Tractor for rent or someone to disc

[mattg1500]

Lookin to do a small plot for next year and will need the field turned. About .5ac

Has 2' grass in it now and is wet. End of feb would be ideal. If anyone in Z10 has a small tractor and disc to rent out or is close and wants to do it for some $ let me know. 

[Rather Be Hunting]

Where in zone 10? And there is almost zero chance you will able to work the ground in February. Ground will just be way to wet til mid to late March most years.

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

I'll give you my advise... as I hunt zone 10.. and I have a food plot in zone 5.

You are wasting your time, effort, and $ doing a half acre plot in an area like that.

My zone 5 plot is .25 acre and doesn't stand a chance with only a few deer around..
Zone 10 you need acres upon acres otherwise the deer will just destroy it as soon as it pops and it won't establish itself..

I hunt zone 10 and have a hay field.i thought about doing a few strips on the corner I hunt but decided it wasnt worth the effort.. I knew the amount of deer on this spot would destroy my har work overnight.

Gl

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

[Rem Mag]

You may not need a tractor and disc.....

I really thought the ground had to be worked some what to get the good soil to seed contact but it seems there are plenty of people out there not breaking the ground at all.......

There are a ton of no till, throw and grow type videos on line. It doesn't even appear that you need special "no till seed".  There are plenty of guys just weed wacking the area, spraying with "round up" or a generic brand spray, then spreading the seed over top of the dead material so it acts as a mulch...

Heck... I have even watched a few where they just sprayed the crap out of the existing vegetation and then seeded without weed wacking it, they ran the dead material down and flattened it with a quad then seeded over it...

There are some then raking or scratching up the ground.. but also many that aren't....and their plots seem to grow just fine....biggest key looks like timing it right with rain the day you seed (it helps the seed make the good soil contact it needs) and then the chance of rain for a few weeks after to get the plot really established....

guys are doing all kinds of mixes and solo seedings of brassica, clover,rape, wheat and unbelievably soy bean using this method.

I have been watching a bunch of the videos and decided I want to try it on my family property in NY. There is so much rock in the ground there that it is just un real and the thought of trying to disc or till has kept me from doing anything for years...

 

Jay also has a valid point on the deer mowing it down before it even gets established...In zone 7 I have witnessed deer decimate a small secluded farmer planted soybean field to the point that most of it never even grew bean pods and he just ended up plowing it in and taking a loss on it, now it's just a fallow field.

Good luck with your project!

[tcook8296]

Small plots planted with candy crops will never survive browsing pressure and be a huge disappointment. 

For small plots I recommend clover. It will withstand heavy grazing the best. 

You can over seed it with rye in the fall. 

I would save the discing and frost seed heavy in late Feb or 1st week of march. Overseed again in April when the rains come.  Spray a grass selective herbicide when the grass starts growing again and keep mowing the weeds just to the top of the clover to keep setting them back. Plots are definately better planted in the fall for weed competition. Planting the wrong crops, planting at the wrong times is why many guys plots fail. 

If the frost seeding doesnt work out, you can then go in with the disc and get it ready for planting late summer and replant around labor day. 

Get some lime down now

Edited December 17, 2019 by tcook8296

[mattg1500]

The area is wet to begin with. I only need to compete with neighboring corn piles as theres no crop fields around. I tried oats last year and not a sprout after turning fertilizing and lyme. Decided this time to try bigger

[tcook8296]

Alsike clover. 

https://meritseed.com/alsike-clover-perennial-untreated/

[hammer4reel]

Rental center on 173 between exit 11 and 12.

Prices were reasonable

[Lunatic]

3 hours ago, mattg1500 said:

The area is wet to begin with. I only need to compete with neighboring corn piles as theres no crop fields around. I tried oats last year and not a sprout after turning fertilizing and lyme. Decided this time to try bigger

That's even more reason to consider Jay's comment.

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

The area is wet to begin with. I only need to compete with neighboring corn piles as theres no crop fields around. I tried oats last year and not a sprout after turning fertilizing and lyme. Decided this time to try bigger

Clover does well on small areas but burns up easily in aug then weeds takeover.

I have 0 benefit from my clover for deer season-
I oversees with rye and brassicas but the deer wipe it out in 1 day..

All my work is not beneficial, I do it because I enjoy the hobby of planting plots .. even though its aggravating when it gets eaten in a day.

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

[tcook8296]

Check out this article as it provides tips on how to start a clover plot. Pay attention to the timing of the planting to obtain the best results

http://deerbuilder.com/DB/features/foodplots/perfectclover/

[tcook8296]

14 hours ago, Lunatic said:

That's even more reason to consider Jay's comment.

I wouldnt make a decision based on one persons comment or experience. 

Guys plant food plots with very high expectations of giant bucks and huge numbers of deer feeding in it. 

A half acre plot is not big for a food plot but you can get deer to utilize it and it must be planted with a crop that will withstand grazing. 

We are all hunting small properties here in Nj and it is impossible to keep deer on a small property especially with a corn pile in every wood lot. 

Food plots are just a part of improving habitat for deer. They like to browse and the more choices you can give a whitetail the more likely he will spend more time on your property than if you did nothing at all. 

The single most important thing is cover. 

If you dont have it, the deer dont live there. 

Creating a sanctuary is another important improvement. 

The smaller the property, the more important you stay out of it especially during hunting season. 

Small improved properties can be difficult to hunt. You have less land with more deer. 

You cant pressure it, your stands have to be on the fringes, you have to be able to get in and out with out bumping deer. If the deer know you are hunting them, they become much more difficult to harvest especially when you are targeting one specific animal. 

Any improvement that you can make that keeps the deer spending more time on your property than your neighbors property is less time the neighbors have to kill them. 

[Lunatic]

8 hours ago, tcook8296 said:

I wouldnt make a decision based on one persons comment or experience. 

Guys plant food plots with very high expectations of giant bucks and huge numbers of deer feeding in it. 

A half acre plot is not big for a food plot but you can get deer to utilize it and it must be planted with a crop that will withstand grazing. 

We are all hunting small properties here in Nj and it is impossible to keep deer on a small property especially with a corn pile in every wood lot. 

Food plots are just a part of improving habitat for deer. They like to browse and the more choices you can give a whitetail the more likely he will spend more time on your property than if you did nothing at all. 

The single most important thing is cover. 

If you dont have it, the deer dont live there. 

Creating a sanctuary is another important improvement. 

The smaller the property, the more important you stay out of it especially during hunting season. 

Small improved properties can be difficult to hunt. You have less land with more deer. 

You cant pressure it, your stands have to be on the fringes, you have to be able to get in and out with out bumping deer. If the deer know you are hunting them, they become much more difficult to harvest especially when you are targeting one specific animal. 

Any improvement that you can make that keeps the deer spending more time on your property than your neighbors property is less time the neighbors have to kill them. 

Nice post, I agree but not on subject if you are replying to Jays comment. Wrong or right, he is saying tiny plot will get hammered and destroyed in a couple of days before the plants get 2” above the ground, hence wasted time and money. You may not agree with it and you could say it instead all this above about improving your property.

anyway, give it a shot it may work for you. Good luck and kill a giant !!

[tcook8296]

4 hours ago, Lunatic said:

Nice post, I agree but not on subject if you are replying to Jays comment. Wrong or right, he is saying tiny plot will get hammered and destroyed in a couple of days before the plants get 2” above the ground, hence wasted time and money. You may not agree with it and you could say it instead all this above about improving your property.

anyway, give it a shot it may work for you. Good luck and kill a giant !!

The clover needs to be planted with a cover crop in the fall not in the spring. It takes awhile for clover to set its roots , planted in the spring it is still very tender which is most likely why its burning up not to mention its trying to compete with fast growing spring weeds. The rye helps shelter the tender clover and gives the deer something to browse. Once established its hard to kill even when dosed with round up. Planted in the fall, it has time to set its roots and the following spring, the rye suppresses the weeds as the clover takes off. There are several other reasons for a plot failure also. One other thing I have seen guys doing and Ive done it myself is running the tractor over wet ground causing soil compaction. Make sure the dirt is dry before putting a tractor on it.  If I could only do one plot its clover .

Although when the temps drop like tonight, I love having turnips. I watched over 20 deer tonight in my food plot ripping the turnip tops out of the ground and they started hitting the turnips themselves. Of course they were browsing on wheat rye and clover patches also

Edited December 18, 2019 by tcook8296