i have seen a few members switching to no till foodplots to keep your topsoil from washing away and whatnot. could someone knowledgeable on the subject please enlighten me on how you prepare and plant and the reasoning behind the no till. could you also post some pics of the no till foodplots. also list any disadvantages if there are any. thank you

I'm all ears also.

Where's CNC? He's done some pretty no till plots without a drill. If he doesn't chime in here pretty quick, you can see some of the discussions on the QDMA forum.

CNC and blumsden have posted extensively on this. I bet someone can find their posts.

Its too damn hot outside today anyways....

There’s a big difference in a field full of properly functioning soil and pile of dirt. Dirt is nothing more than just the finely ground up rock that comes from the parent material deep below the surface. Many folks are only growing food plots in “dirt”.

Properly functioning “soil” takes that same ground up rock from below and combines it with a decomposing carbon source from above to form something that is more like a living entity rather than just a pile of dirt. It is full of living creatures and it has a “structure” to it. Think about the soil on a forest floor for instance, the ground up rock from below is combined with a constant supply of decomposing leaf and wood debris from above. As a result, if you go out into the forest and lift back some of the leaf litter, then you are likely to find a nice rich black soil across the top of the ground that is far different than the soil that most folks are trying to grow food plots in. It will be filled with worms and centipedes and all other kinds of creepy crawlies. All of this is a part of the soil ecosystem and to use a cliché term….it’s the circle of life as far as the soil world is concerned. Now take a look at your plowed up field and see if you see this same circle of life in that pile of dirt as what you found in the forest floor. Taking out all of these links in the chain has consequences. The links in the chain are there for a reason. Worms serve a purpose….the leaf litter on top serves a purpose…..the microbes that we cant even see….serve a purpose.

No-till is not about a piece of machinery but its more about philosophy of trying to mimic these natural “soil” building processes in our fields while using plants that are favorable to our wildlife management goals. What you see occurring above and below that leaf litter in the forest is the natural design for soil building and plant growing. I’ll save this aspect for much deeper into the discussion but this is where you run into a somewhat spiritual side of the no-till philosophy…..If you believe that there is a higher power who created what you see around you…..then shouldn’t we look to our maker’s own blue print on how to grow a plant? We look at the human body as an awe inspiring “perfect” design but we tend not to look at how nature is designed in the same way I guess. We've tried to form a brand new blue print with tillage while trying to supplement for all the missing links that are no longer present. Like I was saying earlier…worms are there for a reason….it was designed that way. The soil is covered for a reason….its suppose to be.

Let's stop there for now. Do you guys have any specific questions?

Yea, what he said. Basically, tilling your soil destroys the soil structure. It speeds up the decomposition of your OM, therefore it uses it quicker, than you can produce it. Most tilled soils are dry, powder, with little to no OM. Basically this process involves sewing seed into dead standing thatch, then mowing the seed down over top for a moisture barrier. Years and years of tilling, can cause erosion, where your topsoil is gone. This can cause a severe crusted soil, hard for some seed to penetrate. Un
covered soil is hot and dries out quickly. Covered soil is cooler, and holds moisture for a considerable amount of time. Think of it like this. You have a bare spot in your yard. You go get seed and hay. You sew your seed, cover it with hay, to keep the birds out of it, but also to hold in moisture. Then you wet it and wallah! You have fresh new grass growing, and never tilled up your yard. Surely some of you have spilled seeds, while loading a hopper. Well, when you go back to check, there's this pile of green growth where the seeds were spilled. No tilling was involved. This is not for everyone. It takes patience, and you have to be open minded, and want better soil, and not just clean dirt. The first time you do it, it might not turn out as well as when you tilled, thats ok, your conditioning your soil with the decomposing thatch. The crust will soften over time. This is accomplished easier with a fall planting, because most all the seeds are small. I've actually had some fine plots without the thatch covering them, but that was doing nothing for my soil. Hope this helps. If i used photo bucket, i would post pictures, but i don't. I have many pictures on the QDMA site. Oh yea, i always increase my seeding rate by about 20%.

Here is my most recent plot. This was planted back in early May using the rye from the previous fall's planting as my mulch.



Broadcast seed......



Mow down rye over seed......



End result.......Rye is terminated. Ready for new crop.

A couple weeks later we look like this.......

Actually the cowpeas were the very first thing to sprout but they took a beating from browsing pressure.

I would think the downside would be lower yield due to small plants that get smothered by thatch (already mentioned increased seeding rate of 20%). I also wonder if the plants are reaching their potential. We've all seen the elementary school experiment where you make beans germinate by putting them in moist paper towels. But to actually make that bean stalk grow, it needs a good root system. With no tilling, are the roots reaching their maximum potential? Has anyone done a side by side comparison?

An exclusion cage.....pic is current. Notice the browsing pressure on the lower right.

Sure they are. I use radish to breakup hardpan soils, and when you pull on up, the bulb is 6"-8" deep, and the roots can be 2' deep. CNC, has some pictures, that i'm sure he'll post showing cereal rye roots reaching deep into the soil. Your soil will actually soften, and be easier for the seeds to germinate. Yes, sometimes the germination rate is not as high, who cares,add a little extra seed. Its still cheaper than diesel fuel, and wear tear on a tractor, not to mention my back. People resist change, i know this, but you really can have good plots without tilling. Practice on a small 1/4 plot. This isn't some small group of people using this method. Thousands of people across the US are using this method.

i looked at the whole thread on qdma that swampy posted. very informative. cnc, in the pics you posted in this thread did you spray the rye with gly or just mow it? i am assuming you sprayed, did you spray before or after you bushhogged?

are yall still adding lime?

also did you cultipack the rye onto the seed?

What about fall planting when you're broadcasting into weeds not rye

CNC and i have sandy soil, so lime leaches thru the soil redily, so you don't have to disk it in. On soils that have more of a clay content, disking would help to get the lime where its needed. I would probably get my soil right, before using this technique.I didn't spray my rye, but i did spray before the seeds sprouted, to kill any unwanted grasses. Foodplots are what they are. Their not golf courses, but some people freak out when they see some weeds or grasses show up. Deer eat weeds, probably 75% of the time. If its browsed, i don't worry about it. Weeds can work as a thatch, but a grass species works better. I always plant, when a rain event is within 24-48 hrs.