Maybe you get a big discount since you sell the stuff but I don't think any of us out here could even buy 120 lbs of actual N for that price. Seems like a bag of 34-0-0 cost us around $13 or so. 7 bags would be nearly $100 by itself. Are you not giving those numbers in actual lbs of fert?

Yea bill I was gonna save that one for later. You caught me!

CNC I actually buy it from my competitor because my company audits and frowns on us to buy for personal use. If you know how to read fert analysis you'd understand when I say 40-60-60 that's final put on the ground but you don't so it doesn't mean anything to you

The ones that truly don’t know much about the subject are the ones chiming in with nothing more to add than juvenile name-calling. I’m rather enjoying our back and forth though. It’s fun to watch you play out in left with your smoke and mirrors……..

Is that a fact?

Damn, 257 I can't believe you bit again. You should know you can't win. You can pull soil samples, lime and fertilize per sample , have record yields, don't matter, you're wrong.

you two need to get a room, I'll supply the boxing gloves....

Is this the Clorox on a stump post?

Don’t rush the foreplay Troy…….I’m not through pitchin woo yet. He’s just now gettin heated up.

that price is achievable if it was bulk materials. Bagged fertilizer is going to cost you more. That would be roughly 35 lbs urea 46-0-0. 130 lbs dap 18-46-0 and 100lbs of potash 0-0-60 to the ac

This whole argument is apples and oranges. No way mow & throw is gonna compete with 257s farming methods. It's a lower cost way to establish deer plants. You can not grow high yield corn or soybeans without chemicals. Smother crops will not fully control weeds. Nurse crops will not provide adequate nutrients to maximize yields. Mow & throw is for weekend food plot guys. Not real farming

^^^^^ thank you

I agree with this. I think CNCs method is a very viable solution to food plots and will probably try it this year on a couple of plots. But....if I was farming to make money I'm gonna use what ever I can within reason to get as much product per acre as possible.

I agree. The savings in time, labor, fert, lime, etc…is all pretty substantial in the long term. You can still however, accomplish the same food plot goals as what many others are doing now with much more costly methods in terms of all of the previously mentioned inputs. You say that this method can’t compete with 257’s true farming method but what goals is he accomplishing that I am not by spending so much more to “farm” his deer plots? Is the field below suffering from lack of deer use? Is it suffering from lack of forage? I’m merely suggesting that these things can be accomplished through much simpler, more efficient means than what others are promoting to do.. If I can use a method that accomplishes these same goals without using any fertilizer or herbicide as well as saving half the tractor time…then it looks like that would be something that any food plotter would find interesting. I’m sure some will still continue to suggest that it isn’t possible though and the only way to do it is to apply heavy amounts of fert, lime, and plenty of herbicide. Folks are free to choose. I’m just offering an alternative.

Last time I checked this was a hunting forum. Deer aren't counting bpa.

When did you stop fertilizing?

In the process of doing it now. It’s a weaning off process over time as fertility builds in the organic matter that’s created. As an example, the last time I had my soil tested I was still holding 220 lbs/ac of K in my soil…..so this last fall’s crop was able to be grown with no additional potash added. Now that I’ve gotten things established like hairy vetch, durana clover, winter peas, etc. and they are beginning to recycle into the organic matter…..I’m going to begin reducing the amount of synthetic N that I throw out. First trial run with zero nitrogen will be this summer. Probably still a little premature to completely quit but we’ll see how it goes.

This organic matter you see in the pic below is key to making this happen. You can have your organic matter % tested when you send your soil test in to see how much you have present. In the first two years of changing my planting practices, this field has been turned around from less than 1% organic matter to 3.7% now and climbing. Here is another quote from the original aricle………

“Soil health proponents say that by leaving fields unplowed and using cover crops, which act as sinks for nitrogen and other nutrients, growers can increase the amount of organic matter in their soil, making it better able to absorb and retain water. Each 1 percent increase in soil organic matter helps soil hold 20,000 gallons more water per acre said Claire O’Connor, a staff lawyer and agriculture specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.”

I knew if you had stopped, it must've been recently.

If it's one thing that lawyers are known for, it's definitely soil science.

Actually, for every 1% of organic matter increase you gain 18,000 POUNDS more water per acre. Organic matter is able to hold about 90% of it's weight in water. Not gallons. If you really want to improve the water holding capacity of the soil, add silt or clay, that REALLY jumps it up there. Do you know that organic matter actually makes heavy clay soil hold LESS moisture? It works as a buffer of sorts, so the water holding capacity of the soil can be effected both ways by organic matter.

The funnel shaped hole is a nice touch. It makes it look, at first glance like you have 6" of good soil instead of 2" of good soil.

CNC, it's not your methods that bother me so much as, it's your incessant grandstanding of a method that can result in total failure if everything doesn't line up JUST right the first few years.

Most deer hunters have very little time to planting food plots and most don't take the time to pull soil samples or improve their soil. If nothing else, covering seed with soil is the SAFEST way to plant seed.

I have improved a patch of soil that was as sorry as any soil in the state by using tillage to incorporate the organic matter into the soil. The soil has gone from crap to fantastic in 5 years. It involves growing enough quantity and quality of cover crop to have enough organic matter to put into the soil. I could dig holes and post pictures but I don't have an agenda to prove.