Evil plowed food plot

I've learned on aldeer over the last couple of years that disking up food plots is bad, bad, bad. I also read that you can't improve soil quality by plowing in cover crops.

Apparently I haven't completely ruined this spot of ground. I planted this plot on 11/29/16. Yes, I cut the soil, spread the seed, and cut it in. I put 250 lbs of 15-5-10 per acre at planting.
I waited for rain to plant it. That's my Honda 4 wheeler sitting in there amongst the vegetation.

It's Cereal Rye, Wheat, Crimson Clover and Rape.

Not bad for not doing throw and mow and being on Sand Mt.

It's harder to find arra heads if you drill, plowing is the only thing I ever have done.

Some of the results in throw n mow thread make me sad for some of those guys thinking it's the key to good food plots. I like these kind of pictures.

I'm not disking or doing throw and now. I've got a full 4 row no-till setup now.

Those results look good, Fur

No way I could ride through that on a four wheeler this time of year. My eyes would swell shut, throat would close up and my nose would run like Niagara Falls. Does look good though.

This was turned over last fall too.

I didn't know plowing was evil. I guess you can call me a demon.

I like chopping thing up.
With a plow.

Me too. I have a lot of time and money invested in a tractor and implements, deer hunting is just an excuse for me to play farmer.

The heads of Rye would "poof" yellow when I hit them with the 4 wheeler rack.

Well, you know Sand Mountain is known for it's rich topsoil. Oh wait, we don't have any. LOL I've been planting this plot for about 10 years. It's amazing how fast turning under a crop of vegetation like this will build the soil.

You're right Fur, I have some good ones growing on sand stone rock. Turning under a few years and proper liming is the ticket.

Lookin good, guys! My plots in TN look similar and I know when I mow them that I'll bust up some turkey nests.

Since Fur wants to start lobbing grenades unprovoked, I’ll respond. If you’ve read and learned any of the stuff your referring to, then you’ve freely done so on your own accord by clicking on the only throw n mow thread that’s way down there in the QDMA forum. Nobody’s arm is being twisted. If your feathers have been ruffled then you searched it out and got them ruffled on your own.

But hey, if you just want to spend the afternoon dragging a plow around in a cloud of dust then knock yourself out. However, it’s not necessary in many/most situations and if it was working out so great for everyone then there would be lush, green food plots growing in every plot……but there’s not…..there’s actually very few…… even on some of the most high dollar properties.

It’s possible to grow great food plots with a fraction of the time and effort of doing it with traditional methods…..very likely less $$$ in the long run as well. Anyone who would like to learn how is free to join the discussion in the QDMA subforum. If you want to do it the old way, then that’s perfectly fine too……Just keep them bearings greasy fellas.

I thought everyone's fields looked like that this time of year! It's a pain in the ass IMO. I disced some this weekend that were 6ft tall.

Aw man, I was expecting fireworks and all we got was a spark...

Good response. I'm still the bushhog/disc method but very much enjoy seeing the results in the throw and mow thread. It's definitely adaptable and a nice alternative.

Ya'll don't have the deer or they ain't hungry. Mine aren't near that thick and tall cause the deer liked them and ate them down.

Sand Mountain. All they have is rattlesnakes.

Rattle snake handlers gotta have something to handle.

i can promise you we have plenty of deer. They eat them down in the winter to the dirt. Your deer continue to utilize fall annual plantings all summer? Our deer transition off them with the spring green up. Cows can't even eat a winter wheat field down after April.

Have a utilization cage to show they are actually eaten down?

Obviously the pic was photoshopped. That for wheeler doesn't have any tires on it. Everybody knows they don't run on tracks.

Sweet results there Fur. 😀

Fur. You get covered in chiggers stomping around in that ?

Just imagine what you would of had if you had done it right.

Mine is about 5' tall now. My plan is to sew my seed and bush hog down over the top, just like i've been doing for years now. Put the tractor up and watch it grow.

I don't understand the animosity here? It's not a competition. The goal is to just share what works for you on your place not put down what works for others. Some of you guys are just a bunch of assholes.

True. It seems it has become a competition between the slobs ( old schoolers that like to plow) and the snobs ( throw and mow).

I'm quite certain I'm an asshole, does that make you a prick for calling me one? I don't know who yanked your chain.

I like seeing all the options, if it works for you use it. We have one guy in our lease with a tractor and have to do the best we can with what we have to work with. We disc some and throw n mow some, results vary with each every year, but the deer don't really care how we got it to grow

This is just my opinion, but throw and mow possibly works better for summer plots because of massive seed banks that are disturbed by discing and then allowed to grow unchecked. If you're spraying that changes everything.

I've had a no till drlll for a few years but I've never planted summer plots with it for a couple reasons. One, a club member loves seeing corn so I've always used the corn planter for that. Two, I needed to practice with it at home and wasn't comfortable with high dollar seed. Three, it was a towed drill that made for transport logistics issues.

I've now converted the drill to a lift model. I've also become more proficient with spraying over a few years and am comfortable with my rig now. So this year is a grand experiment in no till summer plots that I sprayed 3 weeks ago. We have significant weed competition from coffee weed and some other pasture weeds (and also cogongrass). I'm hoping by not disturbing the seed bank too much my plot quality will increase over discing and broadcasting. If not, then next year I'll do a full roundup ready planting ($$$$) of corn and soybeans and win the battle for one year at least. I could also alter my planting mix to only use plants that can be grown into ground sprayed with dual ii magnum (a preemergent herbicide). We'll see what happens but I'm excited about this year.

I don't see me personally doing a throw and mow in the fall. But--I know it works just fine in the right places and circumstances. I think my germination is better. But again, I've already invested in the equipment for this and other uses, so it doesn't "cost" me much in terms of equipment to do a traditional prep and plant. If it did cost me, I'd be practicing my throw and mow!

Looks like a good mulch cover going for a mow and throw application

Cynical, actually throw and mow works better in the fall, because most of the seed you are planting is tiny. Most people on here has top sewed clover into an existing stand to thicken it and that works well, with absolutely no disking. I plant buckwheat and after it seeds out i bushhog it and it reseeds itself very well without disking, just like grasses. I can usually get 3 crops of buckwheat from one planting in one summer. I went to T&M because of all the rocks on my farm, but now i use it on my club as well. Now i don't have to haul my heavy tractor down there. It will work for most, but not for all, its according to your soil type.

Yep, it’s hard to go wrong with cereal rye and clover in the fall.

Hey Fur, you gonna roll that for hay or turn the cows in on it?

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

We still talking about what rye, wheat, and crimson clover looks like the first week of May? I mean gosh dang!!

The state grows crimson clover on the side of the highway where seed falls off of a truck - every spring - without even trying - that you can hide a 4 wheeler in.

That's a good point. They're not out there with a big heavy disc.

Roll it.