acidic soil ph

[wijim]

im not a farmer nor do i profess to know even a little bit of what a farmer can tell you.  many of us who do food plots for hunting lack equipmemt to do it...like a tractor etc.

well after  9 years of puttin in plots....here's a few tips.

my biggest obstacle has been acidic soil.  and how to get lime spread in a cheap and easy fashion....and all i have is a 4 wheeler (atv).

i figure this out..if you take a barrel and weld (or have it welded) with brackets to have it supported on the back rack about 2 feet off the ground...you put a 3" hole in the bottom and an expandable rubber plug (like a pvc test plug for dwv use).  then you have a few tons of lime delivered and dumped in a convenient location.  now you fill the barrel...(not too full cuz it'l be too heavy n bust your atv rack) with shovelfulls of lime plug still in the bottom.  go to your food plot and take the plug out and drive like heck and swerve a bit to spead it.  keep doing this getting it as even as you can until you use approximately 1 ton or more per acre.  then if you can find an old bed spring drag it thoroughly so its spread even better and the clumps are broken up.  its a bunch of work but its way cheaper, easier and faster and more effective than buying bagged lime and cutting it open and dumpin it.  you should get about 3 or 4 years out of your barrel....i find the lime makes em corrode real fast.....so wash off your atv too after you do this.

do not use this method for fertilizing!...you will burn up your ground and it'll delay planting a bit.  plus that stuff will eat an atv frame right quick.

i fertilize using a 39 dollar drop spreader i got at an ag center..i replace it every other year cuz they get beat up pretty bad.  i'd probably get more time out of it if i took care of it better.  

i know it sounds like im a hillybilly gadgetuer....but a bedspring drag is i good friend in this process.  that and a cheap soil compacter to drag behind.  if you are fortunate enough to have a 3 point hitch adapter (with  a handwinch) for your 4 wheeler.........get a disker too.  you will love yourself for doing it.

my plots have been working great over the years and i didnt have to go broke doing it.  plus i get my kids to help and it aint much work either.

[Land_Owner]

sage advice...like you, I am figuring it out one bolt/plot/crop/season at a time.  Collectively, with our combined knowledge and experience we could feed the world...if someone else does the financing...living where agriculture and farming are a way of life makes a lot of difference...here (Florida) we've gotten real good at growing "Tourists" and farming has receeded into the interior of the State and (in general) out of the State...that doesn't mean the energy has left the State, just the ways, means and knowledge base...which this and like forums (QDMA and YesterdaysTractor) so willfully provide...I am not an ATV-man (yet).  I have acquired several tractors and lots of implements...I am learning how to use them purposefully...part of that learning curve is all of the OTHER STUFF that goes into, under, around and through tractor/ATV based agriculture...keep posting...it is ALL GOOD!

[Hunter Mann]

Out of the 10 acres of food plots and planted trails that we have, only one, two acre plot is accessible by a truck. We have the feedstore guys broadcast it there with their truck. They brought in 4 tons of lime and broadcast it for less than $100. That was cool!

For the rest of our plots, they are all done by ATV. We have a disc, and are mounting a chisel plow to the front of it. It works well. Pelletized lime, fertilizer and seed are boadcasted out of a rack mounted 12v spreader. That works awesome! But I might try the big plastic tow behind one next time without the 12v motor.

Fertilizer and lime are corrosive to metal, and we are having some problems with our $180, 4 season old spreader. Maybe that's all we can expect from one...I'm not sure?!? The flow control lever corroded through. And the bushings on the motor need constant lubrication even after being religious in washing it down after use.

We're still looking for a two behind mower to take care of some clover plots, and some openings that are maintained in native grasses. We have a pretty cool trail system that's also planted, but the brachen ferns are taking over. The mower would be nice for that as well.

We're still looking for a good cultipacker. Right now, repeatitive driving across the seed bed with a couple quads ensures good seed/soil contact, and it works. It just takes a long time.