Cultivating Time

Wonderful photos, thanks for sharing. Your AC D17? high crop tractor looks to be in great shape.

Wildlife feeding on crops can be brutal. Our deer seem to be birthing lots more twins. So I have taken up deer hunting & doing my own venison butchery. Bought a good electric meat grinder. Local grocery store supplies me with bacon & meat seasonings. I make our own breakfast sausage from venison(grind 4 parts venison to 1 part bacon, and add breakfast sausage seasoning to taste). Or drop the seasoning if your want plain venison burger meat for chili, spaghetti, doctored-up grill burger(egg,onions,Old Bay,BBQ sauce,Horseradish,salt,pepper).  Wife hates taste the wild venison. So I got creative. Here in Illinois, our archery deer season begins October 1st and last thru Jan 14. So there is ample time to hunt. Also have a Savage 20 gauge slug rifle for deer firearm weekends. It's incredible. It's scope easily allows a fatal hit at 150-200 yds. Illinois 40 acre landowner deer permits are allocated at 2 per household person. So for archery, I get 2, and my wife gets 2. For firearms, I get 2, and my wife gets 2. So we're hunting 8 permits each year. The deer are my new beef cattle and the best part is I don't have to chore them everyday.

Also try planting alfalfa on the 50' strips next to woods. Deer, quail, pheasants, turkeys rabbits all prefer the protein from alfalfa over row crops.  Since I planted my alfalfa, my row crop damage has decreased. Bale the alfalfa, grind it, spread ground fines across row crop field. Or, add grounds to your planter dry fertilizer bins to place it by crop row. Its about a 3-1-2(NPK) fertilizer value with no salts, so soil ph stays good.  Soybean meal is another no salt 7-1.5-1 (NPK) fertilizer and will also flow thru planter dry fertilizer bins.