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Post by archeryman32 on Feb 4, 2013 18:24:21 GMT -5
Anyone ever use it in a foodplot? I'm thinking about adding a little something to my clover plot, and I've seen alot of good things about it. Just wondering if anyone has any experience here in PA with it.
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Post by Dutch on Feb 4, 2013 20:31:11 GMT -5
Alfalfa needs a higher pH than clover. It does have deeper roots, so, it's more drought tolerant. Not sure I know of anyone that has really used it.
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Post by archeryman32 on Feb 5, 2013 9:48:39 GMT -5
I might give it a shot. It's taken about 7 years to fine tune what my deer like in terms of foodplots. Favorite is sunflowers followed by white clover. I just wanted to see if I could throw something else in the mix to spice up the clover plots.
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Post by bake545 on Feb 5, 2013 10:23:23 GMT -5
I've never tried it but what do you have to lose? Pure stands of alfalfa require regular mowing and bailing unlike clover plots but I would think some mixed into a clover stand wouldn't require as much work.
I know alfalfa really draws the deer in on the neighboring dairy farms at our place.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2013 10:35:38 GMT -5
I don't do food plots, aside from naturally occurring grasses, but your comment about "sunflowers" intrigues me. Are you talking the regular sunflower that we feed birds? At what growth stage do deer like this?
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Post by archeryman32 on Feb 5, 2013 11:00:31 GMT -5
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Post by archeryman32 on Feb 5, 2013 11:04:12 GMT -5
well something is messed up with photobucket. It's only adding 2 of the pictures and I have 4 in the post. Not sure what is up.
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Post by bake545 on Feb 5, 2013 11:54:00 GMT -5
I planted sunflowers one time in a mix of stuff. It was a beautiful field but the deer could have cared less. I got some volunteers up the next year and the deer did eat those. I wouldn't mind trying again, they are nice to look at.
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Post by archeryman32 on Feb 5, 2013 11:56:56 GMT -5
In all seriousness, then ate every leaf on every plant in my plot. And I by no means have a high deer population, that's for sure. It was a great cover crop for the clover and chic too.
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Post by bake545 on Feb 5, 2013 12:16:33 GMT -5
I believe you, deer can be picky eaters and what they like in one spot they might not in another. Even if the deer don't eat sunflowers you will always be able to hunt doves over the plot. Always lots of them in sunflowers.
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Post by Dutch on Feb 5, 2013 14:24:35 GMT -5
I remember doing a tour of a SGL in Wyoming County. They had a mix of stuff planted, including sunflowers. In the exclusion cage, there were sunflowers, outside, not a one.
I remember in 1999, Joihn Rigas had a large field of sunflowers planted in northern Potter, that went to seed. Those deer were in there nonstop for the seeds, 30-40 deer at a time. Oftened wondered how they even got to that stage up there. I don't remember a fence around them.
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Post by dennyf on Feb 5, 2013 21:27:28 GMT -5
Deer in my hunting area seem fond of second cutting alfalfa in late summer, but I've been told alfalfa is kind of a pain to succeed with.
Better deal if a farmer has some nearby, bales it and the deer get to enjoy the second growth. Just a hunch?
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Post by archeryman32 on Feb 6, 2013 9:35:57 GMT -5
Yeah maybe I'll just stick with the clover for now. There are definetly no farmers bailing any near me!
Literally, I dont even know why I plant mine anymore. My property is very small, and get surrounded in archery. But that's nothing, you should see rifle season! Looks like I have my own orange wall of China on my borders!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2013 9:48:49 GMT -5
Hmnnnn, I wonder why deer go nuts on it in some paces. We feed birds year round and "a lot" there is spillage that results in sunflowers rooting and going to seed.
One year, before I built the house and lived in the old cabin, a bear got on the porch and knocked over my metal storage cabinet, tore the wood panel off the back and drug a full sack of sunflower seeds into the the woods. A few weeks late there was a rail of emerging sunflowers that actually did grow to full cycle.
I can't say I've ever even seen a deer approach them, as they graze a few feet away!
But, I'll definitely be keeping a closer eye out from now on.
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Post by archeryman32 on Feb 6, 2013 10:09:55 GMT -5
One thing I enjoyed about the sunflowers was all the different wildlife that I got to see. Often my wife and I would just go up there and sit in the summer to see the thousands of birds feeding. She now begs me every year to plant them since they are so "pretty". I just roll my eyes
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Post by Bill on Feb 6, 2013 18:02:28 GMT -5
Deer like the tender new growth of alfalfa the best. It can get stemmy when it gets to the flowering stage and they don't like it as much. Some farmers I know have said that you had to leave a certain amount of growth on it going into the winter to have good survival of the stand. Something like eight inches or so. That may be an old wives tale though. Like holding a nail on a string over a cow to see if she's pregnant. ;D
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Post by Dutch on Feb 6, 2013 19:44:11 GMT -5
Hey Eye, come to Lancaster County, our alfalfa fields are cut almost to the soil level before winter. If there is 8 inches on those fields come October, they take the last 7 and a half inches!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2013 19:48:00 GMT -5
I love how the sunflowers turn to face the sun!
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Post by Bill on Feb 6, 2013 20:33:38 GMT -5
Hey Eye, come to Lancaster County, our alfalfa fields are cut almost to the soil level before winter. If there is 8 inches on those fields come October, they take the last 7 and a half inches! I know people who have done that also. I've worked with alfalfa enough to know that even a good stand will eventually be taken over by grass. The theory of letting so much growth over the winter is to protect the crown of the plants. I did some looking and apparently it's not an old wives tale. Guess those old farmers knew what they were talking about. lol extension.psu.edu/agronomy-guide/cm/sec8/sec82cSome more info from Iowa State University... www.extension.iastate.edu/CropNews/2011/0912barnhart2.htmThere's a plethora of information if you google "fall cutting of alfalfa". I always went by what the old farmers told me, never bothered to check it out for myself. It's nice to know I was getting good info all those years. ;D Now I'm wondering about the nail on the string. I never did believe that one. LOL
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Post by bake545 on Feb 6, 2013 20:43:19 GMT -5
The farmers around me cut their alfalfa down to the ground as well. Never seems to hurt anything come the next year.
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Post by Bill on Feb 7, 2013 10:14:33 GMT -5
Not denying that anyone does it or that it may seem to have little impact. Most times alfalfa is planted along with orchard grass, timothy, or something along those lines. Eventually those will win out, I've seen it many times. Personally I think crop rotation is bigger today than it has been in the past and there may be less regard for keeping a stand of alfalfa at it's best for a longer period of time. All I know is that if I were managing a stand of alfalfa for the long term I'd tend to take heed to the old timers and what research has shown.
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Post by bake545 on Feb 7, 2013 10:44:12 GMT -5
I think since we are talking food plots and probably small sizes the deer will do the cutting and bailing for you
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Post by archeryman32 on Feb 7, 2013 10:58:54 GMT -5
I have about a 2 acre plot that I'm replanting with the clover. If I just mix in a pound or two of alfalfa, will I be ok just mowing it. I keep hearing you guys talk of bailing it....will it not mulch up when mowed like the clover? I just want want a bunch of stuff laying all over the clover and shading it out.
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Post by Bill on Feb 7, 2013 11:43:59 GMT -5
Alfalfa will get taller than clover so there is a chance of it smothering the plot when you mow if it's thick. Unlike clover you also have insect pests that can stress alfalfa, weevils, leaf-hoppers, ect. Like it has been said, we're talking about a small food plot for deer so you have to take all of this with a grain of salt. Alfalfa seed is not cheap though.
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Post by Dutch on Feb 7, 2013 14:31:34 GMT -5
Just stick with clover. It's more suited to the soil conditions up there. Its more tolerant of lower pH's, requires less nutrients, but, is not as drought tolerant as alfalfa. In most cases, for poorer soils, they tend to use trefoil, which is a substitute for alfalfa. But, it's hard to get started, and deer aren't real fond of it, like they are clover.
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