they make N, the rye and tillage radish consume N in a big way. Since I don't till, I use the tillage radish to open up/break up the surface soil and offer organic materials below the 1-2" zone. Note that my lands are NOT fertile black loamy soil.

Perennial Live Seed Mix:

15#/ acre bare dirt 6#/acre frost seed into existing plots.

Note that it's 40% Birdsfoor Trefoil and 40% clovers, 20% chicory. Each will have it's own % coating so you or your seed folks will have to do some math.





- Doesn't the rye come back in the spring? Does your mowing take care of it, or how are you controlling it? Imox?

Yes and Yes and yes -LoL Cereal Rye is an annual. On a new plot I let it bolt and die, then cut (brushhog) and spray Imox mid Juneish after the fawns can get up and away. The IMOX spray after cutting terminates any viable rye seed from the seed heads - as well as everything else IMOX kills.

Established plots I terminate the rye when I spray the plots with IMOX in mid-April - what I miss or doesn't get fully dead I mow in Mid-June

-Rye, 150lbs/acre why this amount?

I know I'm not getting good seed to soil contact when overseeding into a established legume plot so there will be a decent percentage that doesn't germinate and or is not viable for all sorts of reasons.

Conversely I need the rye to come in thick enough when the legumes start to falter and die off in late Oct - Early Nov to continue to draw deer to the plots - and to green up first thing throughout the winter when the temps are > 37F.

150# is an easy # to work with and I guesstamate when doing rye by the 56# bushel. I made a spreadsheet to help me figure the totals and by the plot.



-How big do the tillage radish get.

Adding the tillage radish helps add food to the late plot as well. This is from -inside- the utilization cage last years failed brassica planting - it just couldn't keep up with the browse pressure. So outside the UT cage it got smashed and didn't produce. The tillage radish are the long white ones.

On a side note all this is done with an ATV - Pepe - Spreader/Sprayer/Pull behind brushhog.

The planting mix is 'almost' keeping up with the browse pressure... .69" in the last month - far below normal and they are still producing.

Sep

Oct

 

[Stressless]

The plots are over browsed but they are still producing. Nov 4, and the clover is blooming where they missed some. The warm wx 3 day spell will make the plots with cool season legumes and rye jump.

 

[Stressless]

I'm impressed with the all the plots resiliency to the pressure, this warmish two days of 50▫ wx will give the plants a bit of a chance. Been real easy on this side of the farm - that's all gonna change in that cold front Thurs AM. To meet the management goals we're hoping to cull off 4-5 mature does between two hunters in two or three days. We'll see but this is by far the best plot/food I've had this late into the year and with over browsing across all the plots.

 

[Stressless]

Took a tour of the farm late last week to capture the current status. I'm done with 'new' projects for the foreseeable future. Plots, ponds, trails, roads etc are all in maintenance mode as of June of 2023. That's when the new dirt I opened on plots in Aug '22 will be finally be dialed into the same agricultural specs as the current plots. Need to add another 2T/acre of lime, the gypsum I reserved, take soil samples during turkey season and then fertilize that new dirt but then I'm - Done.

The process to dial it in and experiments to see what crops combos are all documented above. This is by far the longest in the season I've had good producing plots. Lots of thought, sweat and effort put into it.

Pine Plot is one that has had soil amended but no herbicides, just cutting 3-4 times a year and frost seeding legumes. I've noticed the legumes are coming stronger and more plentiful each year. These pics are from Dec 9th, post gun season and you can plainly see the edge of "Field" where I cut and let it go native. The grasses in it seem very pitiable to the deer due to the pH and other particulars being dialed in. It doesn't look like much until you look around and everything else is brown.

The plots, too many to do individually, have all come into 90%+ efficiency for production. Weeds, browse resistance, multiple species, etc... here're a couple.

BackPad and Edge
two years ago just rye with no legumes...

Full legumes and overseeded rye - increasing

Greenbrier

Only three mature does taken from the 100 acres this season. With the plots in order and meeting the demand signal for browse thru the major hunting dates and adding the 1.2 acres of expanded plots for 2023 we should be good to go for years to come.

 

[Morgan2]

Thanks for all of the information and service. Just spent an hour going through your thread and trying to digest. You said earlier that you would share your planning spreadsheet - is that still available? Also - the legume seed spreadsheet from about a month ago? Your legume mixture consists of mainly of cool season varieties? Frost seeding them in spring and a fall seeding in August? No warm season legumes (I assume plots not big enough?)

Also - have you checked your buck beds this year? Do you know the use and what your growth is like in Y2?

 

[Stressless]

@Morgan2 You're welcome bud. That's part of why I'm putting it up is to try and share what I've done and have folks ask questions etc - to make us all better. One of my other lines, "No one is as smart as all of us."

You said earlier that you would share your planning spreadsheet - is that still available? Yup - send me your email in a PM and I'll send it along via email. The spreadsheet has a couple workbooks those have all that info.

Your legume mixture consists of mainly of cool season varieties? Frost seeding them in spring and a fall seeding in August? No warm season legumes (I assume plots not big enough?) In my case I don't need or want summer food. I do not want to attract "more" does
- The primary outcome I want is to maximum food during the peak hunting season -and- that will last throughout the hunting season(s). Turkey and Deer seasons for me.
- I need all the plots to have the same crop(s), if one plot has better, i.e., different crops than the others - the deer will pile into the one that's better: 1 - decimate it 2 it might not be positioned for a wind to hunt it ....
- I want to spend the least 'time' on maintenance of the plots, specifically weather event driven time as I'm not close and I will fail with that variable in play
- This piece is learned from Albert - Always have something growing in your dirt unless you're making a significant change - burning down a plot and restarting for example. Annuals require that WX driven timing variable for rain a couple times a year so that's a no-go in my specific calculus.
- Frost seed lugumes in the late winter. Plant winter rye in the fall, early Sep perferably with a rain event.

 

[gjs4]

This thread, with your sharing basis, is a blessing for those of us with new properties. Thank you for sharing!

A couple of big think questions in my mind- do you feel the carrying capacity will stay static over time? Ihave you seen your buck age structure ( in season) change over the duration of your improvments?

 

[Morgan2]

Stressless - I am trying to send a PM - but not seeing an option. I searched the site for this, but not found anything helpful. Can you point me in the right direction? If not, I will throw my email up here for a flash...

 

[Sgt Fury]

Stressless - I am trying to send a PM - but not seeing an option. I searched the site for this, but not found anything helpful. Can you point me in the right direction? If not, I will throw my email up here for a flash...

Click on the envelope icon at the top of the page, then type @Stressless for the recipient.

 

[Stressless]

Sry - we had the annual Xmas open house last night, made all kinds of critter cuisine and libations... very busy for a few days.

Thank you very much George for the overwatch.

@Morgan2 - sent you a PM just reply to my email address in it. All good.

//Spreadsheet Sent//

 

[Stressless]

@Morgan2 got me thinking so I checked prices at Merit (they are out or BFT currently) I updated the spreadsheet for 2023 frost seeding in Feb-Mar. This is live seed at 6.3#/acre. I'll since I know the live seed I'll just ask Merit to add the percentage of coating for each seed to the total. Hope to get it out mid-March.

I expect to trim the 12 openings in Mar as well, taking a basal herbicide and saw, hinge cut woody stems that have grown > 8' and cut+spray around the conifers we planted last spring into the smaller 9 openings.