Not A Fan Of Early Season Deer Hunt

[BobT]

From what I've learned the reason for the lower yield in spring is possibly many-fold.

First, it takes a lot longer to dry ground when it has not been tilled in the fall so you would typically not get your seed in the ground as early as you would on fall tilled ground. Note that my experience comes from my soil type, which is heavy clay base. Sandy soil base may be quite different. I have heard that in some cases where soil is sandy and well-drained, it is preferred to spring till the ground.

Second, when I till it in the fall the winter frost does a nice job of breaking up the clumps of soil so you end up with a better seed bed in the spring. Seeds don't germinate well in chunky soil and this might be one reason why sandy soil might be less of an issue. It probably doesn't hang together as tightly as clay based soil. When you plant a garden you lightly pack the soil around the seed. Try to do this with dried out clumps of clay and I think you get the picture.

Third, because I have to wait too long for the soil to get dry enough to till, by the time I can do it it is too dry to allow good seed germination and I believe my percentage of seeds that actually grow diminishes.

Fourth, tilling in the fall mixes the organic trash from the year's crop such as the chopped bean stems and corn stalks into the soil over winter. I believe this helps start the decomposition process earlier so that the following year can take better advantage of the organic matter sooner. In some cases, it is true that you want some trash in the top couple inches of soil so there is some merit to keeping some on top.

Finally, when my seeds are forced to germinate so much later because I had to wait for drydown to till, had to wait for me to till it, and had inadequate moisture, they are finally emerging about the time the weeds are and so they face a lot more competition. Earlier plantings can help because the crops get a jump start on the competing weeds and can compete much better.

As far as your situation, I know I would not likely achieve satisfactory results by just disking my ground and drilling seed. If I don't till my ground with a plow of some sort it gets like concrete and a disk would struggle to penetrate well. You would be better to talk to the farmer that currently operates your soil. He knows your conditions and what is best.

Bob

[UMDSportsman]

Bob-

i second everything you said, growing up on a small farm that matches everything i have learned over the years.

Blackjack-

I don't know what your plans are for the year after you have corn in there. But on our farm we have moved away from Roundup ready corn just because when we plant our Roundup ready beans there the next year, the Roundup does not kill the volunteer corn that comes up.

Roundup ready corn is nice and roundup i think is cheaper than the other stuff we spray the corn with. just something we have done since we started a crop rotation with beans.

[mudtracker]

Well I hunted in the Rum river forest and I don't know why it is in an intensive harvest area there are very few deer there judging by the lack of sign and the lack of success by myself and many of the other hunters I talked to.

[vister]

fertilizer may not be needed if you don't till it. beans naturally run nitrogen out into the soil, and that is why some farmers have run bean seed with their corn seed. Then the need for nitrogen fertilzer isn't necessary in smaller fields, which is a pretty spendy fertilizer. round-up ready corn wouldn't be a bad idea considering you may not be cultivating at knee high to loosen soil and dig up unwanted weeds. just hose them down. But remember not to skimp on the round-up concentration as too little will only help weeds become tolerant of it and then round-up will not work as good, or at all. Also, just broadcast the fertilizer over the soil, there is no need to till it into the ground. rain will do that, and corn roots generally don't exceed 5 or 6 inches underground, so all you may need to do is run fertilizer while planting.

[BLACKJACK]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll talk to the local farmer and see what he says about tillage. I'll probably get a soil test too. For $15 it will tell me how much fertilizer that I should or shouldn't put on the field. I'm thinking that the fertilizer should be worked in so that if a heavy rain came it didn't all wash away. I'm also concerned that my planter would not plant deep enough without some tillage, its just an old John Deere four row. Plans for the field in 2009 would be a) leave it if the deer don't eat the five acres of corn. plant roundup ready soybeans and leave them for a food plot for the pheasants and deer.

[vister]

beans are primarily a deer attractant when the plant is somewhat young, or just before the bean pods just start to form. they prefer the fresh new green leaves and sprouts. when the plants start to brown and lose their moisture, deer will usually head towards the corn, which is something they prefer as it matures. but you can bet the best pheasant hunting will be near ready-to or already harvested bean field edges, as we found out this weekend.