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The plotting process began with mowing on July 26. Little did I know then that I would never get the extended dry period I was hoping for.

This is the wettest summer in recent memory. Last year it was a wet spring and early summer, but Mother Nature turned off the spigot mid-June and we didn’t see significant rain again until October. In fact, I planted food plots three different times because there wasn’t enough moisture to keep my plantings alive. I started with a nice mix of AniLogics Crush seed products and a great plan, but when that failed I followed up with two different helpings of winter wheat because it’s the easiest to grow. The third planting finally took, but my plots were the worst quality I ever had since buying the property. This year, other than a brief hot spell in early June, the spigot has been on and hasn’t shut off.

Not only has the region gotten rain at least a couple times per week, it has come in buckets. It seems like the days of getting a nice, steady shower are gone and replaced with long duration downpours resulting in inches of rain. The upside is my clover plots look incredible. The downside is the ground has been saturated and every spot that generally lies wet even in dry conditions has been covered in standing water. I normally like to plant the first week of August, but that wasn’t happening this year. I kept thinking we’d get a several days stretch of dry weather, but that wasn’t happening either. Eventually I had to take advantage of a two-day rainless window to get my first plot in.

The Front Meadow plot turned out beautifully. I planted it first because it sits the highest on the property and drains well.

I was further challenged because I wanted to disc my fields because they haven’t been turned over for a few years. Although my Firminator is a nice tool, it doesn’t do well in mud so I had to wait until I thought I could avoid getting stuck. The Front Meadow plot was a good place to start because it sits higher than the Gas Well and Homestead plots. I was able to prep the soil beautifully and seed into a nice seedbed just before the rains came again the following day. It wouldn’t be until a couple days later that we got another dry day and I could plan my last two plots.

The wet areas in the Gas Well plot were clearly visible from above.

The Gas Well plot was muddy and I struggled to get the discs through it, but I got it done. The Homestead plot was simply too wet to even try getting the equipment on it. I opted to surface seed and hope for the best. This is what I planted in the three plots this year:

  • Front Meadow – AniLogics Crush Caveman Blend
  • Gas Well – AniLogics Crush Perfect 10
  • Homestead – AniLogics Crush Amazing Grains
The Ranger and Firminator were both caked in mud, but I somehow managed to get the Gas Well plot planted.

I followed the plantings with the recommended amount of 12-12-12 fertilizer and got things wrapped up on August 12th. The upside to having so much rain is germination happened fast. It only took three days for the seeds to germinate and within a week the plots were ahead of schedule. As I mentioned to my dad when he was bragging about the clover he and his friend Ang planted on Ang’s land, anyone can look like a farmer when there’s this much rain!

Look closely. The Front Meadow plot germinated in just three days. It turned out that it only took three days for all of the plots to start growing.

Aside from the photos, below is the YouTube video I posted to my channel describing the struggle against wet conditions.

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