Fertilizing Fall Food Plots

I think that everyone has gotten plenty of rain so food plots should be doing well if they have not been flooded.  Because of the excess moisture you may want to consider giving food plots a boost with some extra fertilizer.

For the most part, our soils are fairly sandy.  Sands are not good at holding moisture or nutrients.  Therefore if you put out fertilizer prior to or at planting it has been used by the plants or it has been leached out of the rootzone. 

The crops being grown will determine what type of fertilizer you would want to use.  If fertility levels in your plots are in the medium to high range and you have any of the small grains planted you would be fine to apply 34-0-0 at the rate of 100 pounds per acre.

If you have a mixture of clover with small grains or something like chicory you could switch to something like 5-10-15 at the rate of 200-300 pounds.  Clovers and other legumes fix nitrogen.  Rhizobium bacteria inhabit legume roots in nodules.  These bacteria actually fix the nitrogen for the plant to use and in return the bacteria receive carbohydrates from the plants for energy.  As deer feed on these legumes some of the N is released and made available to the other plants in the mixture.

Plots that are strictly clovers or maybe even alfalfa can be fertilized with straight potassium in the form of 0-0-60.  I would recommend between 50 and 100 pounds per acre now and and again in the spring.  If you have trouble finding that analysis you can always use 5-10-15 at a much higher rate.  You will need 300 – 500 pounds of this mixture to supply the needed potassium.  the bonus is that you will be getting some extra phosphorous and a little nitrogen just in case you had trouble with the nitrogen fixing bacteria.

Here are some things to consider if your plots are looking puny.  Most of our food plot forages like a pH in the 6.5 range.  If you did not soil sample you may want to do this before you waste more money on fertilizer.  Most legumes are sold pre coated with the proper rhizobium bacteria.  If your seed was not coated, was old or was uncoated and not inoculated you may want to consider using a nitrogen containing fertilizer like 5-10-15.  Finally really sandy sites and nitrogen loving crops like leafy greens and chicory may require even higher recommendations than mentioned previously. 

If you have any specific questions please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  mackiv@uga.edu, 478-862-5496 or 478-825-6466.

Better Watch Your Step

I just wanted to remind everyone to watch where they step.  Ty Torrance, County Extension Agent in Marion and Schley Counties, stepped right over this fella twice while checking a peanut field for a local grower.

He said that the snake never made a sound.  

Georgia DNR's Deer Activity Map

Many of you have seen the rut maps in magazines, well here is another version brought to you by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.  Researchers at the University of Georgia and biologists with the Wildlife Resources Division found a strong correlation between peak deer-vehicle collision timeframes, deer conception dates and the hourly movement rates of deer tracked by GPS. 

Based on that information, deer-vehicle collision data provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation was used to map the timing of peak deer movement in Georgia.  The map is based on “Using Deer-vehicle Collisions to Map White-tailed Deer Breeding Activity in Georgia,” a peer-reviewed article published in the Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Co-authors are James H. Stickles, David B. Stone, Charles S. Evans, Karl V. Miller, Ph.D., Robert J. Warren, Ph.D., and David A. Osborn of UGA, and Charlie H. Killmaster of the Wildlife Resources Division.

To view the Peak Deer Movement Map click here.  

You can find a lot of really good information on the DNR website if you know where to look and what you are looking for.

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In the previous post we had a misspelled name.  It should have been Bruce Swearingen.  Either way you spell it, the products provided by 4S Advanced Wildlife Solutions provide both the nutrition your deer need and the and attraction that hunters desire.

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LOCAL BUSINESS MAN, BRUCE SWEARINGER, IS ATTRACTING IN BIG DEER WITH HIS DEER FEED PRODUCTS, 4S ADVANCED WILDLIFE SOLUTIONS. CHECK OUT THE SITE BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION.

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186" BUCK TAKEN OVER 4S DRAW

LEGAL PLANTING DATES

Hunting doves over fields planted in late summer or fall is legal provided that the field has been planted as part of a normal agricultural operation. Normal agricultural operation implies a planting that is conducted in accordance with the official recommendations of the university of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service. Aerial or top sowing of small grains without covering the seed is not a recommended practice by the UGA Cooperative Extension Service. Dove hunting over a field planted by top sowing is illegal. Normal plantings do not involve placement of grains in piles or other concentrations. The application rate guideline recommended for all small grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats) planted for crop or forage production is 1.5 to 2.5 bushels per acre.

Small grains and canola planted within the range of dates listed below are official recommended pratcices of the UGA Cooperative Extension Service. Hunters may not hunt doves over or around late summer/fall planted fields if the plantings are outside of the following dates: 

Taylor County is in Piedmont zone. 

Region	Small Grains*	Canola**
Mountains	9/1 - 11/15	N/A
Piedmont	9/15 - 12/1	9/15 - 12/1
Coastal	10/1 - 12/15	10/1 - 12/15

*   Small grains include wheat, rye, oats, and barley.
** Planting canola in the mountain region of Georgia is not considered a practical agricultural pratice.

LANDOWNER LIABILITY & HUNTING

Legal liability has been identified as a major concern among landowners when considering whether or not to grant access to hunters to hunt their property. Legal liability has also been offered as a reason some landowners have stopped allowing hunter access to their property. This is an important issue of concern with the increasing need of sound deer management and hunting access.
To encourage landowners to make their lands available to the public for recreational purposes, including hunting and fishing, Georgia law (OCGA 51-3-20 through 51-3-26) explicitly shields landowners from civil liability for injuries to persons who use their land for recreational purposes without charge unless the landowner willfully or maliciously fails to guard against or warn of a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity. Landowners will not be liable unless they violate this standard of care.  Georgia Courts have interpreted this standard of care as the duty of slight care, which is lower than that of ordinary care.
Georgia law (OCGA 27-3-1) further extends this same protection to landowners, lessees of land, or lessees of hunting or fishing rights who give permission to another to hunt or fish on their property with or without charge.