Transforming Red Clay into Healthy Soil: Achieving Successful Food Plot Results in Just 2 Years 754

[@The70srockfan]

Would love a dollars and cents episode on your advice to subscribers who are looking to buy hunting land. Where you really put some costs into large scale land clearing, clearing of thinner habitats, costs of mulching, timber values, etc. Love the quality of the GrowingDeer content, but i think a lot of viewers would like some more quantitative value in which they can visualize their own property and financial situation

[@GrowingDeerTV]

This is a great idea! I'll try to work on this!

[@williamc6555]

What a great suggestion! I was just thinking how great these videos are, but how unattainable some of this feels without having goals (financial) to measure against.

[@DennisGrimm-or3yi]

I watch every video you make. Follow most of your plans. Your latest video on reclaiming red clay soil is one of the most convincing ones you produced. Just fantastic. Thanks

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Thanks Dennis!

[@Ghillie-bp6tl]

Awesome follow-up!! Need more of these! Success. Failures. Learning process.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

We are working on doing more!

[@Kurtdog63]

Been hearing for years that wildlife grows from the ground up. This soil building process (God's plan) is amazing.

[@WNE8]

Great episode! Thanks for the update. This is very encouraging to land owners who may not have the best soil before they begin the Release Process.

[@transamguy9073]

Man what a great movie. I really like watching this guy

[@darrelbyler6253]

Great episode! improving the soil, and habitat ,and building the property is as much fun as the hunting.

[@Andyrob323]

Seeing other land owners succeed with their projects gives me motivation to keep going with what I can do on my own property. I hope to one day invite you guys to help create a management plan for our land.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

I look forward to our paths crossing soon!

[@ericl4865]

20 acres of my farm is reclaimed strip mine. We food-plot about 4.5 acres of this. The soil is all B and C horizon. Organic content was around 2.4% when we baled and sold the alfalfa and fescue. Since switching to brush hogging (2 years ago) and planting Fall Release last fall, soil tests done this spring show organic content jump to 3.8%!

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Wow! That's very impressive! Congratulations.

[@cowman540]

man every time i watch this channel i learn more thing about how i can improve my property to help the wildlife that i love watching an also love to hunt..my property was a worn out cattle farm an woods that was never managed or taken care of .im wanting to make this farm into a wildlife Mekka for my kids an grandkids ..been at it for two yrs really hard trying to improve the habitat .its hard work but i keep doing a little at a time. Thank you Growing Deer ,Doc Grant an Crew for showing the way. I wish i could afford to have you come out an show me more thing, i can do to help this farm with a plan that i could follow...bobby graham

[@GrowingDeerTV]

It sounds like you are doing great work! Focus on the most limiting factor at your place and in the neighborhood! You are blessing your family!

[@meandale]

I live in SE Ohio, where there is a lot of clay in the soil. Several years ago I started a food plot and had it going half way decent. The area is a bull dozed area where an oil well was drilled. Last summer the company came in and capped that well and in the process bulldozed the area again , ruining what I had started. Started again with almost all clay and man it is rough getting anything but weeds to grow and I don't have the money to do a lot of work on it, or have the equipment. This vid gives me hope that maybe I can get it going again! Love your work!

[@garretts1604]

Me too- What did you have luck with the first time? Pondered rye but there is no way to get a drill in there.

[@aw4088]

@@garretts1604 rye can be broadcast.

[@meandale]

@@garretts1604 My first attempt I started by tilling the entire thing with a walk behind tiller, (that was rough!). I spread one of the clover mixes, (I don't remember which one). Since then I have been adding pelletized lime a couple times a year, (when I can find it), and then frost seeding clover. In the fall I through out some of the fall blends but they don't seem to do well. Since they messed it up last summer, it has been very slow in coming back. I plan to broadcast some cereal rye late summer/early fall. It's going to be rough going because it's almost pure clay.

[@williambradley2358]

I’m a huge fan of Grant as I know so many others are too. Beyond food plots, I’ve watched Grant restoring native prairie where it used to be. Now, prairie cannot remain healthy without grazers. If you cannot or don’t want a herd of bison, then you may need to be considering cattle or sheep, since deer are browsers. Elk are also grazers. They have different roles in ecology from deer. This is something I think people miss about beef cattle and sheep and goats. There is a difference between the climate effects , AND the nutritional aspects, of feedlot fattened cattle, and grass fattened cattle. I love venison, but to keep my prairie healthy outside my food plots, I rely on a herd of beef cattle (dairy cattle will work too but I don’t want the work of milking morning and night-I got enough of that growing up!) and a flock of sheep, which are then harvested for grass FINISHED (not just grass fed) beef and lamb. Whenever I need a fix of soil health optimism, I come to growingdeer.tv and it brightens my day.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Thanks William! No doubt cattle and other livestock can be great tools to improve native habitat. However, most recreation land owners don't have the infrastructure to graze - even if they have or can rent livestock. Using prescribed fire appropriately and at different times throughout the year - over several years - is another tool that can be used to create great native habitat. Wildlife will respond to the new vegetation and serve most of the role of livestock.

[@rustychambers7816]

Great video, as always Grant. Hope your office is finishing up!

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Thanks Rusty! Painters should start next week!

[@mattreynolds792]

Love the videos. These videos are really helpful keep up the amazing work.

[@kokadjooutdoors620]

Great info as been working clay but in Maine more blue clay. My clover, rye and oat plot did great last year and is popping up great this spring. Deer ate it to dirt by January surprised coming in so we’ll this spring. For a small plot feed lot of wildlife and continues. Nesting woodcock near it this year is awesome to see

[@C3USA]

Love the longer videos. Do you think you could do a video on what to look for when buying land? Thanks Grant!

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Good idea!

[@Sandwichking-hikes]

Hello from South Carolina. I do have the red clay and am working on your system on my own hunting land.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Have fun and let me know how it goes!

[@nelsonhill8715]

I'm from SC as well I have a tar river no till drill I'm going to try this as well .....am I supposed to lime to get the ph right first or just start planting?

[@jeremysilcox9362]

I have started building my lease soil here in south Alabama which is sandy. The cec has improved, and we started with a ph of 4.7 or so.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Jeremy - Nice work!

[@wesfox1712]

Great video!

[@otiskeithwatkins1679]

that was a great one

[@TrailCameraTV]

Cool video. When you convert the clear cuts to a food plot, how aggressive do you have to be with getting up the stumps and roots? Are you having to blade and rip the entire new food plot? What price per acre do you usually figure on? Is it a different process you use? Thanks for all the information. Your videos are very helpful.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

I prefer to use a track hoe or excavator with a thumb as this removes the stumps easier and cleaner than a dozer. It also makes stacking the stumps. to burn much easier and more dirt can be removed from the roots. I'm sure this varies locally but it seems folks often pay about $3,000 per acre to remove the stumps and prepare to plant. If the stumps aren't removed, they will eventually rot out and leave big holes.

[@Digger927]

SOM (soil organic matter)on that was probably about 1 to 1.5, I had a bunch similar to that when I started with crop fields. By the second year of all no till I was seeing solid 3 numbers also. I will say from super low SOM you will get a drastic increase short term then from 3 years on it's harder to make gains that impressive. Still though gains are gains.

[@salt-team-six5883]

I live in S/W Georgia. I know all about red clay. It will stick a truck in the field after a rain faster then you can blink in eye. It turns everything orange

[@scottschaeffer8920]

Per the comment below, much of the midwest was, and should again, be returned to grasslands, and a grazing system. Instead, it’s conventionally row cropped, tilled to the bone repeatedly, and well, we know what happened. Beef demand is huge right now.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

There certainly needs to be changes made!

[@fergystuff]

​@GrowingDeerTV If we don't get this sorted out the regulations will come, it's inevitable.

[@larrymoore5886]

I have 60 acres of land under contract in Alabama. It is surrounded on three sides by National Forest. I want to develop a management plan. How do I begin? Do you still do consulting? I have watched HOURS of your videos and really appreciate your advice through them.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Congratulations! Yes, Daniel and I both consult with landowners and we both have been in Alabama to see multiple landowners this spring.

[@mikepayne8126]

I wish you would do a video that helps guys and gals that don't live on there and property. Live 3 hours away from said property, and have very little equipment and funds to throw at making great wildlife habitat. I have been following you since day one if I was to guess. I have tried and tried but fail year after year due to the lack of time, funds and equipment. I also believe that my turkey population has almost vanished because of a lack predator control and that is a losing battle because of a lack of time. I have also noticed that over the years the mature bucks have been declining in antler growth. My parents land is 80 acres in Morgan County so it is the type of habitat that the proving ground are. I wish you find a way too give away a over the phone management consult. I truly love and enjoy watching every video but just feel like I will obtain results a fraction of what they could be. Any advice or tips would be awesome. Thank you

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Mike - It can be tough living 3 hours away but many folks do that. We have several videos about using hand tools. This requires a lot of work but successful plots can be created this way. In addition, it's easy to do Timber Stand Improvement and improve the native habitat with a hatchet, chainsaw, and a squirt bottle to apply herbicide. We are hosting a Field Event June 9th and 10th and will demo many these techniques. Maybe you can join us then?

[@TradgerFarms]

When you guys plant your rye in the fall, are you just broadcasting it into existing fall food, Or drilling it in with your fall planting at the same time? I would imagine drilling it over existing fall food would just crush what was already planted.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

The cereal rye is in the blend from GreenCoverSeeds.com that we plant for the fall crop. We drill through the standing summer crop and plenty of forage is left to attract and feed deer until the fall crop germinates and grows.

[@loisbuttray2937]

In the Northern Clover release blend. Is it an annual clover or a periennial?

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Wild turkey is fine and very healthy meat!

[@garretts1604]

Thank You Grant! For areas where a drill is not avail me or “Rollie Polie” is there a means or method to do this without equipment (ie- Broadcast)?

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Garrett - We have several videos about establishing plots with hand tools. The progress is slower but great plots can be created!

[@larrymoore5886]

Is it too late to plant the summer blend inAlabama?

[@GrowingDeerTV]

No! Make sure there's adequate soil moisture or rain in the forecast. Checkout: GreenCoverFoodPlots.com

[@sgto_o7118]

How does one get a visit/guidance from Dr. Woods? Especially when one is just in North Central Missouri? Have been following the process since 2018, and would like to see if doing the right things, what can do to improve, etc.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Daniel and I assist several landowners annually. Email us the location of your property (town it's close to) and how many acres and we'll respond with cost for us to create a habitat and hunting improvement plan.

[@db7outdoors987]

Does anyone know what the episode is called with the guy in Texas? Thanks

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Checkout: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3-rfI2hab-lpdE

[@alantrammell6486]

My friend just acquired land very similar to this, he brought me in on it to split the work and cost so we are excited to start from scratch. For the cool season part of this process you mentioned Rye for the grain portion. Is rye better in red clay than other grains?

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Cereal rye has a larger root system and more above ground biomass then wheat or oats. Each small grain has unique traits and a blend allows for the benefit of all these trails.

[@JayN4GO]

Chris needs a KZbin channel

[@saltybr]

Great content! Looking at the droopy edge in the background of the clover food plot, can you speak to the benefits of hard edge vs feathered edges along food plots. A contrast of a droopy edge, to a side-arm mowed edge, to a transitional feathered edge (by traditional Missouri definitions) would be interesting to hear and see.

[@saltybr]

Sorry to post twice, but it’d also be cool to get your thoughts on these edge types not only from a habitat quality standpoint, but from a deer/wildlife funneling standpoint.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Most folks want to hunt the ag land in Iowa or Kansas. Gads of big deer tagged there - with no edge feathering, etc. Such techniques aren't necessary but if the landowner enjoys doing them, why not? I'd rather spend those resources doing Timber Stand Improvement in the entire stand - which will result in cover at the edge also. Having cover just at the edge creates long and narrow predator food plots.

[@Andrew-sanders]

The only thing you are missing is the buffalo affect. You brought someone in that grazes like Greg Judy or gab brown and put the cattle in the mix on high production forge mixes and everything will excel at a much faster rate. Cattle or sheep and deer and turkey work together yet seems to be tabu. To have a cash put for just deer and turkey makes no sense when it could pay for itself and be a better end out come

[@michaelcolthart4006]

Proofreading is cheap and effective too, yet you clearly don’t employ it.

[@rprice33]

It’s too early in his process to introduce livestock. Sheep would destroy his cover crop, and thus the deep root system he needs. I know this from experience.

[@bowman8316]

@@michaelcolthart4006 😂🤣😂🤣👍🏼👍🏼

[@Andrew-sanders]

@@michaelcolthart4006 only a child would say something about it to. My one weakness is writing

[@Andrew-sanders]

@@rprice33 if miss managed or the wrong type of forage was planted easy fully agree would actually set him back. But with the mixed developed now and the better knowledge of how to utilize can speed the process 10 fold

[@ericskillern7069]

I've got a place in etx. How do I get ahold of you?

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Write us at [e-mail]

[@aarongoeppner413]

Awesome video!!!