If anbody is wondering if John's info is accurate. I can tell you it is spot on. Im in my third year of food plotting. First two was just throw and grow with mediocre results. This year i sprayed my plots twice with gly, the fist weekend in August broadcasted rye and oats in plots. Tilled, rolled, spread clover blend and rolled again. The plots look great. Of course I used John's seed. The rye and oats are pushing 6"-8" tall. We have been blessed with rain all spring and summer. Thanks for passing on all the great info.
I am 100% satisfied with every single seed I've purchased from you John! Any failure I've had was 50/50 between mother nature and myself not getting total control of weeds...fox tail on next years target. My HD screen is up to 14' to 10'. My brassica is up and it's so so due to only 3 rains 1 good one, and a couple teaser rains with a week or better in-between those.
John, I can't say enough about how genuine, detailed and spot on you are with everything you are trying to share. If anyone wants an outline for success, your channel and seed are it. Thanks again
I watched so many different food plot so called experts. Tried there way of doing it with failure . I followed Johns recommendations and had success. I bought a old disc for $75 fixed it up put about $5 into it. Forced my plot several times , sent a sample of soil to Penn State came back it didn’t need anything . I order rye grain and snd clover mixture. I put down the rye till it under lightly. I put down the clover and rolled in just using the tires on my tractor. Had rain before I planted and the night after I planted. The rye was up on day two . Clover in about 5 or 6 days. This all was done first week of August . It’s getting nice and green. The deer are coming in like never before and I been doing this for 6 years. I never do a no till product or waste my time on it . Next year I’m turning my back yard next to the wood lot into a plot . I prefer to feed the deer and wild life then have a lawn I must cut .
Johns the best.. Had problem with a sandy soil, sloped,acre area for last 3 years that just wouldnt grow...talked to john he recomended his soil builder...unbelieveable how good the plot grew and turned out this year!!
First time using your seed this year John amd here in northern lower Michigan as you know the first half of the summer was rough. Didnt get hd screen in until july 1 and some of it is still pushing 8-10 feet tall. Some is stunted in other spots due to mother nature and soil conditions but i couldn't be happier. Buckwheat did great as a summwr soil builder and although was stunted in growth from the drought as well still went to flower just in time for my brassicas and clover to go in middle of august.
I am fortunate to have good black soil. I have been food plotting it for three years. I have mostly sprayed and broadcast seed with the exception of one plot last year. I have lucked out with rain and my food plots have always done great. Tried your brassica blend this year (purchased last year). All might plots look great except one that is a bit sparse but not bad. Last year I lightly tilled one plot with a drag harrow then broadcast and drug it again. It definitely got a jump over the seed on top of the soil but eventually the others caught up. Last year I broadcast cereal rye on top with no tilling as rain was in the forecast. We were supposed to get 2 to 3 days of rain but wound up with about a quarter inch total in one day. The rye still took off and turned out beautifully! Very impressed with your brassica blend!
Great soil is truly a blessing. But some things that may work well for you, simply won’t work for others in other soil types / climates. I just hope folks understand that it’s not a one size approach fits all is the message we are trying to get across.
Had great results with no till last year. This year no till seed and roll buckwheat grew outstanding. Seeded rolled August 10th brasscias small no rain pretty much until yesterday sw michigan
I scratched in a foodplot this year with a rake it’s a old strip cut full of pine,clay and shale I went through with a chainsaw last winter and cut it out got it cleaned up before July and now I got rye and brassica growin it’s about a foot tall and then a couple weeks ago I went through and reseeded it with clover . I went over it with a rake and put it in did it all by hand
Great information as always John ! Your videos are very helpful. My sweet feast brassicas that were planted last week in July are 18" tall and looking great. The fall forage blend that I planted in mid august look to be coming in slow but it could be the deer are eating them as soon as they come up. Either way I'll have good plots for this fall. Northwoods Whitetails has great seed and great people to do business with.
John, when you say bury the seed, will rolling it with a lawn roller get it deep enough or you said lightly disk, which do you recommend if you only had one option. Thanks and I threw cereal rye on sept 1 and couldn’t put down the plot Dr because I was woefully unprepared! Did 400lbs granular instead.
It just will not rain here We planted four different dates on what the weatherman said would be incoming rain not a drop. I'll keep trying with winter rye but still no rain in the 10 day forecast.
Centuries of farming practices have shown that plowing, tilling, etc produce the best results. My family has been planting crops for at least 150 years, and not once have I heard about NO TILL planting without modern equipment. In some rare instances, I suppose it might work, but if it old school farming works, why try to fix it?
I think there is something to be gained from both. Little soil disturbance as possible for sure. But, in many soil types, that seed needs to be in the ground vs on top. My biggest take away from regen ag is always keep something growing. Food plots or farm fields , keep them planted.
Spot on can you comment on LIME you need a neutral or around 7 to unleash the nutrients for the fertilizers to work? I know here in NW /central PA most soils are on the acidic side ? Please let me know about the cultipacker why there bad I’m about to buy one lol? I usually just use a 4 wheeler and run seed in works well but I’ve grown all plots to bigger size? Takes forever doing that method? And just by accident this year my father had a old home made roller (lawn roller) I used that and your right POW I have one of the best stands of brassica ever growing currently thought it was just a fluke I’m hooked (thought cultipacker would even do better ) but the lawn roller did me well and cut my seat time in half at least maybe more ? I’ve been planting plots since about 93 so and have had various success and failures but yes in my area you must fertilize! I have buddies/friends have a ton of money me included in equipment but they all go cheap on fertilizers and lime not me been my Ace in the whole there like what you spent that much on fertilizers and lime but following your advice on your food plot items or other brands they want you to have a successful season so you buy again ! ONE more comment on No till I’m not a fan we’ve been tilling the earth since the Indians started planting corn possibly earlier I have a tiller and a disk not cheap but a lot less expensive than a no till drill unless I hit the lottery I’ll keep tilling my soil has gotten better I just keep rotating crops and use soil building plants in a rotation? I’m definitely interested in hearing about the liquid fertilizers I believe this would be better and faster acting and less damaging to equipment ok keep up the good work ! I had a cold spring waited and planted my screen a little earlier here I planted when soil temp was good for corn I should have waited another couple weeks after but still had a impressive screen your screen 100 percent satisfied!!!!! I’m even going to have to trim some down a little in front off our elevated hunting shacks lol! Not a thing wrong with tilling send the hate mail to me ! I’ve tried the I won’t mention his name you tuber with the buck wheat method worked up nit like having soil loosened up or disked I still like it for weed control and soil building I disk over mine once in fields I have just spring summer buck wheat in past I used to brush hog the buck wheat then till makes a beautiful plot holding lots of moisture for seed and yes I use winter rye for bare spots if I just broad cast it I usually double the rate and layer weeks at a time rye will grow in very cold weather too! I’ve noticed I use rye a lot in a few plots that are getting shaded in other plants won’t grow or should say not enough light to grow but as the leaves fall the sun light can get through and you can establish a plot of rye late into the season ok my 2 cents you definitely are spot on and I’m not paid by no one and I’m definitely still learning if you ever need a tester for any thing new seed or other wise I’d be interested! This is a hobby turned into a obsession to putting meat on the table and giving back to the wildlife my family might harvest 3 to 5 deer a year but we feed many deer year round buy we’ve slowly have made fall winter plots are number one planting ok thanks
As far as a lawn roller and a cultipacker (especially with deep groves) Look at a lawn roller sitting on your driveway. 100% contact at all times Look at a cultipacker sitting on a floor or lawn Or driveway. 30% (at best ) contact at all times. What do you think happens to the seed in between the ribs? They may work ok in loose soil, but for notill, a roller with 100% contact makes more sense to me.
Absolutely I agree that’s what I thought years ago and there pretty expensive too ? I just never bought one because my four wheeler method of running the seed in worked very well now with the roller it still does and covers so much more in one pass again thanks sometimes we have to think outside the box lol have a great season? Thanks
First year food plot and I have the liquid foiler to apply. My concern is will wallking through 4 week old food plots of oats, beans, peas to spray do more damage from my foot traffic than just leaving the plot be? Btw-thanks for the rye, great seed tag on it!
We get this question a lot and at the end of the day, you will be benefitting more plants than you will be hurting. We will drive through plots and spray and even after that the amount of plants we kill is so minimal that it’s well worth it. You would be helping 95% of plants in the plot and only possibly damaging the 5%
What are your thoughts of running a tiller on a shallow setting then seeding fertilizer run tiller again then roll tiller may be to much or you think that's ok
I’m not a big fan of tilling in seed, but if you can run it slow and shallow , it may be better than laying on top of the ground. I’ve even heard of people using the tiller with the pto off to cover the seed. Hopefully anyone who reads this and has actually tilled in the seed can chime in with their experience.
I till my rye oats and fertilizer in on a shallow setting after a mid setting to break up the soil. I go as fast as the tractor will allow when tilling the seed in. Then I pack it with the tractor tires. Been doing it for 20 years that way and never had a failure. For brassicas I till it smooth with the rear flap hitting the soil then spread the seed with a bag spreader and run it in with the tires. Works for me.
With the products all being carbon based there is no issue of burning. Burning happens when it’s more salt based and or a lot of nitrogen with urea nitrogen being the dominant source. With our liquid N, there is no burning as well. Unless you’re putting on a lot more than recommended and spraying in the middle of the day when it’s 85 degrees plus, with less than adequate water per acre.
my sweet feast is knee high at 6 weeks. Use your soil samples for inputs! I had excess P and K in the soil so no fertilizer at planting. Added 92lb N per acre at 4 weeks. Your seeds are killer, year after year.
I planted a mix of winter peas, oats, and rye and tilled into the dirt about 3 weeks ago, but we haven't received a drop of rain. The dirt was dry when I planted. Is the seed still viable and just waiting for rain? Should I just sit back and wait for more rain or try again?
Love the informative videos and huge fan of sweat feast brassica. How do you fertilize (UREA of liquid) after Brassica is already 4-6 inches tall I feel like I’m crushing my food plot, are you just spreading or spraying by hand or am I worrying about nothing?
Could you please make a video on your chicory? There’s very little info out there on chicory for whitetail. Everyone thinks that all chicory is the same.
Im in Northern Ca and need the best seeds for summer and drought due to weather and the hunting season. What do you recommend? Almost no rain from mid May until late October. Maybe a few scattered light rains far and between
Good point, I think soil testing is not a emphasized enough . To many videos of plant this plant that ect…. Many plots are done with out the road map of a soil test
John, let me tell you there's nothing wrong with your seed. It's always grade A. There is another big name UA-camr who changed to their "own seed" now and it is pure garbage. Bought some last fall for frost seeding and the germination rate was an absolute failure.
If anbody is wondering if John's info is accurate. I can tell you it is spot on. Im in my third year of food plotting. First two was just throw and grow with mediocre results. This year i sprayed my plots twice with gly, the fist weekend in August broadcasted rye and oats in plots. Tilled, rolled, spread clover blend and rolled again. The plots look great. Of course I used John's seed. The rye and oats are pushing 6"-8" tall. We have been blessed with rain all spring and summer. Thanks for passing on all the great info.
Yep John we got a lot of rain here in the thumb too.Yep Brad get a hold of me every time I text him
I am 100% satisfied with every single seed I've purchased from you John!
Any failure I've had was 50/50 between mother nature and myself not getting total control of weeds...fox tail on next years target. My HD screen is up to 14' to 10'. My brassica is up and it's so so due to only 3 rains 1 good one, and a couple teaser rains with a week or better in-between those.
John, I can't say enough about how genuine, detailed and spot on you are with everything you are trying to share. If anyone wants an outline for success, your channel and seed are it.
Thanks again
Thanks Mike
I watched so many different food plot so called experts. Tried there way of doing it with failure . I followed Johns recommendations and had success. I bought a old disc for $75 fixed it up put about $5 into it. Forced my plot several times , sent a sample of soil to Penn State came back it didn’t need anything . I order rye grain and snd clover mixture. I put down the rye till it under lightly. I put down the clover and rolled in just using the tires on my tractor. Had rain before I planted and the night after I planted. The rye was up on day two . Clover in about 5 or 6 days.
This all was done first week of August . It’s getting nice and green. The deer are coming in like never before and I been doing this for 6 years. I never do a no till product or waste my time on it .
Next year I’m turning my back yard next to the wood lot into a plot . I prefer to feed the deer and wild life then have a lawn I must cut .
Johns the best.. Had problem with a sandy soil, sloped,acre area for last 3 years that just wouldnt grow...talked to john he recomended his soil builder...unbelieveable how good the plot grew and turned out this year!!
Well done
Totally agree on the lawn roller. We have been using for 3 years.
First time using your seed this year John amd here in northern lower Michigan as you know the first half of the summer was rough. Didnt get hd screen in until july 1 and some of it is still pushing 8-10 feet tall. Some is stunted in other spots due to mother nature and soil conditions but i couldn't be happier. Buckwheat did great as a summwr soil builder and although was stunted in growth from the drought as well still went to flower just in time for my brassicas and clover to go in middle of august.
I am fortunate to have good black soil. I have been food plotting it for three years. I have mostly sprayed and broadcast seed with the exception of one plot last year. I have lucked out with rain and my food plots have always done great. Tried your brassica blend this year (purchased last year). All might plots look great except one that is a bit sparse but not bad. Last year I lightly tilled one plot with a drag harrow then broadcast and drug it again. It definitely got a jump over the seed on top of the soil but eventually the others caught up. Last year I broadcast cereal rye on top with no tilling as rain was in the forecast. We were supposed to get 2 to 3 days of rain but wound up with about a quarter inch total in one day. The rye still took off and turned out beautifully! Very impressed with your brassica blend!
Great soil is truly a blessing. But some things that may work well for you, simply won’t work for others in other soil types / climates. I just hope folks understand that it’s not a one size approach fits all is the message we are trying to get across.
Thanks Jon, missed rains are killing me, I’m sure I’m not the only one.
All over the place unfortunately
Had great results with no till last year. This year no till seed and roll buckwheat grew outstanding. Seeded rolled August 10th brasscias small no rain pretty much until yesterday sw michigan
Great
That’s probably some good dirt your working with.
I promise i am a buyer when i call. Always wondered what the difference of first growth of rye. The violet color was tip of day.
Thanks for the continuing education
I alway plant a pot in my yard to see how good the seed is.
Your seed is fantastic! I will be buying more this winter and spring!
Great to hear!! Thanks
I scratched in a foodplot this year with a rake it’s a old strip cut full of pine,clay and shale I went through with a chainsaw last winter and cut it out got it cleaned up before July and now I got rye and brassica growin it’s about a foot tall and then a couple weeks ago I went through and reseeded it with clover . I went over it with a rake and put it in did it all by hand
Tough work but very rewarding for sure.
Great information as always John ! Your videos are very helpful. My sweet feast brassicas that were planted last week in July are 18" tall and looking great. The fall forage blend that I planted in mid august look to be coming in slow but it could be the deer are eating them as soon as they come up. Either way I'll have good plots for this fall. Northwoods Whitetails has great seed and great people to do business with.
Thanks!!
Planting in Pa clay and it’s been wet for months. Got the seed down but two weeks later wasn’t looking that great. Hopefully this dry spell help
John, when you say bury the seed, will rolling it with a lawn roller get it deep enough or you said lightly disk, which do you recommend if you only had one option. Thanks and I threw cereal rye on sept 1 and couldn’t put down the plot Dr because I was woefully unprepared! Did 400lbs granular instead.
I have a small atv disc with a hitch I hook the roller to.
Do it all at once
It just will not rain here
We planted four different dates on what the weatherman said would be incoming rain not a drop. I'll keep trying with winter rye but still no rain in the 10 day forecast.
If it makes you feel any better it won’t stop raining here in the North East… good luck on the planting👍🏼
Centuries of farming practices have shown that plowing, tilling, etc produce the best results. My family has been planting crops for at least 150 years, and not once have I heard about NO TILL planting without modern equipment. In some rare instances, I suppose it might work, but if it old school farming works, why try to fix it?
I think there is something to be gained from both. Little soil disturbance as possible for sure. But, in many soil types, that seed needs to be in the ground vs on top.
My biggest take away from regen ag is always keep something growing. Food plots or farm fields , keep them planted.
Spot on can you comment on LIME you need a neutral or around 7 to unleash the nutrients for the fertilizers to work? I know here in NW /central PA most soils are on the acidic side ? Please let me know about the cultipacker why there bad I’m about to buy one lol? I usually just use a 4 wheeler and run seed in works well but I’ve grown all plots to bigger size? Takes forever doing that method? And just by accident this year my father had a old home made roller (lawn roller) I used that and your right POW I have one of the best stands of brassica ever growing currently thought it was just a fluke I’m hooked (thought cultipacker would even do better ) but the lawn roller did me well and cut my seat time in half at least maybe more ? I’ve been planting plots since about 93 so and have had various success and failures but yes in my area you must fertilize! I have buddies/friends have a ton of money me included in equipment but they all go cheap on fertilizers and lime not me been my Ace in the whole there like what you spent that much on fertilizers and lime but following your advice on your food plot items or other brands they want you to have a successful season so you buy again ! ONE more comment on No till I’m not a fan we’ve been tilling the earth since the Indians started planting corn possibly earlier I have a tiller and a disk not cheap but a lot less expensive than a no till drill unless I hit the lottery I’ll keep tilling my soil has gotten better I just keep rotating crops and use soil building plants in a rotation? I’m definitely interested in hearing about the liquid fertilizers I believe this would be better and faster acting and less damaging to equipment ok keep up the good work ! I had a cold spring waited and planted my screen a little earlier here I planted when soil temp was good for corn I should have waited another couple weeks after but still had a impressive screen your screen 100 percent satisfied!!!!! I’m even going to have to trim some down a little in front off our elevated hunting shacks lol! Not a thing wrong with tilling send the hate mail to me ! I’ve tried the I won’t mention his name you tuber with the buck wheat method worked up nit like having soil loosened up or disked I still like it for weed control and soil building I disk over mine once in fields I have just spring summer buck wheat in past I used to brush hog the buck wheat then till makes a beautiful plot holding lots of moisture for seed and yes I use winter rye for bare spots if I just broad cast it I usually double the rate and layer weeks at a time rye will grow in very cold weather too! I’ve noticed I use rye a lot in a few plots that are getting shaded in other plants won’t grow or should say not enough light to grow but as the leaves fall the sun light can get through and you can establish a plot of rye late into the season ok my 2 cents you definitely are spot on and I’m not paid by no one and I’m definitely still learning if you ever need a tester for any thing new seed or other wise I’d be interested! This is a hobby turned into a obsession to putting meat on the table and giving back to the wildlife my family might harvest 3 to 5 deer a year but we feed many deer year round buy we’ve slowly have made fall winter plots are number one planting ok thanks
As far as a lawn roller and a cultipacker (especially with deep groves)
Look at a lawn roller sitting on your driveway. 100% contact at all times
Look at a cultipacker sitting on a floor or lawn Or driveway. 30% (at best ) contact at all times. What do you think happens to the seed in between the ribs?
They may work ok in loose soil, but for notill, a roller with 100% contact makes more sense to me.
Absolutely I agree that’s what I thought years ago and there pretty expensive too ? I just never bought one because my four wheeler method of running the seed in worked very well now with the roller it still does and covers so much more in one pass again thanks sometimes we have to think outside the box lol have a great season? Thanks
First year food plot and I have the liquid foiler to apply. My concern is will wallking through 4 week old food plots of oats, beans, peas to spray do more damage from my foot traffic than just leaving the plot be? Btw-thanks for the rye, great seed tag on it!
You should be fine
We get this question a lot and at the end of the day, you will be benefitting more plants than you will be hurting. We will drive through plots and spray and even after that the amount of plants we kill is so minimal that it’s well worth it. You would be helping 95% of plants in the plot and only possibly damaging the 5%
thanks for the replies, very helpful
Finally getting little rain.
What are your thoughts of running a tiller on a shallow setting then seeding fertilizer run tiller again then roll tiller may be to much or you think that's ok
I’m not a big fan of tilling in seed, but if you can run it slow and shallow , it may be better than laying on top of the ground.
I’ve even heard of people using the tiller with the pto off to cover the seed.
Hopefully anyone who reads this and has actually tilled in the seed can chime in with their experience.
I till my rye oats and fertilizer in on a shallow setting after a mid setting to break up the soil. I go as fast as the tractor will allow when tilling the seed in. Then I pack it with the tractor tires. Been doing it for 20 years that way and never had a failure. For brassicas I till it smooth with the rear flap hitting the soil then spread the seed with a bag spreader and run it in with the tires. Works for me.
Sounds like foliar during a dry spell is fine, but just curious if any sort of burning or less beneficial effects when sprayed on super dry plots?
That may depend on what Nitrogen is used. Hopefully Brad can comment on the liquid products.
With the products all being carbon based there is no issue of burning. Burning happens when it’s more salt based and or a lot of nitrogen with urea nitrogen being the dominant source.
With our liquid N, there is no burning as well. Unless you’re putting on a lot more than recommended and spraying in the middle of the day when it’s 85 degrees plus, with less than adequate water per acre.
If you plant buckwheat in the fall do you mix rye or anything with it to pick up for the later part of the season?
Rye and some oats
my sweet feast is knee high at 6 weeks. Use your soil samples for inputs! I had excess P and K in the soil so no fertilizer at planting. Added 92lb N per acre at 4 weeks. Your seeds are killer, year after year.
Well done
I planted a mix of winter peas, oats, and rye and tilled into the dirt about 3 weeks ago, but we haven't received a drop of rain. The dirt was dry when I planted. Is the seed still viable and just waiting for rain? Should I just sit back and wait for more rain or try again?
If it’s covered you can wait
Love the informative videos and huge fan of sweat feast brassica. How do you fertilize (UREA of liquid) after Brassica is already 4-6 inches tall I feel like I’m crushing my food plot, are you just spreading or spraying by hand or am I worrying about nothing?
Hand spraying
Could you please make a video on your chicory? There’s very little info out there on chicory for whitetail. Everyone thinks that all chicory is the same.
Ours is different than most and the deer really hit it hard in Oct
I planted 30 lbs of buckwheat seed trying to do the no till method. The deer wouldn't let it get ovy4 inches tall
That’s why we developed our soil builder product. Too many folks have deer eating a straight buckwheat crop to the ground.
Im in Northern Ca and need the best seeds for summer and drought due to weather and the hunting season. What do you recommend? Almost no rain from mid May until late October. Maybe a few scattered light rains far and between
What is the soil like
How big is the plot?
What equipment do you have to use?
Soil test continue each you to show I have very high magnesium. Any idea what causes this and is there something I can do to lower it.
What your opinion on presoaking seeds a few hours before broadcasting? Thanks
I’ve heard that a few guys do it and it worked
How frost tolerant are oats?
Some are down to 23-24 degrees
Great question.
Can we do the miracle gro foliar in October in nothern lower Michigan???
Number 4 should have started with a soil test....otherwise you can waste a lot of money on fertilizer that won't do anything with PH is too low. IMHO.
Good point,
I think soil testing is not a emphasized enough . To many videos of plant this plant that ect….
Many plots are done with out the road map of a soil test
Where in Menominee county can I get my soil tested?
We have rock river lab kits here at the shop
💪👊👍
John, let me tell you there's nothing wrong with your seed. It's always grade A. There is another big name UA-camr who changed to their "own seed" now and it is pure garbage. Bought some last fall for frost seeding and the germination rate was an absolute failure.
Sorry to hear that…..