I purposely try not to jump in on every discussion about food plotting with a…..”You should throw n mow”….kind of answer. Like right now, I’d love to jump into the thread about how long it takes to prep a field for planting and compare that to how long it takes to throw n mow a plot…..but I’m not gonna do that. However, Fur and Friends are directly calling me out on this thread so I’m gonna indulge a little and fire away for a moment……..

The worst thing about folks bashing others for trying a different method is that it turns the discussion into a simple black and white issue….Which way are you planting???….throw n mow vs tillage???? Choose your side!!!!.

It’s a much deeper discussion though. The much more important part to understand is that we’re just trying to manage our plots using good soil health principles. It’s more important that you have a good understanding of how soil functions and the effects that different management practices have on those functions. Then you can decide for yourself what is best for your soil. Much of it can be learned through using your own eyes with an open mind. We as humans have a bad tendency to become more and more closed minded as we age and it causes new ideas to become a tough psychological hurdle to overcome. Our brains are already preprogrammed to want to see things in a certain way. At that point it’s not just an opinion any longer….but a mindset.

Years ago I posted the pic below on another site to show the pretty sunflowers that were popping the ground….that’s all I was seeing at the time. Five years later when I look at the same pic, all I can see is the severe soil erosion that’s taken place…..the loss of nutrients…..the loss of any organic topsoil…..the loss of productivity. Those sunflowers made little difference that summer as far as the deer were concerned but it came at a high cost to my wallet, my arse, and most importantly my soil.




The goal these days is to continually go in the other direction….BUILD the soil….become MORE fertile……become MORE productive…..efficiently use resources…..spend less on time and costs. Here’s a fall throw n mow planting……no herbicide…..no disking……no cultipacking……no multiple weekends to make it happen…..Just broadcasting seed/nutrients and mowing at the proper time, into rich topsoil