It's really good to see you didn't use any harmful weed killing chemicals.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Stanley, thanks. It is tempting spray again to get it back under control, but I am resisting the temptation. All the best to you.

Watch your fellow Michigan food plotter, Matt Morse, may give you some ideas to plant with your drill

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Eva, thanks for the heads up. All the best to you.

Good luck with the plots. I'm going to plant WR and WW today in our plots. As I said we killed the mares tail with Dicamba and then tilled before planting our fall plots. We do have our cleanest plots in 3 yrs, I too am not happy with the way the plots looked with our no till efforts. We are done trying no till after working with it for three years.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Bob, thank you. I think we are still getting quality forage and the deer are in the plots every night. It just doesn't LOOK nice and clean. We're committed to no-till, and will figure out a way to make it work. All the best to you, keep us updated on your hunting season.

Great Channel, just found it. I live by Lansing, so your advise and observations are relevant to me. Thank you!

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Jeffrey, thanks. All the best to you.

Was hoping you were going to post soon. I finished planting my fall food plots about 10 days ago. It's all coming up nicely. One thing I do different is plant a variety of red and white clovers.....along with the winter rye. Then in summer the clover and rye really helps to keep the weeds at bay. I was able to plant into heavy standing clovers.....but also experiments with cutting clover very short and drilling into that . The clover has already came back to the point you can not diffenciate from the other. The reason I mowed it so short was to give the brassica a jump start in the heavy clover......but it does not appear to make much difference this year. Rains came at the right times. My plots are looking most excellent. Fall is the right time to start clover FWIW......and it's not too late if you want. Legumes / grains / brassica.....they all work hand in hand.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Tom, good to hear from you again. Was hoping to hear how your clover experiment is going. Sounds like it is going very well. Keep us updated!

Thanks for your information Mark good luck to your hunting season keep us informed how your fall planting went

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Guiseppe, wishing you lots of luck, too! I'll keep you updated.

Mark, love the reports, I’m on a very similar track with food plots about an hour west of Houston. I’ve have one spring of disc/plant, with cowpeas, sunflowers, millet wiped out by deer and neighbors cows. Now on a 5 yr experiment with notill and GreenCoverSeed fall release followed by summer release. Will plant plot release this fall to try to smother weeds. My last fall crop was good, but plenty of grass/weeds. Summer I drilled in and it looked really promising but had severe drought and it failed. I’ve tried glyphosate twice, but not sure it was a net win. Won’t do that again soon. Keep the reports coming!

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Curt, thank you for the update. Keep us updated on your progress, and we'll do the same. All the best to you, and good luck this season!

Thanks for sharing your journey. Based on your comments during your no till journey, you have followed both Jeff Sturgis and Grant Woods. Both advocate no till but have different philosophies on chemicals. I appreciate the details. I totally get questioning the investment of expensive equipment for what Grant / Keith Berns recommend for the release process. However, it would seem that the crimper is critical to terminate each crop when planting over the previous crop. Weed control is absolutely critical. I am currently using gly and broadcasting, but am debating a no till drill --- but I honestly think a crimper is critical IF you want to get away from chemicals and weeds.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Brad, thanks for the comment. I am still debating with myself if weed control is really that critical for foodplots (for farming, yes, absolutely). I had a terrible marestail invasion the last two years, but in the end, during hunting season, the deer still piled into my plots for 45-60 minutes every night. They didn't mind the weeds, and the crops still produced enough to attract and hold them the whole season. I am 100% the one fighting myself to go out and burn it down with glyphosate this year, I still have a 2.5 gallon jug in my barn from two years ago. I think 25 years of tilling and spraying has me conditioned to do it, plus I like how clean it looks. I think its an "old dog new tricks" issue, so I am with you, but my new self is fighting the old self. All the best to you.

Let’s see a few Buck Pics !!! Good videos by the way… you have me seriously considering a grain drill. I have an old disc already but I’m sick of broadcasting failures.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

LOL, that is what motivated me to try an old grain drill. Check out the channel for the hunt video, it has the pics of the bucks. All the best to you.

Great video brother, appreciate the tips

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! All the best to you.

Good luck, I passed on fall release this year, the price was too high... But look forward to seeing your progress.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

I bought my fall release back when I bought the spring release, too, so there was a big discount on the shipping. The shipping is a killer if you don't buy at least a few bags at a time. Maybe get a buddy or two to buy seed with you, too. All the best to you.

The best time to spray them is when they are around four inches tall. Apply at least 32 ounces (1 pound active ingredient per acre) of 2-4D ester alone or with Glyphosate. I use the mix. Less than 32 ounce doesn’t do the job. There are residual herbicides that can be used. Penn State Extension put out a paper (Marestail Burndown: What Options are Available).

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Thanks George, I'll check into this next spring. All the best to you.

Good for you. Maybe try some sorghum or corn for structure in your plot. Marestail shouldn't be as bad next year.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Kurt, thanks for the feedback. I agree, and was thinking maybe next year will be heavier on the corn/sorghum and beans just to see how it responds after four seasons of no-till? All the best to you.

@kurtcaramanidis5705

Жыл бұрын

@@theback40 You too.

Have you ever planted just soybeans with your DRL? I just bought a new DRL drill and want to drill soybeans with it. Was wondering what setting I should set to start the calibration. Thanks

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Miles, nope, haven't planted just soybeans, it's always been a mix. Congrats on getting the DRL! All the best to you.

Spray gly and they don’t look as messy. Mine look like row crops with brown mulch. I don’t believe I can go with out herbicide. I drilled throw sunflowers and pumpkins the other night, it looked very messy. I decided to mow it after spraying gly.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Justin, I will probably be getting the sprayer out next season! All the best to you.

Very interesting video. I also planted the Summer Release blend this spring. However It appeared I had a pretty good balance of plants with maybe a little more buckwheat showing. Does The Tar River keep the different size seeds mixed or do you find the smaller seeds move to the bottom and are planted first? Marestail have become glyphosate-resistant. If you are going to use a herbicide, you will want to do so before they have five leaves (before early May) to be effective for that season. If there is a bunch like in your one plot, I mow the them down right after I plant.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey George, it seems like it stays pretty well mixed, but I can't say that I was really checking it. I'll have to pay more attention next spring. Will glyphosate kill them before they have five leaves? Or do we still need to use something like 2-4-D even when they are that young?

How much has your soil improved

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Wayne, I have on my list to get and send in soil samples this weekend, so I hope to find out in a couple of week. I think they are much improved over the last few years, but that is just my opinion. I'll share the results with everyone when I get them. All the best to you.

What you mowed it , wouldn't just the good grasses come up and the nightmares tail die off ?

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Todd, I did mow a very small section, but I couldn't set the mower high enough, and it was cutting off the tops of all the sorghum, which is where the seeds are. So I decided to keep the food on the plot and not mow, and let the marestail do as it pleases. All the best to you.

@toddcaskey9984

Жыл бұрын

@@theback40 yeh I get it , how much are the planters ? Just wondering for possibly some time getting one

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

@@toddcaskey9984 You can probably find a used drill in the $1000-$3000 range, depending on condition. The new light duty one I have was around $3500.

@toddcaskey9984

Жыл бұрын

@@theback40 I looked about renting from the county , and mine and my parents don't others do for water control & conservation

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

@@toddcaskey9984 Hey Todd, I did rent the drill from our county extension office once, too. It worked great, I just didn't like the scheduling aspect of it, plus I had to pull it over 20 miles each way at 30 mph. Otherwise, it's a great option, very cost effective.

Where you get the planter from ?

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

A local distributor on the west side of Michigan, Burnips Equipment. All the best to you.

Would you say the seed drill has increased your germination rates relative to broadcasting? Basically was the seeder worth the money? I appreciate your no nonsense videos. Well done.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Eric. For sure would say germination rates are up, significantly, compared to broadcasting. Absolutely worth the money, to me. Knowing what I know now, what would I do? Probably try to wait for an old used grain drill in great condition. Why? I like the nostalgia and repurposing of it, and the discs would have more travel to keep in contact over the small undulations in the fields. BUT, completely satisfied with the new Tar River too. All the best to you.

Do you ever wonder if the thatch will get to thick for your planter to plant through. I "throw and mow" currently and I wonder if I will start having problems in the future with it being to thick to get the seeds down to the ground. I can only see fire helping with this issue.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Bill. Do I wonder? Yes. Do I think it will happen? No. After a few years of this, the thatch is really not as thick as I had hoped it would be. Either it is decomposing faster that I expected, or there is just never really that much like you see from other farms on KZread? I think it is the former. But I would gladly buy an offical no-till drill IF the thatch ever did get too thick. What a great "problem" that would be. Using fire would be great, but my township doesn't give out permits for controlled burns. All the best to you.

Hey Mark love your videos and have been wanting to do my own channel on youtube. What software do you use for editing? Thanks again for the great videos and info.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Jason, I have an Apple MacBook, which comes with iMovie for free. Works plenty good enough. All the best to you.

How low can you get your calibration for planting brassica

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Wayne, I haven't done a pure brassica planting with it, so I can't say for sure. However, I did calibrate it for switchgrass which is very low, and it was still very accurate. I think it would do very well with a pure brassica planting. All the best to you.

Any updates on your plots?

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Craig, not yet. Haven’t been out there yet, but might do so this week since our freezer is full.

Mark - Best of luck with the (night)marestail. As you have seen it takes over aggressively. Unfortunately when it is allowed to go to seed, each plant can create up to 200,000 seeds which can be dispersed by wind or remain in the seed bank in the soil. Reports have show it can live in the soil up to 20 yrs. I learned the hard way and now I am in the middle of several year battle to exhaust the seedbank. You are right it is basically glyphosate resistant, but can be treated effectively with 2,4 D (ester I believe, but not sure about amine) and glufosinate ammonium (Liberty, X-Out, etc)..Tradeoffs are longer soil activity (2,4 D) -vs- complete kill of everything with no soil activity (X-Out). Also it can grow rather quickly during late summer, so even 2-3 weeks after burning down a field in August with X-Out, I have found new sprouted plants 2-4" tall.. and some have produced seed heads when only 8-10" tall. It also loves to hide in/around my switchgrass screens and on soft edges of fields, not just in the plots. Many hours so far spot spraying individual plants along field edges. So it may require several treatments each year in spring, summer, late summer with the primary goal to avoid creating any new seeds. Unfortunately it seems tillage is a primary control, but it seems to thrive in no-till plots that many of us are trying to establish. Here is an interesting link from MSU. www.canr.msu.edu/weeds/extension/marestail-horseweed Best of luck and thanks for the great content -

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing your experience, and the msu article, I'll check it out. But, I was hoping it was going to be easier than what you have had to go through. Ignorance was bliss until you enlightened me about my upcoming battle with this stuff, LOL. I'll be coming up with a plan for next year while sitting in the deer blinds this fall. Not sure how I'm going to attack it yet...... All the best to you.

I am guessing you changed the planting depth on your drill by releasing the pressure on the springs that provide the downward pressure on your planting discs. twig things contribute toe organic matter in your soil. One is the amount of plant materiel above the ground. The larger the plant above ground provide more surface to generate photo synthesis. the second is the root mass. The bigger the plant the bigger the root ball which means more organic matter when it dies. More perennial plants will crowd out the mare's tail. my guess that the deer do not care if there are weeds mixed in with the good things to eat. Regenerative farmers with OCD have to continually fight the urge to make their fields look like a golf course. If you spray you should be careful that you stay away from sprays that use preemergence herbicides. These residues could prevent you new seeds from germinating. I think that is having an affect on my attempts at no till.

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

Hey Douglas, actually, to adjust the depth with this drill, you adjust the "roll cage wheel" on the back, which then cantilevers the disc depth relative to the 3-point hitch. I LOL when you wrote the OCD comment, spot on brother! I hope you are right that in time the weeds will get crowded out if I just keep at it. I'll have to make a decision next year, to spray, or not to spray. All the best to you.

Looks good but I’m almost convinced you’re going to have to use chemical if you don’t use a crimper

@theback40

Жыл бұрын

You and me both! Deep in my subconscious mind, I probably know I am going to have to spray next year, but I just haven't admitted it to myself yet. All the best to you.