Burning food plots off

[huntsober]

I burn my food plots off each year. Sure makes it eay to disk them without all that dry grass. Does it help having the ashes back in the soil?

[Northbigmuddy]

If you are managing your nutrients I would not burn the plots. Burning the material will release some of the nutrients to blow or wash away.

[Quack Master]

Actually, when done right, burning has the opposite effect on soil. It releases nutrients from the plant back into the soil as well as makes it a lot easier to cut under. The key is to cut the fields under the same day you burn them. Been doin it for years with great results!

[huntsober]

That is what I did. Heck I had to stay on top of it out of fear of it running off. But it cut under very nice. It would have taken me a lot of time to cut it unber with all that dead grass on top of it.

[Dutch Dog]

We cut ours under this year and the dead grass (mostly last years' wheat) on top kinda gives it a nice "thatch" to keep seeds from running off in a heavy rain prior to germination and quite possibly hold a little extra moisture to help promote germination. One plot in particular didn't get disced at all, just put the seed and fertilizer out. We'll see how that works this year...just doing it as a test.