Corn and Soy bean plot

[tankaray]

Some friends and I are from western Wisconsin. We are planting a 2 or so acre food plot that will consist of roundup ready feed corn and soy beans. We have been working on this field for 2 weeks now. First we mowed the tall grass. Next we dragged to get all of the dead grass off. Then we sprayed round up to kill the remaining grass. It killed alot of it but not all of it. We decided to disc the field. Thats as far as we are right now. My friends want to let the grass grow with the corn and beans. They think this will provide bedding for the deer which we are hunting. I dont think it will allow the corn and beans to grow enough and there will be too much competition between the the grass and plot agriculture. Has any one ever done corn in grass? Will they grow together or compete?

[wtnhunt]

Welcome to the forums.

If you let the corn get far enough along it would be ok to let the grass go, I would not let grass take off early though because it will likely choke out the corn enough to have the corn not do what you are intending it to do. Would seem kind of pointless to buy a RR seed if not going to keep it sprayed.

I do understand the point your buddies are making, but here with the invasive vegetation we get, I would probably keep the grass and weeds out through to August or at least until the corn has tasseled, that should give some time for new grass growth underneath and should give the corn plenty of time to grow without being robbed of what it needs from the soil.

[Tominator]

Letting the weeds grow amongst the good stuff is a bad idea IMHO. Bedding areas should be bedding areas, feed areas should be feed areas. Like William said, the grass will choke out the good stuff and you will have really poor yields.

[tankaray]

Here are some pics of our progress

[PotashRLS]

Us Wisconsinites usually have trouble with Foxtail grass taking over our plots. If you let it grow with your corn/beans, you WILL have a poor plot and probably no yield. You are also throwing your $ away on the seed if you don't spray the weeds like William said. Your pics show a lot of green in your tillage. You probably need to spray again and then plant. Make sure you fertilize also, especially in that newly taken back ground. Did you test your soil?

[wtnhunt]

That is one sweet looking setup, I would keep the plot as free of grass and weeds as possible. Also think come time just before season opens that I would cut some lanes or strips.

[dogdoc]

very nice lookin' area. I agree with the others--keep as much grass and weeds out of the plot. The weeds will only steal soil nutrition from the corn and beans. I'd plant the beans and corn now--wait about 3 weeks and then spray everything with roundup since the seeds are RR ready.

welcome to RT

todd

[dfol20]

What about planting native grasses around your plot edges or strips throught the middle? It would provide cover without competition. It will also benefit other animals like quail and turkeys.

[lilmisswtnhunt]

my dad (wtnhunt) & i sprayed my 4-H food plot with round-up last weekend & we're going 2 plant seed later today...

[BowJoe]

First and foremost, you should check your ph balance. All the money in the world won't yield good results unless you have proper ph balance. You would also be throwing good money after bad if your ph balance is off and you fertilize it. No ph balance, no fertilizer can help it. Point is, don't do anything til you check it. You may even be able to switch to a summer/fall/winter blend with paths in between each in a criss cross pattern to maximize results. Talk to your local state biologist to see what they say you should plant. You might find that you could get something cheaper or easier if you plan to plant this plot year after year. I just hate to see you and your buddies spend all that time and money for very little result. Good luck and I hope I helped.

[Ravin R10 man]

First off, the pic of the plot looks like you are no where near planting..too much sod clumps and not enough soil for proper planting. Id disc that plot at least a couple more times at different directions to cut the sod up.You need good soil to seed contact for proper germination to occur. Corn is a grass, and you do not want any competition for the corn or beans, and why pay the $$ for RR seed just to let it be taken over? This is a food plot not a bedding area..you need to kill all grass and weeds with round up soon after the crop is up. Soil test..you should have that done too, so you know what you have to work with. There are no shortcuts.

[Flintlock1776]

That is a nice spot of land there! Good luck with it!

If you ever need an extra hunting buddy let me know!