Brassicas and Crop Rotations

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Question
Crop rotation is an important and proven technique, so this isn’t an attempt to question the practice or its benefits. However, it’s often said that planting brassicas more than two years in a row can result in disease and a multiple year recovery problem. Crop rotation is a wise practice, but can be difficult for someone who has limited acreage for plots, and brassicas as a preferred crop. Have you ever seen or heard of a disease problem in a food plot situation due to planting brassica 3 or 4 years in a row in the same plot? Would a summer rotation of a legume potentially reduce the risk?

Thanks,

Phil

Phil,

I don’t know of any research that addresses your specific question. I have observed brassicas planted in the same plot for multiple years with no obvious problem. However, the soil in these plots were analyzed annually and soil nutrients added based on the recommendations. In addition a legume, such as soybeans, was grown in the plots each summer.

All plots where the forage is consumed and removed frequently must have soil nutrients added to maintain the health of future crops. Natural processes won’t replenish the nutrients as rapidly as they are removed by critters consuming the crop. To safeguard against depleting the soil of nutrients, it is best to have the soil in such plots analyzed annually. When having the soil’s nutrient availability analyzed, I strongly recommend testing for several micronutrients in addition to nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K). Micronutrients can be just as much of a limiting factor as N, P, and K, but are often over looked in food plots. Maintaining adequate levels of micronutrients is a critical step toward producing healthy crops.

Growing Deer together,

Grant