Episode #186 - Regenerative Ag Practices

Published: 2023-05-07
Episode page
Duration: 69 min

In this episode

character

• Don praised Terry for taking time to share a meal with the hearing-impaired young man and trying to communicate with him despite the challenge. 67:17

charity

• Terry shared that Lester’s Feet Foundation has been helping quite a few families. 63:58

contest

• Don named Cameron Froick as the first contest winner for correctly guessing the target buck’s chosen name, Babe. 62:29

corn-planting

• Don planted his corn plots the day before, applying nitrogen and residual herbicide just before dark, then received six tenths of an inch of rain overnight. 1:23

corn-yield

• Don explained that as corn yields have climbed toward 200 to 300 bushels per acre, protein, fat, and other nutrient levels in the corn have declined. 31:30

cover-crops

• Don stated he remains opposed to using a roller crimper to terminate cover crops and will never buy one. 25:34

crop-rotation

• What does Don’s food-plot crop rotation look like, and how does he factor in local farmers’ rotations? 57:45

cwd

• Terry noted that controlling blood pH was part of the trial data used at Apple Creek to help deer survive chronic wasting disease. 33:49

deer-management

• Don explained that many deer winter on his farm, where his food plots are the only available food source once neighboring fields are harvested and plowed. 34:51

economy

• Does Don’s advice to start a business now mean he agrees President Biden has had the best economy in U.S. history? 48:38

family

• Don plans to take the summer off from speaking engagements to attend his grandsons’ little league games and spend more time with family. 4:50

fertilizer

• Would Don rather use liquid fertilizer and lime, or pelletized lime and fertilizer, and why? 48:48

food-plots

• Terry stated that the average food plotter typically targets planting between Mother’s Day and early June, around the holiday weekend. 9:30

illinois

• Don noted that because Illinois bans supplemental feeding and mineral placement for deer, he relies on food plots to provide nutrients instead. 36:53

listener-engagement

• Terry announced listeners can submit questions via the show’s website or by mail to the Real World office in Arthur, Illinois to potentially be featured and win a prize. 60:43

miscanthus

• Don explained that Miscanthus rhizomes emerge from dormancy at staggered rates, with some sprouting within two weeks and others taking six to eight weeks. 16:48

native-grasses

• Don recommends waiting until soil temperature reaches about 60 degrees before drilling native grass seed rather than planting too early, to reduce weed competition. 10:50

personal-story

• Terry recounted meeting a hearing-impaired young man who had lost his family and was looking for a job. 64:39

pest-management

• Terry reported an alfalfa weevil infestation in his field and chose to cut the crop early rather than apply pesticide, to minimize inputs. 37:22

planting-conditions

• Terry relayed that Eric from Larson Farms said their crew was hammering hard to get crops planted this week. 8:31

planting-timing

• Don relayed his friend Dwayne’s advice to plant by the weather rather than the calendar. 13:47

regenerative-agriculture

• Don reported he has completely eliminated urea fertilizer from his corn plots this year, no longer seeing the need for it. 28:19
• Don named Josh Pretzer, a Kansas farmer, as another practitioner of regenerative agriculture who shared farming insights with him. 25:14

rut-timing

• Don recalled that with his captive deer, certain individual does came into heat on nearly the same calendar day every year, regardless of moon phase. 42:10
• Does the moon significantly influence the timing of the rut, as Charles Alsheimer’s calendars suggested? 39:16
• Does backdating a doe’s fawn-drop date via trail cameras to predict next fall’s rut activity have any merit? 44:26

spring-planting

• Terry expects his friend Patrick Simpson, whose ground is ready, to plant corn this week. 6:38

target-buck

• Don announced the Whitetail Master Academy is holding three contests this year tied to the specific target buck he is chasing this fall. 61:02

weather

• Don noted his son-in-law’s big farm operation near Lafayette, Indiana had not started planting yet due to persistently wet conditions. 8:12

Deer activity

• Babe (hunt) 61:44

Listener questions

Question: Does the moon significantly influence the timing of the rut, as Charles Alsheimer’s calendars suggested? 39:16 — asked by Timothy Gwen

• Answer: Don said the moon has minimal impact; the rut is triggered by photoperiodism, or day length, which stays consistent year to year. 41:52
• Answer: Don added the moon does affect observed deer activity patterns, though not the actual timing of the rut. 43:15

Question: Does backdating a doe’s fawn-drop date via trail cameras to predict next fall’s rut activity have any merit? 44:26 — asked by LeBag Buyler

• Answer: Don said the idea sounds great in theory and would make a good magazine article, but is impractical in the field and would leave hunters frustrated. 45:18

Question: Does Don’s advice to start a business now mean he agrees President Biden has had the best economy in U.S. history? 48:38 — asked by Jason Steele

• Answer: Don credited pandemic-era stimulus policies with creating today’s favorable business-starting climate, arguing generous payments kept many people from returning to work. 49:05

Question: Would Don rather use liquid fertilizer and lime, or pelletized lime and fertilizer, and why? 48:48 — asked by Jason Steele

• Answer: Don explained that liquid fertilizer labels show minuscule nutrient amounts that can’t equal a ton of granular lime. 55:46
• Answer: Don recommended testing any liquid product by spraying only half a plot and comparing results to the untreated side. 56:55

Question: What does Don’s food-plot crop rotation look like, and how does he factor in local farmers’ rotations? 57:45 — asked by Jake Steed

• Answer: Don rotates his plots roughly evenly between three crops: Real Generation Two soybeans, Real World’s NutriCrave corn, and Real World’s Deadly Dozen. 58:50

Don and Terry discussed spring planting conditions, with Don noting he’d just planted corn plots ahead of overnight rain, while Terry’s friend Patrick Simpson prepared to plant and Larson Farms’ crew pushed hard to finish. Don shared regenerative agriculture notes, including dropping urea from his corn, insights from Kansas farmer Josh Pretzer, his refusal to use a roller crimper, and how rising corn yields have coincided with declining nutrient content. He explained why Illinois’s feeding ban makes his food plots critical for wintering deer, and recalled captive does cycling into heat on consistent calendar dates. Listener questions covered whether the moon affects rut timing (Don said photoperiod drives it, though the moon shapes visible activity), backdating fawn-drop dates, liquid versus pelletized fertilizer, and his three-crop plot rotation. Terry described cutting alfalfa early to avoid pesticide use and praised efforts around Lester’s Feet Foundation, including a meal shared with a hearing-impaired young man. Don also named his target buck Babe and announced related contests.

Unofficial fan project. AI-synthesized from public episodes; may contain errors.