Freshly graduated in a similar field and have been watching your videos throughout my college career. I love these videos and especially your graduate studies. Thank you for passing on this information! Maybe we will cross paths soon.

Levi - Congratulations on graduating and I look forward to visiting! grant

I really enjoy this format

Great format!

Did you do the second one?

Thanks and enjoy!

Rob - Thanks! I hope your crops do well! = grant

I appreciate your kind words!

Thanks!

Thanks for watching! - grant

Thanks Jesse!

More to come!

Thanks for the kind words!

I am so ready for the next level

Dan - I'm glad you enjoy as we learn together! grant

Spencer - Sounds like you will have a great season!

That's the plan!

Thanks Bill!

Thanks Aaron!

Thanks Caleb!

Thanks Brian!

Mark - I hope you are well and look forward to your observations from your plots! - grant

Richard! More soon!

Tarzan - Enjoy - improving land is a great feeling!

Eric - Let me know how your plots are going!

Mike - Gabe's book is very good! Gabe is a pioneer in improving soil health and reducing input costs!

Scott - The Goliath Crimpers are a great tool! Checkout RTPOutdoors.com for more information.

Adam - Great! Enjoy creation - grant

Thanks! You too!

Bob - Thanks for sharing the kind words! - grant

Thanks Terry! Stay tuned!

The Delta soils can be super productive!

Thanks Doug!

Late this winter!

It's late this winter and where is the 2nd seminar?

Its almost next winter. Is there going to be another one?

We'll share that soon! I'm waiting for a crop to mature in one of my small plots! - grant

John - We are working on 202!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Let me know how it goes! - grant

We will!

Soon!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Juan - Thanks for watching!

Thanks Tom!

Keith - We'll be sharing a lot about our processes and techniques this spring!

Thanks!

Me too!

Buck - We are working on the 202 class!

Thanks Jamon!

Dr. Jones is brilliant! I enjoy learning from her.

@@GrowingDeerTV Good stuff, and I assume you have watched Walter Jehne

Kevin - Many soil fungus species are very beneficial! They move nutrients and water to plant roots! I often vary the species in my warm and cool season crops and this works as a great rotation!

We are working on the second course - grant

Jason - Ok!

Stay tuned!

Thanks!

Ragon - Thanks for your kind words! A no till drill and crimper is much less expensive than most of the implements big farmers use. Most farmers I visit with really dislike change and farm for the crop insurance checks. It's a broken system. I was driving between Paducah and Wickliffe yesterday and saw one farmer that used cover crops and his fields showed no sign of erosion and no weeds! Every other field had been plowed, sprayed (obvious dead weeds) and almost all showed erosion. It's very sad when you understand soil health and ways to improve the environment and reduce input costs.

Derek - Vegetation will burn better if it's up in the air and not mashed to the ground. If there's quality native forage there's no need to plant a crop. Native forage is often very drought resistant and adapted perfectly to that site!

Hey Ryan - virgin land would be very productive - like the prairie was when first farmed! Discing, addition of synthetic fertilizer, etc., degrades soils and reduces it's productivity. We have several episodes about how we use hand tools to establish small plots and most NRCH offices rent no till drills at very reasonable rates! I also hear of a few guys partnering and purchasing a drill so they all can use!

James - Great question! The answer depends on how much thatch there is. I error on the side of leaving the front coulters on!

Chris - Thanks! We work on this soon! - grant

TGSR - Congratulation on the property! Discing will loosen the top few inches but always compacts the soil underneath where the disc reaches. So - it's 50/50 whether to disc and do damage or know the new crop will start slow due to the compacted soil surface. If you disc, be sure to not disc when the soil is wet or more compaction will occur! We've learned much since we started the Buffalo System and call the more advanced technique the Release Process - as we've learned to release the habitat and herd's potential. Keep me posted on your project!

Thank you a ton for the reply. Do you ever recommend planting some pines or grasses to create cover in open areas? I’m concerned the property is too open and not providing enough cover for deer to travel between properties. My dads 35 is all wooded, my new 25 is basically open - there’s switch grass, weeds, and a handful of trees with slight rolling hills. But I can basically see from one end to the other. Thanks again, huge help.

Sam - There's some variables such as if weeds will be an issue, etc. In general grasses (like sorghum, etc.) make the most tonnage. Remember the roots are as important, if not more than what we see above the ground. I've designed a new summer blend that will be at GreenCoverSeed.com. You may wish to checkout there SmartMix Calculator and create some custom blends for your location!

@@GrowingDeerTV Amazing! thank you!

Tyler - Roots and their exudates (the stuff that leaks out of roots) contributes more to organic matter than the above ground. It's hard to understand since we see the above ground biomass. Checkout GreenCoverSeed.com and their SmartMix calculator to research the best plant varieties and blends for your exact area. I use that tool a lot!

Mark - Yes - the seedlings from the recently planted crop will reach for the sun and grow through the mulch or recently crimped crop. Microbes and nematodes (earthworms, etc.) will consume the crimped vegetation but this will take months so it's serves as a weed suppressor and a great slow release fertilizer!

Hi, Thanks for getting back to me. I really appreciate it. So really if you for example are growing wheat for your cash crop once that has been harvested instead of burning the fields you would just simply seed wheat over it? I understand to grow things like carrots, Brussels, potatoes, cabbages etc. You would need to grow the other plants you mentioned to then crimp them so they rot. Would I be correct to say that? Thanks again. Mark

Cereal rye is a great cover crop that can be broadcast during the fall and sorghum- sudan grass during the early summer. I prefer blends to capture more sunlight and provide more benefits! - grant

Jeff - I assist several landowners in Oklahoma. That area has lots of potential! Eagle Seed has the only group 7 and 8 (the higher the group the later they mature) Roundup Ready forage soybeans that I'm aware. I like their Wildlife Manager's Blend as it covers many bases. These beans can be planted as soon as the soil temp is warm enough (60 degrees at 2" deep at 9 am) and still be green during the early bow season! Checkout the following website for soil temps in OK! www.mesonet.org/index.php/weather/map/2_in_sod_soil/soil_temperature

Thanks for your reply. Very helpful info. We have hogs in our region of Oklahoma. By growing the earthworm population with the Buffalo System, I’m concerned they will demolish my food plots. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Mark - It will take 2 years or more for 6" of chips to decompose. It's very rare for 6" of mulch to get dry enough to burn. If/when they do become dry enough to burn, be sure there's a very good fire break! You may be able to plant the areas with less chips first and wait on the other portions.

Michael - Seeds need to make contract with the soil which is difficult if there's much duff covering the soil.

Marc - Folks do plant corn with a Genesis and yes, the nitrogen fertilizer is volatile. However, millions of acres of corn are planted with a no-till annually! As the soil heals, less and less fertilizer will be required! I haven't applied any fertilizer in 8 years!

Justin - Leaving the dead beans is fine.. There's no need to spend the time mowing the dead stems. If there are weeds you'll need to address them.

Mike - I strongly prefer planting first then drilling for several reasons! grant

Unfortunately, some farmers are resistant to change. If you have a good fall cover crop/food plot the species in there will break the hard pan and covert the clay to high quality soil. Disking/tillage always reduces soil quality. You may wish to search KZfaq for David Brandt - a very successful farmer in Ohio. By using these techniques he's turned nasty yellow clay into rich black soil! - grant

Ken - Maybe by broadcasting but a drill will likely harm standing corn.

Jesse - we put the blend in the drill and then calibrate for the entire blend! Different seed shapes, textures, etc., will calibrate differently. I only use charts or guides as a rough starting point.

Brian - There are several videos about the Buffalo System on this channel.

Aubrey - I believe my assistant, Jamie helped you. I stopped publishing in peer reviewed journals long ago. I can help many more folks using other platforms. There's much information about improving soil health but the best information is from practitioners in the field. Typically they figure out systems that work and then universities confirm. The Release Process is simply replicating natural systems. Let me know if I may be of assistance.

I usually drill into the standing summer crop with the Fall Release Blend.

@@GrowingDeerTVThank you so much. Bought my first no till drill. Kasko. Excited to try the summer and fall release systems! Also planting corn and bean soybean relays. Any advice on that front? I am leaning toward tilling just to get enough fertilizer in the ground, but could be persuaded. I will also have e a lot of last year corn stubble to cut through.

Wayne - I want as much food as can be grown! In addition, more biomass does a much better job of suppressing weeds!

Bart - There are lots of variables! In addition, many local NRCS offices rent drills!

It ain't perfect, but I seed into the previous crop, then weed eat creating a mulch layer on top of the germinating seeds...works pretty good and doesn't require all that equipment. More sweat equity, but I work with what I have...wildlife loves it.

@@paulsell2438 yeah I've got a tractor and tiller but I'd like to get away from tilling but those machines are expensive lol

Mason - We don't use any supplemental feed. It's much less expensive to grow quality protein with plots and native vegetation!

@@GrowingDeerTV oh ok

Jerrid - No. This works to reduce that issue. Grubs prefer the cereal rye roots to soybeans so it protects the next crop!

@@GrowingDeerTV thanks for the quick reply

Gramp and Rich - Checkout RTPOutdoors.com

Disking hurts the soil. Just apply to top.

@@melissabarrett681 I disagree too a certain extent. The dust bowl occured due too consistent tillage and draining of nutrients from the soil thru crop growth and never feeding the soil thus ultimately killing the soil. I've worked for UGA Crop and Soil sciences for several years and farmed nearly my entire life and have always chiseled, disced, and VTd my soil and in the fall it gets fed with manure and grain straw. Plus crop rotation every other year. Dr.Grant saying we lose ex amount of topsoil each time we till is like saying don't pour that bottle of water out you're wasting water. If tilling wasn't an effective method literally 1000s of row crop farmers would be in big trouble. Feed your soil, plant cover crops, and rotate your cash crops. It's as simple as that.

@@BuckhornConstruction disking destroys soil structure. The way soil aggregates group together creates pores for air and water to move thru. Disking also increases oxygen into the soil. Causes rapid oxidation of soil organic matter. Its causes an initial release of stored nitrogen, phosphorus, and some sulfer, which some see as good. But over the long haul is a neg loss for the soil. Organic matter is created over a long period of time and is a stable source of slow release nutrients and has a huge water holding capacity. Tillage of any kind interferes with that. Adding manure is great for enhancing soild microbial activity, i have used it in large scale ag systems for years. Would just recommend zero tillage. Just surface application. As far as farmers of the past and people who have always disked and tilled, well they did it because they didn't understand the science behind it. The amount of organic matter lost in the average iowa farm compared to the original virgin soils is estimated between 2.5 to 3%. That loss is directly related to tillage and is huge. Grants usage of this system and the term restorative agricultural is scientifically proven. I love hearing him speak about soil conservation and I love seeing the results of his success building soil on rock. Feeding the soil is absolutely necessary.. but soil left untilled will definitely be healthier

@@melissabarrett681 I'm not against non tilling we drill certain crops every year just because it's easier but in all honesty we've drilled soil beans in one field and disked/VTd the other and planted with a 12 row planter and literally no yield difference in the end.

@@BuckhornConstruction takes years to build soil structure. Not an instant thing.

Cajun Jim - We plant several plots each year with a hand seeder, rake, herbicide when needed, and a foot operated crimper. Where there's a will, there's a way!

@@GrowingDeerTV I found your other video on doing small plots after making this comment. I also think I have an idea for a crimper to build that can easily be pulled behind a UTV. Thanks!

Thanks for watching!