food plots

Beer covered things pretty well. Here is one thing to keep in mind. The recommendations are for ideal growing environments. You have a pretty darn nice soil to begin with, so don't get over excited about getting things perfect right away.

To address your Potash or Potassium deficiency go to a coop and get some potash. The analysis will be 0-0-? Potash can be pricey so let them know what you are doing with it and that you don't need anything fancy. Look for a MOP or Muriate of potash and avoid a SOP of Sulfate of potash. SOP contains sulfur which can lower your PH. MOP is very common and is what is mostly used. 240#/acre is what is recommended or 5.5#/ for every 1000 square feet. Here is an easy equation for you to make sure you buy the right amount. Divide 5.5(pounds of K needed per 1000sq.ft.) by the percentage of K (potash) in the bag and then multiply by 43.56. This will give you how much fertilizer by weight you will need to do an acre. Here is an example. If you start with a 0-0-40 you divide 5.5 by .40,=13.75 Multiply that by 43.56 and you get 598.953. Round up to 600 and you would need 12 50# bags of 0-0-40 to put 240#'s of potash down per acre. I will tell you right now that is a lot of fertilizer and will cost a bunch of money. I personally would try and put down about 2.0 #'s of potash per 1000sq/ft or 80-100 pounds per acre using the same 0-0-40. This will be more affordable and still make a nice impact to get your clover established. Plants need Potash or K mostly for drought stress, but K also helps many other plant things to work better, that is simplifying it a bit. You definitely do not need any Nitrogen or Phosphorous. I would apply the lime as they have recommended. 6.0 is on the low end for PH but left alone should still give a decent crop of clover. Any improvements you can make will only be better. That is a bunch to digest, let me know if you have any other questions. Learn that little equation as that can help with all your fertilizer buying decisions.

Well. The 1st thing it's telling you is your PH. You need to apply lime to get the soil to desired levels for clover. They recommend 2 ton/acre of 60-69 type or 1.5 ton/acre of 80-89.

They are also recommending 240 lbs/acre of Potassium. That's potash.

They also state that your phosphorus levels are high, and recommend perhaps planting something other than clover that uses phosphorus to help lower it for a future planting. High P levels take time to adjust, so a deep plow job and applying fertilizers with no P for a while could be best.

Bring it right to the feedmil or seed store show them what you have they'll set you up with what you need for lime and fertilizer per/acre. Just remember its better to have more than not enough

Just got a soil sample done. I'm not sure what this is telling me to do. If anybody has experience with this and could message me I would appreciate it. We want to plant clover.

I'm going to try the alsike clover but was also told to put chickory in with it has anyone tried chickory feed back would be great turning soil today. Thank you

flyguy try alsike clover from http://www.welterseed.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=41

I hunt in Oconto County. I plant sugar beet mid aug. and they start eating them in mid Oct. Never seem to dig up the beet just LOVE the tops!

Wall-eye where do you hunt and when do they start hitting the sugar beets?

Outdoors2001

"If they are not hitting turnips, either you don't have many deer or you have a seed/soil issue. They are a huge draw by us. We watch deer walk through lush clover fields just to go to the turnips first." I went to my land yesterday and they are digging for the bulbs now. I hunted over it during bow and gun and they walked right through it. Some of mine were over two feet high and bulbs bigger then grapefruit!!! I'm just saying I have planted things and have had a lot better successes with other things like sugar beets and winter wheat.

This is a question that Im asking with little research. Is there anything that you can plant in a wooded area? There is a marshy area that is not too wet but with some woods around that Id like to plant something to attract deer. My father inlaw only owns twenty acres so id rather not clear any trees.

We hunt NW Waupaca co and plant 3/4 a of white clover and 3/4 a of beans each year. Our beans within the wire cage grow to 2' tall while the remaining field never gets above 6-8". Deer will mow down your beans without maturing to pods. Around Labor day we pull the spring tooth around, disk and replant winter Rye. RR beans are a must as previously stated. Next year I will try your turnip/brassica blend instead of ladino clover. Its great to have a helpful site on LL.

Thx GreatOutdoors. There aren't a lot of deer in my area and I think I'm to plant two 1/2 acre plots now. Does anyone know a good way to fence in a field to keep the deer out?

From my experience, deer will still hit clover after a few frosts. our clover plants seem to wilt after a frost, but they stay very green. I can look at google aerial images of my place that are taken early spring(no leaves on the trees, no snow, and nothing green), and the clover patches stand out because they are so green yet. Winter wheat or winter rye are also great options for growth at those times to provide food when there isn't much available.

Goose, I would probably shy away from soybeans given the size of plots you are planting. If there is any amount of deer, they will keep those beans from growing. Depending on the equipment you have/have access to, you will likely need to get RR soybeans and spray to keep weeds under control. This especially becomes important if they are subject to heavy browse as they will have trouble shading out competing vegetation. We plant 2 acres in Shawano county and with few bean fields around us we get browsed heavily. We will be expanding to 4 acres next year.

For the turnips that you planted, did you buy a commercial brand or did you get them from a mill? I mix my own turnip/brassica blend and have had great results. Our neighbor has been sending us pictures of up to 20 deer a night pawing through 10" of snow to get at the bulbs in our big turnip field. We planted about 6 acres total and had some with leaves as high as knee high despite the dry weather and the deer had all of the vegetation pretty much gone by the end of deer season. Now they are just working on the bulbs and any remaining sprouts they can find. If they are not hitting turnips, either you don't have many deer or you have a seed/soil issue. They are a huge draw by us. We watch deer walk through lush clover fields just to go to the turnips first.

Thx for the info. I really don't mind if they dont hit the beans during gun I dont plan on hunt it. I only plan on bow hunting but I still want to have food for them, will they still hit the clover after a frost or two?