We recently had a couple hundred acres of timber thinned on our family property in East TX. I had the loggers open up a few of clearings for hunting during the process, one is about 375 yards x 35 yards and the other 2 are about 200 yards x 30 yards. I would like to plant approximately 1 acre food in each of the clearings. Of course there is some residual slash left over from the cutting I'll need to push out of the way before we can prep the soil. I'm thinking I'll use a small 30HP tractor with front loader and box blade to move the slash. I will have to till or plow/disc between the pine stumps which are about 10ft apart. The soil is sandy and pretty soft but I'm sure there will be roots from the undergrowth that crew up under the pines that I'll have to deal with.

My question is, have any of you planted food plots after cutting timber? If so, how did you prep the soil, use a tiller, small disc, etc? Did you fertilize? What king of seed should I use?

Feedback is much appreciated.

Small disk and over years roots and stumps will eventually rot though pine pitch can lengthen that time. I had one last year with no large stumps but lots of long grass and small brush shredded used the teeth on the box blade down as far as they would go and drug it into piles then the bucket on the front end loader to move those piles. I just put them in some low holes in my swamp. They will rot and fill in over time. I have a small disk for the 4wlr but generally use the 5 footer on the tractor if I can get it to the plot. Actually breaking the ground some with the rakes on the box blade helped with the disking as well as removal of vegetation.

Pine cutovers I have done food plots in I disk and planted the loading areas they used bunching the logs out to and loading the trucks, they were not huge but an area for a flood plot, those always needed lime

Get soil tests done for fertilizer requirements. Lime will be one thing I would expect as Pine does lower the PH of ground as the needles decay. Acidic soil loving plants do well under pines and where they were but most food plot areas do not.

Do it all the time on my leases. You will have to lime- I expect the soil pH will be between 5.5 and 6. I use a disc to break it up using my 25hp Kubota- I don't put any extra weight on my disc so it will ride over the stumps and not break a disc- becasue of that I generally have to run my disc three or four times over the area. Where are you located? I have a rake you can pull behind your tractor to help with the cleanup I could let you borrow.

Hi Russ, we're a good bit North of you near Linden (Cass County). I appreciate the offer though.

I used to be on a timber lease northeast of Hughes Springs in Cass County and we planted between the thinned trees. We would put out pelletized lime (should have done a soil test) and then disc or till the area. We planted wheat, clover, oats, winter peas and rye grass. We would put out triple 8 fertilizer and then use a drag to help cover the seed.
The deer and hogs absolutely tore the places up.

I'd like to do that but the trees are too close together and got goat weed between.

This was the second thinning or we could not have done it this way. We also had a power line right of way and a couple of haul roads that they didn't plant for some reason that we were allowed to plant food plots on.

Old Rabbit, we're half way between Hughes Spring and Linden just of Hwy 11, probably not too far from your old lease lots of deer and some hogs .

Thanks for all the feedback folks!

I would burn as much as possible to get it out of the way, and that will give you a better idea how much work it will need. I plant food plots in the fall for a landowner in Marion County, but his is on a large powerline ROW so its not as complicated.

Stumps can be hard on discs and plows, so that would be my main concern. You may be able to get enough seedbed exposer with a heavy drag. The planting, local feed stores around here almost always carry a spring and fall wildlife mix. I plant 100lbs/acre with seed, and mix in 150 to 200lbs of 13-13-13 fertilizer. Your place may need lime, so you can mix in pelletized lime as well. After you sling the seed, just give it another light drag. Most food plot seed only require about 1/4" of soil to cover the seeds.

Hey Big Country, that other land owner in Marion County is me. This is another timber tract we have in Cass county.

We were near Carterville off of 130 and county road 1448 went thru the lease. All dirt roads west side and thru the middle.