Would you like to use the ultimate no till food plot planting on your land? Here is all you need to know to plant food plots for your no till planting timing while using my Ultimate No Till planting program….
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Well it's about that time of the year Again where I want to talk about the Ultimate no-till planting and that No-till timeline That's a system that I've used off and On for many years I originated this System over 20 years ago and uh it's It's a way to actually cooperate and Blend and rotate crops without having to Use heavy equipment and so I used it Just because I had a lot of sand and I Had a six foot tiller 48 horse tractor Back in the day but every time I tilt I Bring up more sand and so it wasn't Really an option for me to keep bringing Up sand I'm trying to improve that top One inch layer of soil but then I'm Tilling down or disking four or five Inches down and just keep bringing more Sand up and more sand and I felt like I Was really destroying that top layer of Soil and that's even going to today That's why I don't like tilling that Much discing because when you have poor Soil it brings me back to that day where I'm trying to work on this and I'm Tilling this And so it was a way to incorporate big Seeds and rotations and doing this in All very efficient manner too I didn't Have a lot of time so even my tractor Back in the day if I plant eight eight And a half acres of plots all the way up In the up Michigan where I used to live
It took me 16 to 18 hours of planting Just straight planting where if I'm Doing more cover crops and rotations This buckwheat ultimate no-till then I Could do that with an ATV a call to Packer we use the Packer Max and uh and In doing that then I'm cutting that down To six hours instead of 16 or 18 hours So for efficiency I get the same plots Not destroying and ripping up my top Soil improving soil moisture Availability Then and and even just exposing erosion Now that I live down around in these Hills in Minnesota and Wisconsin every Time you're disking plowing or tilling Then you're You're exposing that soil and opening That soil up for erosion and so that's That's a really bad thing if you think About that So that's with where this was born Really when we're doing this I'm relying On a crop of Buckwheat during the summer Time and over the years I've learned From using buckwheat and planting it for Eight weeks nine weeks five weeks six Weeks four weeks there's a big Difference in timing of that and how Tall you actually want this buckwheat to Become the whole idea of the buckwheat Is it's one crop that you can actually Smash down we've tried all these Different seed varieties anything from
Sorghum corn rye grass Rye anything Buckwheat something when you run it over With a packer Max or call the pack or ATV tires truck tires I advise you to Use a cul-decker we're actually getting A six foot this year which I can't wait It's gonna be a lot more efficient Than the forefooter when you run it over It lays flat and so that allows you to Put big seeds down below it lay the Buckwheat right over the top and Buckwheat's the only smother crop that Completely Shades out the ground what That does is it produces a nice Lush Basically greenhouse effect down by the Surface retain soil moisture so you can Expect immediate germination with just a Little bit of rain afterwards because You're not ripping up the ground and Drying it out so we'll talk about this Whole process and how it works but first Off this relies on you spreading the Buckwheat now what's great about this is If you have somewhat even if you have Light soil and you put it before a good Rain you're going to get germination From your buckwheat it's fairly easy to Do so But when you spray Down and get your your weeds down in the Springtime and you're planting into soil Going into the summertime with buckwheat Laying that right on top of the soil You'll get a great catch
So the problem is you get into this time Of year early June mid-june and it's Time to plant buckwheat well if you Haven't done anything with your weeds You really should kill them and then Kill them and then plant your buckwheat But you're still going to get some weeds Coming in because you just tilled up all Those weed seeds and so with any food Plot you're better off Killing killing waiting a month killing Again and that's why I really like going Into the springtime where we have Chemically controlled food plot areas We're either mowing or killing the Rye Out in the spring and then all we're Left with is rye if we don't kill it out A lot of times it's two feet tall 18 Inches tall depending on the timing You're planting or throwing the Buckwheat down And then we're killing the Rye Terminating at that time and allowing The buckwheat to come up in our case Here We want to kill all our weeds while Getting rid of the weeds so we've Sprayed now we're waiting until mid-june We'll throw that buckwheat on virtually Weed-free soil and allow that to grow And take shape and then the buckwheat's Eliminating the weeds with a smaller Crop so very few weeds going into this Into the fall we have a little bit of
Weeds we'll talk about that in a little Bit because you never ever want weeds in Your fall plots very very bad contrary To what some people say about the Summertime people say that it's good to Have weeds in the summertime it's Diversity do you like it better folks You don't build a deer Herd on what's Going on in the summer In any way you build it on what's going On in the fall so if you have weeds Taking place in your fall food plots it Destroys the volume that you can Actually find and hope to achieve going Into the fall and that's a very bad Thing 10 weeds each equals 50 percent Loss of volume in that food plot so you Take a 10 acre plot let's say it's 50 Weeds you have 10 or less of your Intended food plot acreage out of 10 Acres you have one acre of plots Virtually in volume wise and you just Wasted nine acres of time and money Putting that plot in so I hope that Makes sense you have to be very careful When it comes to weeds and we'll talk About that buckwheat is a great way to Smother out those weeds completely shade The ground it grows fast and get it Established so when I get into June and That timing for buckwheat planting then I want to make sure I have a weed-free Area to plant into that's been Controlled maybe you've already disc
Three times in the spring by that time But around here when you have erosion There's that balance where you lost the Topsoil or spraying one time or two Times at the most to get a good catch For that without weeds so there's a lot Of things you have to consider fuel cost Running the diesel tractor time it takes There's there's a lot of things you have To consider other than use use chemicals Or not there's people out there that Don't use chemicals but then they fire Up their tractor and disk their soil Repeatedly over the summer time Burn a bunch of fuel rip up the soil dry Out the soil ruin that top layer of soil Erode their soil onto their neighbor's Land I mean we have that with our Farmers around here they we have corn Growing on our land from last year That actually literally eroded off onto Our land So I'm not saying I'm not saying the Farmers are not using chemicals what I'm Saying is don't pat yourself in the back If you're doing that ripping up the soil Drying up the soil eroding the soil But you get a gold star because you're Not using chemicals there's always Balance in there think about that I'm getting my buckwheat on the ground Like I said if you throw a buckwheat on Bare soil it's going to grow you get Good moisture
It's going to grow So look at If you're sandy soil maybe try to call The packet we use the Packer Max try to Push that in if your soil is light And it's flake you try to push that seed Into it but really you can throw that Seed on the ground before a good rain And let it go now the timing is critical Because buckwheat can get to five six Feet tall and then it's too big it's too Tall to work with for a lot of people And so I want to make sure that Buckwheat is anywhere from thigh high to Waist high that means for myself on good Soil around here I don't want to let That buckwheat grow for more than five Six weeks at the most so I Target right Around five to six weeks in that time Frame which means if I want to plant My cool season annual crops like my Brassica crops or fall power greens I Use that combination all the time those Have taken Decades of research and Experimentation to come up with those That we sell on whs Wildlife plans so Very important crops to us but when I Want to put those down is right around August 1st so that means I need to be Getting my buckwheat in the ground about Mid-june not Memorial weekend not early June because I don't want to go eight Nine weeks because then it's going to Get five feet tall and it's very
Problematic to work with too thick to Actually walk in and spread think about That buckwheat's down at waist high and You're spreading very easy to spread Seed out full width and get a good Really good coverage and it's not so Thick that when you lay it down over the Top of the seed which we'll talk about Here in a second Do you have it's smothered and it Doesn't allow it to grow or it doesn't Allow it to Fan out and get that full Width of spreading so you really want to Target that now on poor soil sandy soil Maybe up north you might want to Target Eight to nine weeks but if you have good Soil look at that five to six feet Window six week window and then you're Terminating it and planting big seeds I'm taking big seeds like peas beans Oats we've used a lot in the past check Out our our fall power greens and That'll give you an idea of the Combinations that we like to use but We're planting that right into the Standing buckwheat Then I'm taking the Packer Max I'm Running it all over smashing it down Right over the top of those seeds and All those big seeds the bigger the seed The taller the leader they they'll shoot Up they'll shoot up a two inch leader Like a pea we'll shoot up a big two inch Leaf and and Vine to go up and grow
Right through that that debris also Because the buckwheats fine organic Matter deteriorates and dies quickly and Dries out turns to dust very fast turns Brown and dries out very very fast so I'm using the buckwheat as a nurse crop And an aid in germination because it's Holding moisture and holding that seed Right against the soil that's a very Very good thing you get rain it just Holds it right against that soil you're Not drying out the soil in any way it's A great way to plant those larger seeds What we find with the smaller seeds and I'm doing this around August 1st in my Area now that might be in Kentucky West Virginia even down in Louisiana may be More mid-august to late August That you're planting this and that means Your buckwheat timing should be five six Weeks earlier people say what date Should I plant well when you plant your Cool season crops in your area back up Five six weeks if you have good soil Back up eight nine weeks if you have bad Soil that's that's what you look at in Reverse that way don't pick a certain Date that's where when we uh go into Failure there big Siege August 1st Putting those right in and then the Small seeds this is where it's a little Guesstimate if that buckwheat is thigh High to waist high then I like planting The small seeds right into the staining
Buckwheat smash it over lay it right Over those small seeds because you're Not going to have five feet of mass of Buckwheat laying over the top and five Feet of seed keeping your seed from Spreading out when you actually spread It into that staining buckwheat crop so Really important to consider that make Sure it's not over waist tie when you're Planting that Brassica now if it is Don't worry about it what you do is you Plant your big seeds you smash it all Down wait seven days wait a week and Then spread your brass aside so you put Your big seeds in spread your basket On the other side the little tiny seeds That don't shoot up much of a leader and That's what I'm doing that's what I Found works the best if that if that Buckwheats belly High chest high or even Taller in some cases you really got to Watch that now what I'm choosing to do Because you'll get little broad leaves Persistent pigweed or whatever water Hump whatever it might be That's a nuisance down in there Smartweed where we have over in Wisconsin that's really tough to deal With It'll be growing down there in the base Levels not a lot but enough to where if You let it go it'll take over so what I Like to do is when I'm spraying when I'm Smashing that down with the Packer Max I
Have my ATV sprayer on or my UTV sprayer And I spray every other row it works out Exceptionally well because then I spray Go around and then I stop spraying I go Around smash it so I'm smashing and Spraying at the same time now why to Spray now you're spraying the same time That you're planting these seeds the Glyphosate won't hurt two quartz break Or glycine won't hurt your seed don't Believe the any stories or tails online Like that But what you're doing you're spraying at The exact same time I'm actually putting My seeds down and then spraying after That won't hurt anything been doing it For 25 years 30 years now it's not going To hurt anything been doing it for a Long time but I'm spraying because I Want to kill those weeds and it's a very Efficient way to actually call the pack With a pack of maxer and then spray at The same time it eliminates using two Different machines or going back after Packer maxing and then going back Through and uh and running it all over With the sprayer but I want to keep that Buckwheat down like I said you can mow Buckwheat it'll come back I don't want To just crimp this over with ATV tires Packer Max whatever you're using and Then let it half live and grow back and Shade out that seed and that germinating Small seeds especially that are growing
Underneath you don't want that to happen So To alleviate that and to really make Sure that doesn't happen then I spray at The same time I'm taking care of those Low level really persistent stubborn Weeds and then I'm also keeping that Buckwheat down you'll find if your Buckwheat's gone to seed a little bit it Takes about seven eight weeks to go to Seed you'll actually get some buckwheat Growing in your fall crops it's not a Bad thing it's not a bad thing at all You're not going to get a lot because Buckwheat just like Brassica if it gets Shaded out it dies so you're gonna have More open spots that might have a little Buckwheat growing in that's okay do you Like it when it's really young going Into the end of August September they Really crave that and then the first Frost is dead so it can be a welcome Addition we actually add that in our Fall power greens to a 15-20 percent of The blend mix because we want to see That buckwheat coming in there it's a Candy crop for the early season so they Leave Nebraska alone on the other side There's a lot of method to the madness Here but you have to follow these steps And timeline and but that's why we're Spraying glyphosate I want to keep it Down I want to kill it I want that Turning brown and crispy and dead within
A week to 10 days that allows sunlight To come down through the germinating Plants and you get a great catch and and You really need to spray for a lot of Reasons at that time now that's it You're done you might wait a week if the Buckwheat seems kind of thick Just plant your Brassica too tall to Plant Nebraska you're waiting a week to 10 days spread that Brassica right down Through the deteriorating buckwheat You're getting a good good catch you're Going to even spread too because it's All laying flat as a pancake down there It's pretty cool to see when you when You type when you look at it now in our Fall power green side because we're Looking at more candy season crops Uh peas light tillage radish Very very light oats if we use any oats At all Sometimes we use vetch in there Use late planted buckwheat But we're planting that because we want Our early season crop where the deer Really hammered in September October we Start to establish a pattern used Through they're staying off those brass Because we want them to hit the Brassica More the end of October early November That's a that's a better timing at that Time to hit that So we're really looking at we're getting This established we have Brassica on one
Side a lot of the time power greens on The other some type of green blend and Then that fits the bill for the entire Hunting season we have corn over here we Have you know we like adding that as an Addition to really maximize our November And December time frame but that's not Necessary and with those greens It's a Combination of Nebraska and the power Greens and you have enough power to last For the entire hunting season and then Even through Uh wintertime warm-ups and especially Into the spring in the springtime is Enhanced because about four to six weeks Later after that August first time frame So around here in early September we're Hitting that with about 150 pounds of Rye per acre over the power greens now If your Brassica crop was a complete Failure because you had drought or Excessive browsing over browsing by deer Then I'm still putting that 150 pounds Of rye on Nebraska side too normally I Just do it on the power green side Because Nebraska is so tall the Rye Won't grow it can't get shaded out Completely so if the rock if the brass Is eight inches tall and starting to the Leaves are starting to fill in there's No sunlight hitting the ground so that Rye is not going to grow trust me you've Learned that the hard way But you're adding that ride to the power
Green side when that's starting to get Eaten down you have that reinforcement Of Rye now you have a plot that truly Lasts into early spring really good One-two punch for those two halves of Planting that buckwheat is critical and Then what I'm doing the following years I'm killing or mowing that rye out you Don't want to get that rye let that ride Get more than 18 inches 20 inches high At the most I want to kill it or mow it Out and kill it not let it get too high Because it's not fine organic matter When you get five foot tall rye and you Let it go into July and August it takes Years to break that down into the soil And that's not a good thing in any way Fine organic matter in the buckwheat the Leaves or 80 moisture it goes into the Ground right away that rye will stand There it takes a lot of nutrients to Break it down and that takes from your Soil You're adding organic matter to the soil With just organic matter isn't a good Thing it's got to be fine organic matter You don't want like wood chips you put That in a food plot it takes you all it Sucks all your nutrients out trying to Break down those wood chips and you'll Have a terrible food plot that's why I Don't like Fortune mulchers forestry Hats going in and creating a food plot Unless they take that next step with a
Skid steer or a bulldozer and have a Root rake and get all that wood off the Plot you never want that wood on the Plot and just allow your plot to grow in That wood that's not a good thing at all Just like five foot high rise so you Have to terminate that following year You know people ask about fertilizer Plot start we use that a lot and in Louvlime if you have really bad soil you Might use a ton of lime and then a jug Or two of plants start on top of that so You don't have to put all your lime out In one year but I'm looking at that at Planting time of my fall crops I'm using That using lime and the plot start and Fertilizing my buckwheat I'm putting all My efforts into my fall crop because Again going back to it that's when this Matters most summertime and food plots Don't matter you know weeds in your Summer Prime food plots there's more Diversity so what you build a deer herd In the fall that's where I want to put All my efforts all my time all my work And energy the deer are happier for it Too because if you can give them a Little boost of energy before winter Time that goes a long ways what you give Them during the summer though so many Other food sources they have to pick and Choose from in your area during the Summer time unless you're in the extreme Arid Southwest or something they have a
Lot of food in the summertime you're not Going to replace that by adding a few More nutrients in the summer or food Plots or diversity Your deer herd will be that's when they Need it the most think of the local Habitats dying you have these beautiful Lush green food plots Heading right into the time where they Have nothing building up their energy Reserves going into the winter time and That's a time where you can actually Make a difference and oh by the way it Really helps your herd and your hunt and Your goals for hunting your herd Management and the ultimate no-till is Something that just about anybody can do You know even the minimum equipment Minimum equipment of truck tires Handheld broadcaster backpack sprayer They can be pretty dangerous and have Some beautiful plots because you don't Have to till and disc to have beautiful Plots again this year let me add you About Let's say 13 acres in Wisconsin and Minnesota that are purely Ultimate No-till Green food plots and then we Have some corn on top of that but I do a Lot without a tractor we use a tractor Around here for mowing brush hogging we Use it to spread big seeds or fertilizer Or lime out of a PTO model broadcaster But that's about it we're not tilling or
Disking with that using a till drill or Anything because you don't have to when You use buckwheat in the ultimate hotel And don't try to sacrifice something you Can't use rye and do this for example in Any way Ryan will actually self-seed it Actually destroys your food plots Overtakes I've seen some well we've Spread brass and standing rye and look How great you can see all that Rice Starting to come up and do you see the Brassica coming up too well they don't Show you two weeks later when that Brassica is killed because where I Overtook it turned to yellow stemi and Dormant we figured that out almost 25 Years ago folks that you can't do that And so you can't use Rye for this you Can't use Sun hemp you can't use tillage Radish you can't use sunflowers you Can't use sorghum we've tried it all you Have to use buckwheat for something like This and that's probably why the price Of buckwheat's so high You know our cost is we make very little Money on our buckwheat we sell it as a Complimentary product we sell it by the Bag or by the pallet at whs Wildlife Blends along with Rye but the costs keep Going up I'll tell you what it's Ridiculous and if you have clean clean Buckwheat you're going to pay for it and Clean Buck weeding meaning low weed Seeds High germination rate we only sell
Quality seed and so we have to pay for It and it's amazing the prices that we Checked around out there we at first Thought we weren't going to carry Buckwheat because it was so high priced And what we'd have to charge for to Actually make a little bit of money even To handle our you know to cover our Handling costs employee cost it uh it Seemed prohibitive but then we started Looking at online and people were Actually going to charge more than we do So we charge a little bit less than People online we have to charge for the Shipping but we do have it we have it in Stock we plan on carrying it for the Year we'll see how much we can carry and How much we can get but I'll tell you You know sending out 48 pounds of bags At a time and we have a limited staff It's a small company we can only do so Much we'll try to offer that continue to Offer it we certainly have to charge for It and I hope you can try the ultimate No-till there's thousands of people that Use it that have been using it for a Long time if you want more Research for this just look up ultimate No-till plots online you'll find lots of Videos we put together going back many Years it's actually chapter 12 in my 2014 food plot book I talk about that so It's going back almost 10 years now that I published that in my food plot book
And I've talked about it ever since so Urge you to try the ultimate no-till Food plan I think you'll love it and I Hope you enjoy this timeline and how it All comes together in the end Now I don't know if you've checked out Our main website lately Whitetailubattetsolutions.com but we've Really had a lot going on including hats Books our web class and certainly our New seed company whs Wildlife Blends When you click on seed on our site it'll Take you right to our brand new site for The seed company we have all 12 Blends Available so check it all out though I Encourage you I appreciate you checking It out whether you buy anything or not Really appreciate you visiting the site And seeing what's going on and continue To watch because we have big things Coming later this year