Planting season has officially begun for us! A lot of seed will be going in the ground over the next couple of weeks as we'll be planting & flagging 30+/- ponds of the 80+ ponds that we have to get ready for season. It doesn't just happen overnight and A LOT of work and planning goes into making it all happen. The hard work now will be worth it when the first group of birds arrive and start using our roost ponds and feeding on the ponds we put so much habitat work into!

Working with our landowners and farmers is KEY! Them trusting and allowing us to their equipment to get prep-work done in vital to our success. Without them, none of this is possible.

The part of it no one every talks about and hates having to deal with, but it's all part of it!

I've been planting jap millet for years but always on the drawdown usually every two week july 1 -sept 1. This year I have the ability to flood. I was going to hold off until August 1 ish to plant to push seed production as late as possible. Have you seen much difference between stuff planted now versus later. I did one compartment last week and I'm going to do one in mid July and August to see if it makes any difference.

if you can get it done it is better, since the seed will not be exposed to blackbirds, hogs, or whatever else you may have in your area to hurt it. I don't know what your ability to flood and irrigate is, but getting a rain on something in august is a shot in the dark. I always plant my impoundments during july, including the milo and rice. If something does not make, I will plant browntop as a last minute fast growing and producing plant. It is not as good as jap or rice, but better than moist soil or nothing at all.

I have the ability to flood/irrigate my wetlands so rain is not an issue. Talk to me about rice. I was wanting to try it but have no clue on farming it. I have all the equipment to plow and drill And have the ability to pump, irrigate, and flood.

comparable to flooded corn in the Midwest. Makes a ton of food and is not really that hard to grow. I was skeptical at first. Then decided if they can grow it on mountain sides in Asia, surely I can grow it in the trinity river bottom. Id say having a very flat area to do it would be key. Most varieties mature in 90-115 days. In most circumstances where duck ponds are built, no additional fertilize is needed for enough yield to shoot ducks. But a fair amount of 45-0-0 per acre will really boost seed production. break the ground up really good to knock out any weeds, broadcast and cover or drill, pump enough water to get everything wet, then drain. After it comes up 6-10 inches depending on variety, pump water again but don't drain. If you can feasibly maintain a flood it's better to. But if not, pumping water just often enough to keep the ground wet will do. Maintaining a flood is more so for weed control, which is not a big deal in a duck pond. rice will grow in a lot drier conditions than most believe. not sure where you are located, but I have more seed than I need if you would like to try some.

What kind of seed do you plant? I have done millet in the years past but rice could work. I assume I have to purchase seed rice vs 50lb sack of rice?

It depends on the weather. Hot sunny days are the best and fastest for growing. We start planting early because we want some ponds to be ready for teal season and we'll plant others later so they are ready for the beginning of duck season and others later in duck season. Different varieties of millet have different growing timetables from planting to maturing, so all that plays into it. Plus we are trying to get 85+/- ponds ready for season, 30+/- of which we'll be planting, so it all takes time and we have to get it done when Mother Nature allows. We'll be planting from now till the beginning of Aug depending on the weather.