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Yesterday I put in a food plot for a client that had a couple of acres fenced with a blind and feeder.

Rather than disk the area to be planted, I used my 45hp tractor and 6ft rotary tiller to prepare the ground.

I was impressed by how my equipment handled the job. The plot was overgrown and had lots of thick coastal Bermuda and weeds covering it before I started.

This is the end result after planting the plot seed.





Only hit one snag... soon after I got started with my tractor, I'm running along just fine, and wham! Tractor died suddenly.

I raised the tiller and was less than thrilled to see a good sized roll of used barbed wire entangled hopelessly in the tiller.

Hour and a half of cussing and sweating in 100 degree temps, and I was working the ground again.

Anyone else plant food plots? If so, how do you plant? What do you plant with?

Looks great.

Yep, I plant quite a few each year with my small 35hp tractor. As far as how, I hit them with a bush-hog, disc, drag flat with an ATV(cyclone fence with a few 4x4s on top), seed, and drag again. Works like a champ.

I've thought about roto, but figured I'd tear one up in short order in the areas I plant(roots and rocks). We only till gardens that are proven ground. If all of my plots were clean soft soils, I'd consider tilling.

First year giving it a go. I just have a UTV with a 4' disc, a spreader, and cultipacker. Got some soybeans in the ground and the deer have loved 'em nearly to death. Overseeded some with a brassica/buckwheat mix on 8/1. Labor Day weekend I'm heading back to disc in the other 1/2 to plant oats/triticale/peas/clover. Picking up a couple bags of winter rye next week as a back up. First year plots and due to time/equipment all are pretty small. Rye is in case they don't grow or get eaten off. Hopefully my 8yo will have one walk in front of him while hunting over one this year. I find it a really enjoyable to do.

yep.

brush hog, then a week later spray with gly4, till with my 5 foot tiller, seed then drag.

i plant a variety, wheat or some other cereal grain in one and winter peas and brassica in another. i have a couple of clover plots as well.

i enjoy it, but hired out this year do to time constants

Yes

Here in NW Lower MI, we have sandy, low PH, low fertility soils. Have been working for years to build my plots soils fertility up. Our program is to plant buckwheat after May 1. Then mow BW down around Aug 1. Around LD weekend, disc in the crop residue, plant winter rye and plot oats, fertilize, lime and then cultipack. Pray for rain. This schedule will be perfect for the Oct 1 bow opener.

Also have three perennial plots with various clovers, birds foot trefoil, chickory, etc. These need to be sprayed every other year to keep them as free of grasses as possible. We have killed a bunch of turkeys off of these plots over the years too, besides some nice deer.

I have a Kubota L3010 with brush hog, 60" tiller, 7.5 ft DG disc and 10' cultipacker. Most of our plots are in the woods and smaller than one acre and smaller equipment is much more maneuverable for the job.

Ive been planting them for 20 years. I mow them and harrow(disk) them until its cut up decent. Ill plant Wheat,rye and oats around Oct 1.

I just got mine ready today, Ill let the hay rot for a month and plant/fertilize them.

1. Spray glyphosate
2. Disc
3. Broadcast plant
4. Cover with homemade drag

Oats, wheat and elbow rye. No rye grass.

No tiller, just an old tufline 6 1/2 disc. If ground is particularly hard I'll fold back gang onto front gang for added weight.