Whole Farm Update - All the Habitat Projects | Dream Farm w/ Bill Winke
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ค. 2024
- It is time to make a tour of the whole farm to look at all the habitat projects we have been working on the past two years. I want to know what is growing, what is improving and what is not. Some of our projects have been a huge success and some of them have been failures. It is fascinating to me to see the differences and learn what I can do to make my farm better.
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Hi Bill. Thanks for showing all your projects. You are sounding more and more like a Forester every episode! I've been a Consulting Forester for over 35+ years. Everything you do is exactly what I recommend my client's do. Great Job Sir!
Thanks Buck Bush. I talk to lots of foresters and study everything I can find on recommended practices. Little by little I am learning. The challenge, as you state, is to take academic information and make it practical at a specific site with its own set of challenges and opportunities. That is the art and the part I am learning mostly by trial and error. Have a great day.
I appreciate your tactfulness and ability to reflect on how the projects have affected the area. It's nice to see and hear videos about these topics at this pace 👍
Thanks for the comment Brooker. The process is fascinating to me as I see the changes take place. It is a long-term labor of love, but I am guessing in about three years this farm will be a lot more productive for all the wildlife that live here. Have a great day.
I start the apple seeds in the refrigerator. When they start to germinate I put em in a pot and transplant in the Fall.
That is a great plan and one I probably need to adopt. I am still hopeful that I can just put them in the ground and find an apple tree there later. Would greatly reduce the time spent getting them started on this farm. I will give these spots where I planted the apples a bit more time to see if the trees are still coming before I give up on that hope. Thanks for the input.
Thanks for the update. Bill I just want to say I really enjoy your channels. You have been a very successful hunter but you don’t gloat, don’t just push big bucks, and are coming from a stewardship aspect to land ownership and that is commendable.
I try to do the same. Aldo Leopold said we should see land not as a commodity but community to which we belong and we will learn to use it with love and respect. You exemplify that.
Thanks. I appreciate it. I just love land. Ever since I was a kid the thing I loved most about hunting and fishing was the places those pursuits took me. I still feel the same way today. Have a great day.
Love the update!
Thanks Lonnie. I appreciateit.
Great update on the farm Bill and hope all is well while you were "away." I'm in awe as i see all these projects starting to fill in on your farm! Going to keep working on my little farm and dreaming big.
Thanks Alex. This has been a really good spring for growing stuff. Warmer than normal and at least normal moisture if not a bit more. If I can't grow stuff this spring, I never will! Good luck to you too.
You’ve had lots of success so far this year Bill. Everything is looking great!
Thanks Eric. The weather/conditions have been about perfect. Have a great day.
Bill, I enjoyed the update.
Thanks for the comment and support. Much appreciated.
Great update Bill.
Thanks for the comment, Mitchell. I appreciate it. Have a great day.
Great episode!
Thanks TFrost. Much appreciated. Have a great day.
Awesome Bill, Farm is looking great. we have done some similar oak tree planting, and it is looking amazing.
So far so good on this one. I have noticed that squirrels and chipmunks are digging up the small trees now to get the acorns. That is making me really see red. Those little bastards. Other than that, the seeding from last October is doing great. Have a great day.
Wow, rain looks good on your farm!
Yes, I am thinking the same thing. We have had two years of low rainfall and now stuff is really growing! Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for the update Bill, one thing I have noticed on my property is the abundance of new oak seedlings. Also I mowed under my apple trees and I have young seedlings under them. I'm guessing it is from me running over the apples and working in the seeds, I've transplanted some of them in my woods so I'll wait and see. This fall I'm going to collect the apples and lay them in some worked ground and run over them and see if I can recreate the same results. Thanks again...Ken
I appreciate the comment and the input Ken. One of the final pieces of my property puzzle is figuring out how to reseed the wild apple trees on parts of the property that don't have any. The other pieces are more obvious (though need lots of work). Have a great day.
's a lot of work, But well worth it, you, my friends are living the dream
Thanks for the comment Steve. We appreciate it and the support. Living the Dream for sure!
Lots of work, good results
Robert, thanks. It has been a good year for good results. Growing conditions near ideal. Have a great day.
That post burn areas look like some great turkey habitat Bill!
Dan, I am sure they appreciate it. We have a lot of turkeys. It will be interesting to see what all grows up in there this summer. Right now it is still just plants and nothing undesirable (aka multifloral rose or invasives).
Willows, I fenced off areas and planted them, also placed them in clear cuts and jammed them in the tops. So far the deer haven't been aggressive. I was told to get minimum 4 ft preferable 6 ft cuttings. I had really good luck with 2 oz of copper per gallon with 3 oz dormant oil. Spray trunk on the older trees. Seems to really help.
Thanks Travis. My hope is that some survive and I can use them for cuttings to keep trying different stuff. We planted 1,000 of them so you would to think some will make it past the deer! A lot of them are in long grass and the deer haven't found them yet. Hopefully they won't for another year. Have a great day.
@bill-winke guy at big rock told me the 6 footers usually out gro the deer. You could plug them into tree tops in those cuts
Looking great out there. The stage is set. A drone sprayer can hit a couple hundred acres in a day. Any open areas you have non-native grasses could be hit in the same day and likely for not much more cost.
Be careful to scout the area first to verify your target species warrants a drone. There’s some valuable native cool season grasses that cleth kills.
I am not in any hurry to spray. I will only do it if the plantings really struggle this summer from competition. Removing the grass will also expose those plants to more browse pressure. So I will only do where and if I have to. So far I sure don't see the need.
I got some apple seedlings started from store bought apples as part of an experiment. I collected the seeds and folded a paper towel over them, wet it, stuck that in an open ziplock bag. Put them in a warm dark area and maybe 1 in 10 germinated. Then placed in soil cup. Tedious to be sure but you might try to just see if your wild tree seeds will germinate. Hilarious your deer are out thinking you! Enjoy your show.
Thanks Keith. I am hoping those apples we planted will still produce seedlings. It may take a while for the soil temp to hit their liking. I will keep monitoring it. I would love it if I can just plant apples here and there and get trees. That would be so much easier than having to nurture them before planting. Time will tell. Have a great day.
Good luck with that, I'm working on pears next. 😁
Here in north Fl. It’s the opposite. Planted three small food plots three weeks ago right before ,forecast rain. We got about 1/2 of what was forecast. Then nothing. I should just cut up dollars for mulch and spread it around,lol record highs for may, another spring of dry and hot. We do have five fawns on the property. One twins and three singles. The property is only ten acres. The neighbors family has three parcels totaling 30 more. Only one guy hunts, dosent do any land management to any of those acres Just corn feeders in fall. With land improvement tips from you and others. I am definitely seeing a lot more deer using my ten
Thanks for the comment, Steve. I have a friend named Brad Herndon who once said, "I should just take handfuls of $20 bills and light them on fire, but planting food plots is more fun." Some years that pretty well sums it up. We went through that last year. But on years when it works (the weather cooperates) it is definitely satisfying and does improve hunting and overall herd health. Stay the course and good luck.
Square bale that rye. Good money in it. Nice to see that clover lush
I need to get more equipment here. I grew up square baling everything as my dad had a small dairy farm and those alfalfa bales translated into milk production. But I have not put up a square bale since I was about 28 years old!
Dream Big brother 🙏
Thanks Edward. Same to you.
13:30 wild plums grow fantastic on my property, spread by suckering, can tolerate walnut toxicity AND you can graft over to a known variety for larger fruit. For me, it’s the ultimate wildlife/habitat shrub.
I now have tons of them. We planted 200 last spring and another 1,050 this spring. Will be interesting to see how they do. They seem very hardy and tolerate some pretty poor soils (it seems). I am not putting them in places where other seedings failed to "rescue" those spots. Have a great day.
We’ve been getting some nice rains in Michigan!
It is awesome when the plantings have enough moisture. Sure makes all the work more satisfying (and productive). I hope this year remains good, we need a good one. Have a great day.
Looks like you have some horse nettle in your new oaks. That stuff is hard to kill. I’ve been battling it in my food plots with glyphosate/triclopyr mix.
It will be hard to clean out of the oaks as I can't use either of those chemicals, but I have had some success with a chemical called Sonora (Clopyralid 3 active) on many other broadleaf species in my oaks. It doesn't look like it is labeled for horse nettles though. Maybe there is something else out there. I will take a look.
Feel like you did have great success, if I get 50% I’m doing good on evergreens. You have browse species that have done pretty well. Do you plan to create any thermal cover? Do you think that’s a key for creating year round habitat? I’m on the fence part of me doesn’t care if they leave in winter they seem to return every summer. Thoughts on that Bill?
Steve, this farm has plenty of pockets of cedar that they can bed in and behind if they want that. I will cut most of them down eventually, but leave a few scattered pockets. In my area, they will move into specific areas for the winter if it gets bad enough - usually on the south facing sides of bluffs. I guess if I had my preferences, I would like to keep the deer on my farm all year, but I would also not want to attract lots of deer from other areas to my place. I don't want them coming here, eating all my food sources and then leaving. But, I fear that is what is going to happen if I do a good enough job of making my farm as good as possible. So, to answer your specific question, I am not sure it matters. I think that kind of cover is good, but maybe a lower priority than food sources and year around cover and browse that comes from managing the existing timber/cover as well as possible. Maybe is something you do last on your list of improvements. Good luck.
Bill, would you put a watering hole right around the gate gap? I don’t see you mention much about water holes/ponds on your places. Being in higher elevation, does that influence movement on your farm?
Luke, this farm has tons of small stock ponds tucked all over the place - I believe there are 15 on this farm! There are two within 200 yards of that open gate spot in opposite directions. I am sure adding a few water holes near prime stands would be good. Maybe at some point. But, because of how many are already here, that is low on the priority list for this farm, at this time. Have a great day.
Maybe I missed but were the acorns you scattered mixed varieties? Did you throw out any walnut? Learning alot from your videos! Thanks
Keith, they were mixed. We had swamp white, white, black, red, pin, bur and chinkapin. Mostly it was white, red and swamp white. We did throw out one bushel per acre of walnuts but that could have been a lot more. I go with at least 3 bushel of walnuts per acre.
Wondering why you chose to throw acorns instead of planting bareroot with a tree planter and tubing?You would have 5 ft trees this year.I planted alot of fragrant sumac and that makes a great cover when planted 8 ft apart in rows.Your farms looks great and I bet you deer density increases
I had to do 30 acres. To get the recommended 700 trees per acre would have cost around $5,000 per acre to plant bare rootstock and tube. That's $150,000! I got the direct seeding done for around $450 per acre.
I have a very similar plot as the last one you showed. I planted cereal rye last fall and frost seeded clover in February or march. Will you let the rye dry down and go to seed or will you mow it prior to that?
I think you can let the rye die and then if it is thick mow it off about six to ten inches high. If it is not thick, you can just leave it. The clover benefits from having a bit of a nurse crop anyway to keep other weeds away and to keep the ground shaded (holding more moisture) as the seeds germinate and start to grow. It is a good plan. Good luck.
When will you spray your clover plots Bill for weed control?
I will mow first in early June and then see what it looks like after that. I will spray if needed after that. So that would be mid-June at the soonest. Good luck.
Have you considered using any miscanthus gigantus to screen your movement in the bottoms?
I have considered it. My neighbor in southern Iowa had good luck with it. I jyst personally don't really like how it looks. It just doesn't look natural to me. But there is no doubt it will work.
I'd be curious how tge plantings do if you caged and/or weed matted a few to see the difference.
I bet your dead hazels have something to do with air poxkets from planting. Some of those root systems were so big, you probably needed a bigger hole.
Remember, tree seedlings tend to sleep, creep and leap in years 1-3.
I think you are right about the air pockets. Some of the roots were so big we couldn't get any dirt back in. Got lucky with all the rain so we didn't lose more. A bigger hole would have Made a difference for sure.
Looks nice! How is your turkey in the area? I would think they should increase with all you've done....when they do you'll here gobbling in you valley from all directions for maybe a month and a half huh....😊
We do have a good many. I was out for a walk with the dog this morning and there were at least three still gobbling! Fun to listen to them. I need to make time to hunt them some year! Have a great day.
Yea hunting also helps bring in other turkeys the more calling attracts them and if they see great things they like they'll stay...before you know it your flock will get big....I really like turkey hunting I'd even like to go too some other states maybe someday...I'm just a little bit above you in wisconsin...😊
@@XXcrazyperson I know guys that did really well turkey hunting on public land here. Turkey hunting is no where near as popular as deer hunting and many farmers will give you access just for asking. The non-resident tag is not cheap here, though. Good luck.
What is your estimated timeline to produce the caliber of deer from your other place? 5-10 years weather cooperating of course. Or do you feel the area could produce a giant any year?
I had some really nice two year olds last year so I would say in three years (2026 season) should start to be noticeably better here. I think we will have a couple of nice bucks this year based on what I think survived last fall. It will be fun to get the cameras out in September to find out! Have a great day.
What atv spreader do you use for the pell lime Bill?
I have been using one made by Moultrie. I will try a few others and I really need to get a 3 point spreader for my little tractor. That would be perfect for spreading lime on small plots. Have a great day.
I use volunteer as my generic cleth, can you use a boom instead of having to get a drone?
No. It is too steep. At least most of it is. I could spray some with the 4 wheeler. I think right now I am just going to leave the grass. It helps hide the trees and shrubs from the deer for now and there is still plenty of moisture in the ground.
I don't know if you know this, but Apple seeds scarification in order to germinate from seed. Just planting them will not work well. It's easier to buy small apple trees.
Nature does it though. There are hundreds of wild trees on another part of my farm. How does nature do it? I assume the seeds just end up in the ground and turn into trees. I want to replicate what nature did on the other end of my farm. A lot cheaper than buying trees!
@bill-winke the seeds are digested by animals, which the acids eat at the hard outer coating of the seed, then pooped out. I've heard some people take seeds and use a little sandpaper to them, to scrape the hard coating off a little.
I did that. And killed all my grasses. Now my pine and spruce planting is all giant bull thistle. What do I do now?
Take a good look at Sonora. I can't remember the active ingredient but I am pretty sure it is labeled to remove thistles from pine and spruce plantings. I have used it on thistles in my oak plantings and that works really well. Good luck.
Is there a certain ph to get acorns to grow? I have really sandy soil.
I have not seen anything regarding best pH. I am sure there are documents about that, but I have planted them and seen them come up in just about every kind of soil. I think your challenge in sandy soil will be the summer. If it is really dry you may lose the new seedlings that sprout the first summer due to lack of moisture. Good luck.
@@bill-winke
Thanks Bill ! Where can I get tree seeds? I really like your information and have been a fan of your content for a long time!
@@robertherringshaw2597 There aren't great sources that I know of for most trees (other than sometimes Etsy and maybe ebay), but I have been buying acorns in bulk from a guy in southern Iowa that spends a month every fall collecting them. Most states will have a few guys like that who you can buy bulk acorns from. I would start by asking the state foresters if they know of anyone and if not, if they have a list of private foresters that you can call. I called everyone on that list and asked each one of the sold acorns and if not, dis they know someone who did. Eventually, I found two very good sources. Good luck.
@@bill-winke thanks Bill for your time
Hey Bill, is there some way to contact you directly? I can give you an idea on how to germinate those wild apple seeds.
Tommy, please try me at info@billwinke.com. Thanks.
@@bill-winke done
First
Thanks Kurt.
You're right Bill, the deer are ahead of us - we pattern them, and they us - perhaps even more! Your habitat projects are going to be a real blessing in the years to come... good deal!
If nothing else, they at least know I am one step closer to catching up with them! They are now on alert given they have discovered my plan to create the screens! Good luck and have a great day.
@@bill-winke Appreciate it! 🙂
I’d say the willows must be paletable to the deer. What kind of willows are they?