76Forest

Pretty sure I’ve seen it in south Texas and in the Hill Country.

We too are trying to go totally regenerative. Last fall was the start of year 4 for us.

1 We planted Green Cover’s Fall Release plus an extra few pounds of cereal rye per acre in early October and experienced zero rain for a little more than a month. We got reasonable germination of the rye and oats, but brassicas were scarce. Overall biomass was way down, probably at least partly from lack of rain.

2. We are trying to fully cut herbicide, but not there yet. Between drought, hogs and cows, we have had some bare ground that readily grows weeds.

3. Our soil took a pretty good turn in year 3, color improved, earthworms appeared, crops looked great. I haven’t fertilized in 4 years. There’s still room to improve, but soil is night and day better now. Soaks in rain really well, and I can walk the fields after a heavy rain without getting muddy.

4. Before getting serious about food plots we fed corn and some protein, we still seem to see about the same amount of deer, I’d guess. We do see some good antlers that I believe are an improvement now. We sometimes see more deer at one time than we ever used to. However, we have several more places we can hunt and reliably expect to see deer now. When deer show up they then to stay and eat longer.

5. I wasn’t able to plant spring/summer yet but will plant a warm season soil builder blend when I can.

My problem has been me getting the work done, and then hogs and cows invading is a secondary problem. The no-till approach is the way to go as far as I’m concerned. I can apply it better, but every season the soil improves.

Da Hammer pretty much tells the truth here. I read Dirt to Soil, and committed to the 5-yr experiment. Just finished year 3. Get my seeds in a fall mix I plant late September or early October, and in a summer mix I plant in April. Green Cover Seed puts a complex of inoculants on the seeds to help restore bacteria, fungi, etc to the soil. I have rented a NT drill and that’s a game-changer. I have also tried to tolerate weeds and smother them with my crop, but I’m using herbicide if I have weeds and it gives my next crop a much better start and result. No lime, no fertilizer, and as little herbicide as I can get by with. My plots have steadily improved, it’s been amazing. My pH has gone from 5 to 6.3-6.7. Earthworms are back, and my sandy soil has structure. I’m planting less than 10 acres but plan to increase it. Deer started walking through the plots, heads down, not looking at the corn feeder - haven’t bought any corn in a couple of years.

You nailed it Bandit. I’d agree with 98% of your post - including the disillusionment. We live in a society of shallow fools, it seems.

Yes, looks like your seeds have all the inoculants I got. No mixing required.

Levee, GCS started inoculating with lots of bacteria (not just nitrogen fixing kinds) and mycorrhizal fungi and more. They tell about in on their website on the Fall Release page. I’m no farmer, but it made sense to me. I am about halfway through a 5-yr commitment to this experiment and it’s starting to work. This fall’s plots are way better than before.

I’m not sure what’s making the difference but it looks like I know what I’m doing, when I really don’t. The soil is changing, I’m seeing earthworms, it believe my poor ol sandy soil holds more water longer.

Hey EarlyBird I’m all no-till the last 2-1/2 years. It looked like I disced this yr because the drought killed everything and I applied Roundup - weeds were gone.

Levee, we had a wicked drought both of the last 2 summers and I planted this year and last out of desperation. The soil moisture has been just enough it seems, then we got some rain, but I think fall plots are the most forgiving. Hope your crop is a good one.

Trying to post some pics, but I planted on 10/10, and the soil was moist. Got .2” the next day. Seeds germinated and almost 1” on 10/26 and 10/27. Things are looking pretty good.

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These pics were Saturday 10/28.

I planted 7 ac of Fall Release on Tuesday, got .2” of rain on Wednesday. Drilled it in with a no-till drill. Game cams reporting lots of game movement this week, but the pigs are all over it. I HATE PIGS!!! On the positive side, my fall food plots have done well in the past when unmolested by pigs, even laying in dry powder for a few weeks. Rain comes and they sprout. I’m the eternal optimist.