Has anyone actually tried the growing deer method of no till/no herbicide/crimping/release

[rstallings1979]

process on their ground. I have been watching more and more of his stuff online lately and he turned some crappy soil into something nice there in Arkansas. It looks like alot of info with knowing when to plant, when to crimp, etc. Last year and this year I was pretty much no till in most of my plots after getting my Kasco Eco Drill but I did do a burn down spray before the planting. I am still toying with the idea of no till drilling my dove field this year but I am scared to death I will not get a good stand if I don't plow, spray the pre emergent, and make a good seed bed. I wish I had two dove fields where I could experiment but that's not in the cards just yet.

 

[Dbender]

You have to start off with decent soil. It's impossible to simply no till plant a field for a few years and magically transform the soil.

 

[WishboneW]

One of our members has the same drill.

It hates thatch. Mow and burn.

We did good on our dove field with millet and wheat this year

 

[livinoutdoors]

I dont have much input as far as food plots, but on the garden side of things it seems like it works very well. I know most on here use chemicals and synthetic fertilizer but many folks are getting excellent results without it. Building soil biology to create fertility using these no till and cover crop methods. Plenty of info about various ways to do it if you search in the organic farming/sustainable ag world.

 

[The Original Rooster]

I dont have much input as far as food plots, but on the garden side of things it seems like it works very well. I know most on here use chemicals and synthetic fertilizer but many folks are getting excellent results without it. Building soil biology to create fertility using these no till and cover crop methods. Plenty of info about various ways to do it if you search in the organic farming/sustainable ag world.

I started reading about it a few years back but never tried it. I'm a lazy gardner so it might be for me.

Vegetable No-Till Garden | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox

 

[livinoutdoors]

I started reading about it a few years back but never tried it. I'm a lazy gardner so it might be for me.

Vegetable No-Till Garden | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox

I do what would be considered low till type gardens. Just cultivate a very shallow layer using plows not tillers, but many are not even doin that. Most of those systems use heavy mulching and similar. Would be worth tryin if ya lazy!

 

[Canuck5]

5 Keys to Success for Roller-Crimping Covers

From getting a thick stand of cover crops to terminating them at the right time, roller-crimping experts explain the key components for weed control in organic no-till.

www.no-tillfarmer.com

4 essentials for roller-crimping cover crops

Growing Healthy Soil: Using roller-crimping correctly and with the right cover crop, conventional and organic producers can reduce/eliminate herbicide costs.

www.farmprogress.com

Steve Groff was the farmer who basically started roller crimping crops many years ago and he is the first one to say that out of 5 years, one year it will be perfect ... one year it will be a pita and the other 3 will be a toss of the coin, but he still does it. He may have to crimp a couple of times and or use a herbicide, but there are benefits, for planting in the spring.

The negatives IMHO are that if you have grass in your plots, don't bother. The crimper won't kill grass. If you choose a fall crop of cereal rye, (and nothing else?), you probably have a 10 day window, in the spring, in order to crimp it and be successful. Too soon and the rye comes back. Too late and the rye has made seed, which will germinate again and you will have to battle it.

This is all assuming that you have a "uniform" stand of rye, meaning that all the rye is at the "right" stage to crimp. Some not mature enough to crimp, will regrow.

Fall crops would be a different animal to deal with.

The "fertilizer" benefit (assuming soil ph is where it needs to be) could give you an NPK of 4-.5-2, which doesn't sound like a lot, but if you had (as an example) 1000 pounds/acre of "residue that you crimped", you would have a slow release fertilize of 40 pounds of N, 5 pounds of P and 20 pounds of K. That and also roots left in the soil, decomposing and creating organic matter, which is a good thing.

I think there are great benefits, but it is not a perfect solution for food plotting.

 

[35 Whelen]

I started reading about it a few years back but never tried it. I'm a lazy gardner so it might be for me.

Vegetable No-Till Garden | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox

Look up the "No Work Garden Method" by Ruth Stout.

 

[davidhelmly]

process on their ground. I have been watching more and more of his stuff online lately and he turned some crappy soil into something nice there in Arkansas. It looks like alot of info with knowing when to plant, when to crimp, etc. Last year and this year I was pretty much no till in most of my plots after getting my Kasco Eco Drill but I did do a burn down spray before the planting. I am still toying with the idea of no till drilling my dove field this year but I am scared to death I will not get a good stand if I don't plow, spray the pre emergent, and make a good seed bed. I wish I had two dove fields where I could experiment but that's not in the cards just yet.

I did something similar for several years but not exactly what you're asking.
When I got my Woods minimal till planter I transitioned to having a mix of red and white clover in all of the plots and around early Oct I would plant a mixture of brassicas and cereal grains into the clover. After a couple of years it got to the point where I didn't have to spray anything or fertilize them at all, this was on plots that had been limed as needed and all had a PH of about 6.4 - 6.8.
Unfortunately that property sold and I lost it so I am in the first year of starting that same plan over on a few small pieces that I am now hunting but the lack of rain this fall has gotten me off to a less than stellar start!

 

[lilrecon912]

I've played with the method over the last few years on strip plots with a hand crimper I built that Dr. Woods instructed on. Timing the dough stage is critical, especially in the spring. The one year I planted the summer release mix and timed it accurately, the two plots established well and deer browsed consistently over the summer. The other year, I crimped past the dough stage and was overtaken by summer weeds fairly quickly (mostly vaseygrass) and the other year I didn't plant in spring due to forestry activities on the property.

The fall wasn't bad to crimp when I got a good stand from the summer release, but the years I didn't get a good stand or didn't plant, I resorted to the "spray two weeks before planting date, spread seed right before rain, and mow after spreading" method for fall. And I like that pretty good. My plots have been great even through this year's drought, and last year's.

Also, I had my pH correct on these plots before I started experimenting with these methods. But I do feel like my plots are "healthier" since no-tilling. Clovers and cereal grains and brassicas have been healthier plants and do well with little to no fertilizer.

But like Canuck5 said, you have a small window of timing that makes the method work, and if you can't do it in that window, the success rate is going to drop significantly. That spring window is usually mid - late turkey season for me in far Southeast GA, and between work, life, trying to carve out turkey hunting time, and mother nature...it's too small a window to me to consistently hit every spring. But I will try crimping again if life allows this spring.

 

[davel]

I doing that method now. I bought a Tar River grain drill (not the no till) and use it like a no till because we have sandy soil.
I have planted a few times now and there is definitely a difference in germination with drilling as opposed to tilling and broadcasting.
I had some bahia I had to spray and I did lime and fertilize because I am at the beginning stages of this process. I'm not going to buy a crimper but I will get a cultipacker and use that if necessary.
So far I like the process. Saved a lot of time and fuel not having to till and drag.
I'll let you know how it goes. I planted cereal rye for the deer and as a cover crop a few weeks ago. It's coming up nicely.