No-Till Plot

Trying out my luck at a No-Till Fall plot. It was planted 2 weeks ago and consisted of Clover, Rape, and Turnips. Really what I am after is for this to be a clover plot for next year, but wanted to put the Rape in with it for some good fall browse. It is planted in West Central MN and is about 2 acres in size. I have 1 acre adjoining these two acres that is currently clover, but will likely be forage beans next year.

I sprayed the plot with roundup a couple of times this summer and then sprayed it again right after planting. I will admit that the weeds and had gotten away from me before I got it planted, but a double rate of roundup right behind the drill took care of most of the problems.

Here are a few pics of the progress so far:

Pic 1 shows part of the plot as you face North. . Overall, the emergence and early growth are a bit slower due to the cover, but you can really see the areas that were more bare to start with.

Pic 2 is a close up of the growth.

Pic 3 Is facing South over the middle plot

Nice work Brad

I have never tried the no-till stuff Looks like it would work in a pinch

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Nice work Brad

I have never tried the no-till stuff Looks like it would work in a pinch

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Worked pretty good, normal seed that I bought in bulk, rented the no-till drill from the SWCD for $10 per acre. Just had to have the HP to pull it, I would guess that this particular drill would require about 60HP minimum.

Coming along from the looks of it Looks like you got a good kill on the weeds. We have never used used a no-till drill before, but we have sprayed right after planting when the weeds have gotten away from us. Works very well.

Overall, would you say that you are happy with how the no-till option is turning out? Or do you think you have had better success with conventional tillage?

Looks like it’s taking! Rain is so important when planting a fresh food plot especially for no till.

It is starting to take nicely, it has rained plenty since it was planted too. Moisture is important, but there is some flexibility when using a no-till drill vs. just broadcasting. The benefit of having good soil to seed contact and the seed being lightly covered allows a little more flexibility in terms of moisture. One benefit in moisture retention IMO, when using a no-till drill followed by roundup right behind is that you have the “trash” there protecting the ground a bit and helping to hold moisture a bit better beasause it is less suseptable to the wind as well as the sun isn’t evaporating as rapidly. It is a little bit slower starting in a no-till application, but that shouldn’t even be noticealbe very soon

Had the chance a few days ago to check out this plot, an man it looks great! Rape and Turnip Foliage are over 10 inches high now, and he clover is coming nicely below that. I have very little weeds coming. The thick stand in the plot is definately helping to keep the weeds down. I wasn’t able to take any pics that day, but was able to sit on top of the hill in the tall grass about 200 yards off with Bino’s…..and holy smokes for deer right before dark!!! The plots there are 3 acres in size, and I counted 21 deer eating out of it at the same time. I was able to sneak out without spooking them off. It is a really great feeling to be able to see that many deer feeding on our hard work! I will post some pics once I get the chance to hunt that area for the first time!

Thanks for the update boy is it nice watching your labors go to fruit!

Here are some more recent pics of my Rape, Turnip, and Clover plot. Overall, it is looking pretty good. There are some grasses coming back into it now, but I will just spray them out of the clover in the spring. Deer have been eating in the established clover next to this quite a bit still, but once the temps drop I think that will change.

With all the dead grass/weed trash still present, it isn’t the prettiest plot you’ve ever seen, but there is a darn nice stand there, and the plants are very healthy. All-in-all, I think using a no-till drill worked out great for me, and I definatley will do it many times again!

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Overall, would you say that you are happy with how the no-till option is turning out? Or do you think you have had better success with conventional tillage?

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Looking back now, I am happy with the way the no-till option turned out. Only thing I would do different is maybe plant it about 10 days earlier to compensate for the little bit slower it was for it all to germ and really take off. At this point the only thing in my mind that I would have gained would be that with conventional tillage, it would look prettier because I wouldn’t have the tall dead grass there. But, I don’t think the deer are going to care one bit!