# Rag Weed



## redneck_billcollector (May 27, 2009)

I have been gathering rag weed here lately, planting it in cups with the intention of transplanting it on some bare land I have on my property in Mitchell Co.  Have any of yall seen what rag weed seed goes for?  I have found some common rag weed and some giant rag weed, all I need now is some western rag weed and I will have me a rag weed farm going.  I actually have some irrigation in the field I will be transplanting it in.  My intent is to gather the seed come August just to see how much I get.  Does anyone have any ideas on what the best way would be to harvest the seed?

If you can find the seed for sale (most places that sale it stay sold out) it runs around 20 dollars a pound.  I have been doing alot of reading about it and it is facinating.  It has more crude usable protien than corn.  It also has more protien and calories than black sun flower seeds.There are some experiments being done now to see what the medicinal uses for the oil from the seed are.  It also appears that the seed might be used for human food production.

I also came across some literature that seems to say that the giant rag weed seed is probably the most desirable food item for dove.  Now that would be something, planting a field of giant rag weed for dove, then disturbing it however you wanted to, I mean, you just tell the game warden you were trying to get rid of it. Rag weed grows even in drought conditions and is hardy as all get out, I mean farms fight a continued battle against it and it still wins.  It apparently utilizes the minerals in the soil much better than almost anything else and out competes most all domestic plants.  It can grow on soil that has zinc levels that are toxic for other plants too, without any problems.  If someone could "domesticate" a variety they might beable to make some decent money.  There are already some hybrids produced for bird plantings in the mid west, I reckon I am gonna try for one that is good for down here.  One other neat thing about it as a food plot plant, it is not palatable to deer, they wont mow it down.


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## bobman (May 27, 2009)

very good read about it on the surragator site apparently ragweed is great for quail

http://www.wildlifemanagementtechnologies.com/sneezeweed.html


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## redneck_billcollector (May 27, 2009)

Yeah, they are one of the few suppliers of its seed.  It is great stuff.


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## redlevel (May 27, 2009)

If you want to gather some seed just clip the seed spikes off in the fall, put them in a large plastic freezer bag, and store them in a freezer until the spring.

You can stimulate growth of common ragweed with a disc harrow or fire.  It is one of the most common early successional plants in Georgia.  Most anywhere you dip a disc harrow in the ground from late October until late January, you are going to see a bunch of ragweed in the spring.

Here is another native Georgia plant that was once considered a major pest in peanuts that is actually a legume that is very beneficial to quail.







No, not the knee of my overalls, but the _beggar lice_ that is stuck to them.


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## zzweims (May 27, 2009)

redneck_billcollector said:


> I also came across some literature that seems to say that the giant rag weed seed is probably the most desirable food item for dove.  Now that would be something, planting a field of giant rag weed for dove, then disturbing it however you wanted to, I mean, you just tell the game warden you were trying to get rid of it. .



Dude, you're giving away my secrets  We have long strips of ragweed down the center of our dove fields.  Actually, a game warden suggested it

If someone had told me years ago that I would grow up to become a ragweed farmer, I would've thought that nuts.  But the ragweed is definately the easiest and most profitable crop on the farm.  Come on up and take all the seedlings and seeds you want.  Just bring me a couple of partridge pea seedlings in exchange


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## redlevel (May 27, 2009)

redneck_billcollector said:


> I also came across some literature that seems to say that the giant rag weed seed is probably the most desirable food item for dove.



I would say that whoever wrote that has never shot doves over a harvested peanut field or a harvested and mowed corn field in South Georgia.    For that matter, probably not over a wheat field left through the Summer and mowed/harrowed about 10 days before shooting, either.

I have mowed down fields with lots of ragweed and other native species in them and had good dove shooting, but I have never seen the kind of shooting we used to see over peanuts or corn in a natural field.


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## redneck_billcollector (May 27, 2009)

I have shot over all of those crops, I live right in the middle of the peanut belt in Ga.  Have had some great shoots over them too.  I am still very curious about rag weed though, the nutriant level is higher than dang near any crop planted for humans.  I imagine the birds figured that out a long time ago, long before row crops were grown in this country.


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## redlevel (May 27, 2009)

redneck_billcollector said:


> I imagine the birds figured that out a long time ago, long before row crops were grown in this country.



Curiously, from what I read, Bob is one of the birds that actually thrived on agriculture--the way it was done in Georgia up until about 50 years ago.  Some sources I have read estimate that the quail population probably peaked sometime in the late 1930s, well after men started tilling the soil.  The "forty acres and a mule" agriculture that dominated Georgia and the rest of the South was ideal for quail.  Author Tom Davis said "quail were historically an accidental by-product of prevailing land use practices . . . ."  There were plenty of hedge-rows.  There were no huge tractors or center-pivot irrigation systems that demanded huge fields, uncluttered by hedges, heads, and brushy lanes.  Just about every farm had its corn patch for the  mule feed, another corn patch for hog feed, a kitchen garden with peas and sweet corn, and plenty of turn-rows, a pine thicket here, and an oak bottom there.  Every tenant house had the kitchen garden, gone to seed during the Fall and Winter, and plum thickets that white and black young'uns alike prowled during the Spring.  There were not hundreds of unwanted house cats being abandoned at country dumpsters like now, and the farmers saw to it that there weren't a bunch of chicken-stealing hawks to prey on the little birds.  Foxes were kept under control, too.  

Plants like ragweed and begger-lice were natural by-products of the herbicide-less agriculture practiced by those farmers.  Burning pine "orchards" and overgrown fence rows was part of the Wintertime ritual.  Set fire to a pine plantation.  Usually, there will be patches that don't burn well, insuring that a little cover for the rest of the Winter remains, but that part that does burn makes way for the early successional plants needed for quail.  Rabbits, too, for that matter.

I was lucky enough to get in on the last decade or so of really good quail hunting in Middle/South Georgia, from about 1962-1977.   The decline had really taken hold those last three or four years.   I think back now to how my brother and I just took it for granted that we would find at least three, and sometimes as many as a half-dozen coveys after school.   A leisurely Saturday hunt, not up too early, and home before dark, usually produced 10-12 coveys.  Them wuz the days.

Excuse me for getting off-topic so bad.  Yeah, it seems as if ragweed is a super-good food/cover plant for quail.  I still think a good disc harrow and a box of matches will provide all the ragweed and most other beneficial native grasses you need without going overboard on planting saved seed.  I know that it is fun to carry out a project like that too, though,  so have at it and good luck.

If you can find a copy of the January-February 2008 copy of _Sporting Classics_ magazine, it has a very good article by Tom Davis entitled "Our Greatest Wildlife Tragedy."    It is about the 82% decline since 1967 in bobwhite numbers.  That was the estimate of the Audubon Society in 2007.  The article will educate you and will make an old quail hunter like me want to cry.  I think I probably did shed a few tears the first time I read it.  Davis describes Bob as  "The most beloved of all gamebirds.  The one that epitomizes class, that taught us what it means and how the game is supposed to be played."

Hey, I saw two pairs running around on my place Monday afternoon, in just 15 minutes.  Way off-topic again, but as the feller said,  "I jes' cain't heppit."


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## redneck_billcollector (May 27, 2009)

I agree with you 100% with what you have said with regards to the quail boom and bust.  I hunted the small farms in SOWEGA all my youth, starting in the early 70s  
,though I did follow my father and grandfathers in the field in the late 60s.  On the majority of the land in Georgia I would agree.  There is only one place left in Ga. where the  
"good ole days" of wild birds exists, there is some research to indicate it is better than the good ole days.  Some of the private wild bird plantations in the Albany area and the Red Hills area.  I have been blessed to have been able to hunt on some of these plantations and it is phenominal.  

Some of these operations have a bird per acre average of up to 6 birds according to The Albany Quail Project, now run by Tall Timbers.  Of course these operations operate in the red and spend more money each year on quail management than 80% of the population of Georgia sees in their pay checks.  I know of one of the operations that spends a little more than 100k a year (man hours, corn, fuel, etc...)  A 40 covey day is not rare, especially with the bigger hunting parties of folks that aint good shots (small parties with good shots generally limit out before 40 coveys are found).  They offer limited hunts to the public and are generally only available for charity auctions.  Pineland, Blue Springs, Nonami, Nilo, Seynah, Wild Fare are just a few of the better known ones that are private in the Albany area.  The Albany Quail Project is what lead to the emphisis on ragweed as a plant for quail, though managers have known all along that quail loved it, the study showed just how much they love it and how much it benifits quail.  The study used over 10,000 radio tagged quail and studied those quail over a 10 year period, this project is still on going and is producing most of the research dealing with quail in the south east.

If you ever get the chance to hunt one of the private quail plantations in either the Albany area or the Red Hills (Thomasville / Tallahasee area) jump on it like a chicken on a june bug, you will never forget the hunt.


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## coveyrise90 (May 27, 2009)

Good thread!

I still dream of hunting a wild bird plantation. This last winter, I talked with Hunter Montecastle about doing a hunt at Blue Spring Plantation but I couldn't fork out (or convince my dad to fork out) $2000 per person per day. Maybe one day.

For now, a few wild birds on private farms and public land and early released birds on other plantations will have to do.

Adam


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## redneck_billcollector (May 29, 2009)

You know Adam, you might ask Hunter if you can come do some work on Blue Springs.  I know he is becoming more active in habitat management.  If you have started your studies and you are going to be a wildlife biologist, manager or forester you might be able to get an internship there.  I imagine you and Hunter would hit it off, if so, he would more than likely take you hunting out there, he is good about that. You could apply for an internship with Tall Timbers too, or see if they have some kind of volunteer program, I don't know if they are doing any work on Blue Springs, but I know they are on a plantation that borders it, Pine Land.  You are at an age where all these options are viable for you  and you obviously have the intrest. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try, I mean the worst that can happen is you are told no.


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## coveyrise90 (May 29, 2009)

I certainly am going to intern somewhere. But I haven't thought about Blue Springs. When the time comes, I'll be sure to give Hunter a call. Thanks for the advice!

Adam


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## maker4life (May 30, 2009)

I know a girl that not long ago interned at TT . She was a Wildlife Biology major at Thomas University and if you'd like I could have her contact you with any important info .


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## coveyrise90 (May 30, 2009)

maker4life said:


> I know a girl not long ago interned at TT . She was a Wildlife Biology major at Thomas University and if you'd like I could have her contact you with any important info .



That would be great. PM sent! Thanks!

Adam


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## redneck_billcollector (May 30, 2009)

Now Adam, if you can develope a strain of ragweed that produces a nonalergin pollen you could probably retire and buy your own wild bird plantation.  Heck, just think......


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## coveyrise90 (May 30, 2009)

Heck, if I knew how, I'd do it!


My biggest issue with interning at some plantation is a place to stay. What does a small, nice house or apartment go for (monthly rent) in the Albany area?


I know, I know.... This is getting off topic.

Adam


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