Before and After fescue conversion! Even an idiot can do it.

Brad6260

Brad6260

New member
After thinking on it for a couple of seasons I finally took my 1959 Ford with a hand me down disc, and a tank sprayer and started killing off 10 acres of fescue last summer and fall and disced the heck out of it this spring after another round of spray.
Despite not knowing squat about farming and the drought I am amazed at the results in such a short amount of time from the broadcast seeding I did this May.
Sunflower, Milo, millet, partridge peas and native grasses all seem to be doing well.

I do need to learn how to get better control of the Johnson grass and welcome any suggestions how to improve on the habitat that has emerged.

Picture one taken last summer.
Picture two yesterday.

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Great start. That pesky fescue will pioneer itself, choke it out if you can. Johnson grass is gamebird certified, quail and pheasant aren't disturbed by it, it is a hazzard to the dogs. Otherwise, weeds are OK! Especially ragweed. disc some of it, reseed, or use bare ground and let nature take it's course. Burn about a third annually, after the first 2 years, disc a third around to help with fire supression, about 1/4-1/3 annually, run some livestock through it for awhile to break it up. Wish we could all do it as well.
 
Thanks very much UGUIDE!

Yes I do have lot's of critters out there.
Unfortunately they all want to eat what I'm trying to attract.
Of course we have no cock birds around here and the bobwhites have been very scarce anymore but perhaps there is a glimmer of hope.I keep a good size Johnny House year around on the woods edge by the field to work the Lab's and realized a few weeks ago that the whistling was coming from out in the field going back and fourth with my kept birds.
There is a small covey on the horse farm across the road from me that has marginal habitat. I'm sure that's where it came from and will be very curious if more of those birds tend to migrate over when they figure out I have habitat heaven for them?
As I have heard reported from other areas we are starting to see the presence of Bobwhites where they were not in the past few years so we'll see what develops.

Regards!
 
Good work Brad!
 
Nice work Brad. Not sure about you but I know that it sure makes me feel good after I've done some habitat work to see the critters move in and take advantage of it. Now the real work begins, how to keep 'em!!!:cheers::cheers:
 
Looks great Brad, keep up the good work!:cheers:
 
Thanks for the nice words fellas and Jaytee your absolutely right.
I felt like Noah after completing the ark hearing a bird whistle from the plot and seeing all the activity out there.

There's been a healthy flock of Turkey on the property behind me for years that never wandered up my way and I'll be curious to see if they come calling this fall and winter.
Even though it's only about ten acres I'm hoping to have a private little dove area to shoot from out the back door here in a couple of weeks.
 
Quick update.

Fish and Wildlife agent stopped by and gave me a thumbs up on the progress made.

He recommended Outrider Herbicide next spring instead of Plateau to get a grip on the areas heavy with Johnsongrass.
Has anyone had experience with it?

Thanks.
 
I've used Outrider and its da chit for Johnson grass. Worked very good for the most part but there were just a few areas that I had to hit again but thats not the norm.
 
As promised here are looks assuring that there are trees and shrubs around.

Also how to convert the kids old play fort into a dandy johnny house!

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Looks like its time to get the chainsaw out and do some serious edge feathering!! You need to drop those tall trees and let the area grow up in shrubby type cover, then you'll see a huge difference.:thumbsup::cheers:
 
Looks great!

I wish more people would realize the beauty that is wildlife habitat and strive for what's traditionally thought of as an "unkept" look instead of fescue and cut lawns.
 
Thanks very much Madison Co.
I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed the process.

I learned very quickly a guy can sink a fortune into a field this size in seed and such and I had a tiny budget so this is what I refer to as a poor mans approach. I highly recommend it and my fish and game biologist that came out said it's as good an offering for the game as anything else he's seen.

I planted Korean Lesbadeza, Partridge Pea and Little Blue Stem.
Add to that the amazing emergence of the long dormant native stuff that disking brought out(ragweed, pig-weed, Indian grass , Johnson-grass, etc) and I got a fantastic stand of bird friendly grasses.
I then put in 20 foot wide strips of perdovic sunflower with 10' strips of milo flanking each edge leaving about 10' of mowed lanes between the grasses and the food plots.

As I said in my previous post's the main issue I need to think about for next season is getting some control over the Johnson-grass. Not that it's not good bird cover and a heck of an improvement over the fescue but for dog work it just gets too tall.

My County agent recommends Outrider Herbicide for the Johnson grass and I'm looking into it but it may be cost prohibitive. Bloody expensive!

Regards,
Brad
 
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