No - Till Brassica Food Plot Buckwheat Method

[@cameronkennedy1318]

No till takes time. Keep at it you will be glad you did. The soil tilth will become better and you will see better germination because of it. I am several years in and have no problem with no till, beans, peas, sunflowers, milo, cereal grain, and any of the small seed plantings.

[@wolfpack4128]

I just bought a Saya 505 no till drill from Tar River. I was worried I spent too much and could just do the Sturgis no-till method instead. I'm really glad you did this to get an honest video from someone with some food plot experience but not someone with a horse in the race. I had broadcast brassicas in late July and very few germinated in a similar manner (broadcast into clover then sprayed). With that no till drill I got way better results.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Anytime you get the seeds into the soil, even when it’s just a little it helps a lot. I may be switching back to tilling next year on this plot but I will definitely have at least 1 no till buckwheat plot somewhere.

[@tjt1992]

Great video! I till all my plots and cultipack, then I wait until there is a 3 or 4 day rain forecast, then I seed with a spreader and then cultipack! Plots are amazing this year ! This year I planted 1 clover and chicory plot 6-17-21,then planted 2 clover and chicory plots 8-4-21 and 5 brassica plots 8-4-21 and a brassica plot 9-4-21. I live in West Michigan, south of Grand Rapids.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

I’ve had better germination when tilling and cultipacking in the past too. The cultipacker buries small seed like clover and brassicas to the perfect depth it seems.

[@travismenge5002]

Good job. Try mixing in about a pint per acre of 2-4D with your roundup when you spray and that will help with the water hemp. Also maybe spray more than once a year. I spray 3 times a year with the first spraying at first green up. My first spraying normally really controls the weeds including the water hemp. NOTE. Don't spray 2-4D if you're going to plant brassicas within 14 days, as 2-4D stays in the soil for that long and will kill them. I mix 2-4D twice a year and round up only at time of planting. Good hunting!

[@thomaslehmann5981]

I always heard 10 days wait after 24D. I ges I'll wait the extra 4 days. I'm doing a fall mix brassica, rye, oats. Seed is not real cheap. Thx for info

[@travismenge5002]

@@thomaslehmann5981 go really light on the rye seed in that mix if any at all, as well as the wheat. The rye and wheat will compete with your brassicas for much needed nitrogen in the soil leaving your brassicas starving for nutrition and the crop may look stunted and yellow. This is a mistake I learned several years ago. Brassicas I found grow much better with other brassicas, and the rye and wheat I plant on the other 1/2 of my plot with other greens like beans and peas. I split all my plots in 1/2 just for this reason no matter how small they are. Cereal grains don't mix well with brassicas. Cereal grains will ALWAYS win on nutrition. Good hunting!

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

I didn’t spray in the spring because I wanted to seed the buckwheat into the rye. But next year I’m going to kill the rye and spray 1 or 2 times before I seed the buckwheat. Then if there’s still some weedy spots in the buckwheat I’ll kill the buckwheat with 24D and plant 1-2 weeks later. Hopefully the spraying in May of 24D and gly mixed cleans up most of the water hemp and I’m not left with that much in the buckwheat. Seeding into the buckwheat and spraying the same day is still ideal.

[@donaldbowling8620]

Been a tough year for plotting. Drought conditions and then when we did get rain it was 5” in 12 hours. Then nothing again for 3 weeks. Brutal!! Keep on trying. That’s all we can do. 👍🏻

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Yes it has been tough, last year was a little rough too. Where abouts are you located?

[@donaldbowling8620]

@@wisconsinwhitetail9744 it sure was. I had my first total failure last year due to no rain. I replanted, but it fell a little short of what I had hoped. Just not enough time to make up the difference. I’m in S/W Michigan. Kalamazoo area. We got a bunch of rain this week, so I’m hoping it will jumpstart the plots. Plus I had put down some cereal Rye just prior to the rain. 👍🏻🦌

[@kyletainter]

Did a little experiment this year and planted about 1/2 acre of buckwheat mid June. Grew great. Early August I mowed half that plot then tilled buckwheat in and broadcast brassicas on top and cultipacked. The other half I tried the no-till method just like you. The no-till method turned out terrible and we had plenty of rain. Very spotty germination. Had to fix that area with winter rye. The tilled brassicas look incredible. I'm never doing that no-till method again.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

When it comes to no till you have to bump up the seeding rate even when there is rain in the forecast. My plot is a little patchy too, but the only good thing about no till is it’s hard to overseed, when you till you get way better germination and sometimes too thick. I’ll probably be tilling this plot next year and maybe try the no till method again in another plot.

[@northwoodswhitetailsfoodpl2663]

Thanks for trying our seed blend

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Thank you! Definitely the most diverse brassica blend I’ve ever planted, but they didn’t eat the tall thin brassicas and one of the other shorter varieties. Thanks for commenting, I didn’t know you had a KZbin page.

[@northwoodswhitetailsfoodpl2663]

@@wisconsinwhitetail9744 get ahold of us…. We will get you more for 2022

[@williamstevens9609]

Buckwheat wont hurt too bad, deer will eat it while its still young and give the brassicas time to grow, will essentially act as a nurse crop for the brassicas. Keep up the hard work!

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Thanks 👍

[@rfb7117]

Our farm is in SW WI. I have been trying the no till system with buckwheat as a nurse crop for a few years with limited success. I have also had difficulty planting into the high buckwheat, especially as I did a double planting of the buckwheat due to no rain. We are about 10" less rain than a normal year, and I'm not happy with my plots. After killing and cultipacking the buckwheat I still have some coming up in my Brassica and pea plots. I believe next year I will be going back to tilling my plots.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

I feel like if we had timely rains the system would have worked better. I’ve grown great no till brassicas in the past but you need normal rainfall or above average to get great results. Tilling will guarantee good results and I don’t think it’s a bad for the soil as what they say. I will probably till this plot next year and try no till again in another plot.

[@bobmaverick5160]

Nice video. Well done. Northwoods is proud of their seed. 4 lbs of clover and chickory seed shipped to Louisiana $59.00. That will only plant 1/2 acre. Try WELTER SEED!

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

I don’t like the Northwoods sweet feast Brassica blend anymore. They have a bunch of those tall variety of Brassica they go out to seed and the deer don’t eat. Honey hole from antler king and winter greens from Whitetail Institute are my two favorite blends.

[@patrothwell9138]

Good video. It was super dry here in Michigan too.My Buckwheat did not grow..NOOO RAINonly thing that came in was weeds...Northwoods whitetails seeds r AMAZING mine Brassicas r doing Fantastic we been getting Rain that is HUGE

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

My brassicas have definitely popped too since the last rain we had about a week ago. Once the brassicas get a few inches tall they really take off.

[@tompeterson3296]

I've not been too successful with broadcast seeds and no till. On my dirt (sandy loam) seeds need to be covered and some vegetation on top to hold any moisture and suppress weeds is of huge benefit. Last summer I bought a Tar River Saya 5' No Till drill.....and used it to get my seeds into the ground (after an all summer drought). Timing was perfect....and my intent is to go all no-till via the new drill. Also planning to roller crimp the WR and Buckwheat covers. Thanks for sharing your experiences.....and hope you find success in no till. I think you could be better rewarded if you drill rather than broadcast and pack those seeds. Of course that willl cost some $$$ or find a friend nearby??.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Yeah a drill would be ideal then I could No till all my corn and soybeans. I’ve had pretty good luck planting brassicas by tilling, no tilling into soybeans and no tilling into a cover crop like in this video. Even on this really dry year the no till plot turned out good. I should have done an update in late September. They really took off after this video. Sorry for the late reply

[@rmoutdoors6400]

We have gotten too much rain in southern NY. Probably 20+ inches since beginning of July so it actually killed off a bunch of our brassicas from them getting flooded. Going to overseed with rye this weekend

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Rye will save anything haha. The last 2 summers have been abnormally dry, but the year before that 2019 was really wet and a lot of the farmers had corn in the fields until late November Gun season.

[@josephtreadlightly5686]

I've never had volunteer Buckwheat but i don't plant it until mid-May here in central MN. A weird year of several months of 90" of snow & it has led to green this spring. I had turnips in a plot that was planted with too many forage radishes & kale. Now I have VOLUNTEER TURNIPS! They must have germinated & started growing under the snow when we had 80* heat for a few days like 2 weeks ago in April followed by heavy rain. All r ping pong to golf ball size with green chutes coming out above them. Haven't found any kale or radishes. I did seed it a little thick & now Im wondering if i should let it remain green until June when I could then plant my spring Buckwheat. I plan to seed some alfalfa/clover too in other areas soon while the soil has moisture. But now the winds r so high everyday that small seed would end up in the next county. Take care with this weather pattern.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

A lot of the time if the turnips arnt completely consumed by the deer and the kale isn’t munched down to the ground the brassicas will regrow and get tall and seed out the following year. You could definitely no till seed your buckwheat into the re growth from the brassica crop and crush down. Or spray and till then under and plant buckwheat. Tilling will probably get a thicker stand of buckwheat. If you chose to no till definitely bump the seeding rate up some.

[@josephtreadlightly5686]

@@wisconsinwhitetail9744 Yeh, I'm going to pick some when they r a little larger & do a quick till & plant the Buckwheat early June. When I'm ready to broadcast seed late summer I will definitely terminate/crimp the Buckwheat over my seed in the sand soil for the biomass. Another nearby spot that I've never put Buckwheat in I'm going to do 2 crops of Buckwheat this year just like I'm going to do in the 1st plot. Nothing worse than planting turnips in the spring since they rot during hot, humid weather.

[@we-will-see-what-happens]

I had that happen once, I planted a food plot of beets that didn't produce. The next year I didn't find the time to make a food plot in the same location and all the beets i planted the year before grew.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Yeah I’ve had volunteer brassicas come up the following yr in certain areas sometimes too.

[@bradnewhouse4454]

I just started watching more of your videos and I think they are great! I watched a video before this one that you mowed and sprayed glyphosate and then broadcasted your seed right into the dead thatch and it came up great. Between that method and the broadcasting into buckwheat and crushing it down which would you choose or recommend between the two?

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Depends on the type of weeds you have in your Plots. If you don’t have any water hemp or marestail or other Round up resistant weeds yes you could mow then spray and seed into thatch. Or even seed the same day. The buckwheat is a good thing to plant in the spring because it kills easier than weeds by smashing and spraying. You can seed into standing weeds and crush them down but sometimes you don’t get 100% kill. Planting the buckwheat as a cover crop usually helps get the weeds under control. Or you can just spray two or three times throughout the summer to keep the soul bare and then seed your brassicas when you want to in late July or early August. Many different ways to plant Brassica

[@spfunk8812]

i liked the video alot,

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Thanks 👍

[@clarkwheeler8764]

I use to stress over weeds coming up in my plots until I noticed the deer were eating some of the weeds too. Instead of going complete no till, I put down my fertilizer and then very very lightly run my disk down one way and then run it back. Then broadcast my seed and cultipack.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

I want weeds to a minimum because those weeds won’t be there when the deer really need food in the late fall and winter months. Running the disc over light does sound like a good idea. I’ll have to keep that in mind.

[@billhanson3961]

Have you ever grown the winter rye, chopped it or crushed it and tilled it into the soil before you plant your next crop?

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fam7gKGbjtmImtE Check this video out. Last year I tilled certain sections of the rye when planting the buckwheat. I also left some areas untilled and the tilled areas grew better. Then in July did the whole plot no till brassica. Rye thatch is fine for one year but by yr 2 it’s harder to get good germination and by yr 3 like this was you get terrible germ rates.

[@kurtcaramanidis5705]

I had the same exact thing happen to me with my buckwheat just north of you.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Yeah it sounds like a lot of people had issues with no till plots again this year. This summer and last summer have been so dry

[@saypuppy]

Had the same happen in Taylor County WI too. I had disced though and put the buckwheat in. It failed from no rain. I disced again and put in peas and forage collards, then it rained...buckwheat exploded and stunted everything. Sucked.

[@thomaslehmann5981]

With the waterhemp issue could you add 24D with the glyphosate? Then wait the ten days they say you have to wait after 24D then seed and crush? Thats the situation I have. Trying to no till into a failed 2 acre milo plot that got overtaken by foxtail.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

I’ve never done that. I have sprayed 24D and Glyphosate in May and June to keep weeds down and then spray glyphosate when I plant in July. I could try 24D and gly 1-2weeks before planting next year if the water hemp is really bad. But as soon as the half like of the 24D wears off 10 days to 2 weeks the weed will start germinating again probably but at least I’ll get a better kill on the big weeds before planting.

[@thomaslehmann5981]

@@wisconsinwhitetail9744 Ya I'm not sure but 24D does smoke waterhemp and gly resistant marestail which I have also. But you are right the hemp never gives up until frost.

[@davidsoloninka7742]

Do u have any video of killing a buck over or near your food plots?

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Me and my dad have gotten some nice bucks in the food plots but they really don’t start to him them good until around late November after the rut and all of winter. Below are some links. kzbin.info/www/bejne/joPVY5yOi7uAb6csi=lFhtQ-FbNBM5kObs kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKOzkqODpM6Worssi=btOpNSRYDZ6z_MXd kzbin.info/www/bejne/eofbY5eNnql4oKssi=iUsnuzJOm0_wacOv

[@travissmith-wz5nc]

The 2 products mixed together probably would be a good mix. U broadcast wheat rye into corn beans and brassica?

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Yes you can broadcast rye into anything and it will do great. You will just have to deal with spraying it off the next spring. I’ve broadcasted rye into a small section of corn and it came in like a green carpet.

[@joerome8882]

What did you spray after you layed the seed down

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Gly

[@mattbrudvig4236]

🧀🧀🧀🧀can't wait to see your hunting videos.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Saw a nice buck tonight on Public, got some footage too. I still have a few food plot videos I am working on getting out and then the hunting videos will be coming.

[@stevegermain1222]

Awesome

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Thumbs up 👍

[@peaceandlove5214]

How many times you can cut Buckwheat and still can get seeds out of it?

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Not sure why you would want to cut it. You plant it as a cover crop and seed into it then terminate the buckwheat by crushing it.

[@peaceandlove5214]

@@wisconsinwhitetail9744 I want to cut it as fodder and want to know if I can cut it multiple times.

[@AngelZLopez]

Did you spray herbicide after crushing buckwheat?

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

Yes, 2 oz per gallon. Glyphosate

[@jessewallen1316]

@@wisconsinwhitetail9744 can I use round up or does it have to be straight glysophate?

[@craiglamb8056]

Did you spray the plot this spring before you broadcast the buckwheat?

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

I broadcasted the buckwheat into standing rye and brassica regrowth. And crushed the rye over the buckwheat seed and then sprayed. So basically 2 no till plantings buckwheat into rye in early June and brassicas into buckwheat in late July early aug.

[@markc4921]

I did learn something. When you planted your buckwheat did you just broadcast it or does it have to be buried? Thanks. Enjoyed the video.

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

I no tilled it into standing rye and brassicas that grew back in early June. If you don’t have a cover crop to crush down over top of the seed I don’t know how well no tilling will work.

[@chriskourlos4407]

Too much talk not enough good info too. Give us something we can use.👎

[@wisconsinwhitetail9744]

What do you mean not enough good info, this is probably the best step by step well documented no till brassicas into buckwheat video on KZbin.

[@swampah5155]

@@wisconsinwhitetail9744 Best one I've seen and I've watched many!