dbltree
Super Moderator
Input costs are going through the roof these days, nitrogen and herbicide prices all rising at a rapid rate.
For many of us it's time to think about the principals of Sustainable Agriculture and Organic Farming.
The first thing I would encourage is the use of burning and cutting to enhance natural browse in your woodlots.
Use TSI to help increase mast production and plant trees for both hard and soft mast. Hybrid oaks, chestnuts and fruit trees can all begin yielding much sooner then you think.
Native Warm Season Grasses can be managed virtually forever with nothing more then burning at the proper times. Timing the burn can help the landowner manage for more or less forbs or grass diversity.
Typical food plots are can easily be managed to keep input costs minimal just by using crop rotations. Using high nitrogen producers such as clover, alfalfa and peas to build nitrogen for crops such as brassicas or grains can virtually eliminate the need for supplemental -N-.
Split plots into smaller ones so that each year you are tilling under an older legume plot to plant brassicas for instance. Use crops such as buckwheat and rye to build soil, smother weeds and feed deer at the same time.
Plots being planted to legumes for the first time still require soil testing and applying the proper amounts of P and K and especially lime, but after that inputs should remain low with proper management.
In some areas it's also possible to take advantage of manure from livestock operations. If you have larger plots of corn or soybeans then you may be able to contract to have liquid manure knifed in. There are plenty of problems and questions in this area so I would urge you be careful before signing a long term contract.
All of these things combine to help us be better stewards of our land as well as improving our air and water quality. As sportsmen these are all things that are (or should be) important to us.
Check out some of these links and ask questions not just how to plant a food plot but how to put together an overall land management plan for your property that can be sustained long term with low inputs or environmental impacts.
Organic Farming
Overview of Cover Crops and Green Manures
What is Sustainable Agriculture?
For many of us it's time to think about the principals of Sustainable Agriculture and Organic Farming.
The first thing I would encourage is the use of burning and cutting to enhance natural browse in your woodlots.
Use TSI to help increase mast production and plant trees for both hard and soft mast. Hybrid oaks, chestnuts and fruit trees can all begin yielding much sooner then you think.
Native Warm Season Grasses can be managed virtually forever with nothing more then burning at the proper times. Timing the burn can help the landowner manage for more or less forbs or grass diversity.
Typical food plots are can easily be managed to keep input costs minimal just by using crop rotations. Using high nitrogen producers such as clover, alfalfa and peas to build nitrogen for crops such as brassicas or grains can virtually eliminate the need for supplemental -N-.
Split plots into smaller ones so that each year you are tilling under an older legume plot to plant brassicas for instance. Use crops such as buckwheat and rye to build soil, smother weeds and feed deer at the same time.
Plots being planted to legumes for the first time still require soil testing and applying the proper amounts of P and K and especially lime, but after that inputs should remain low with proper management.
In some areas it's also possible to take advantage of manure from livestock operations. If you have larger plots of corn or soybeans then you may be able to contract to have liquid manure knifed in. There are plenty of problems and questions in this area so I would urge you be careful before signing a long term contract.
All of these things combine to help us be better stewards of our land as well as improving our air and water quality. As sportsmen these are all things that are (or should be) important to us.
Check out some of these links and ask questions not just how to plant a food plot but how to put together an overall land management plan for your property that can be sustained long term with low inputs or environmental impacts.
Organic Farming
Overview of Cover Crops and Green Manures
What is Sustainable Agriculture?
