Chufa- Is it worth it?

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VALongbeard
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Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by VALongbeard »

I am looking to see if anyone has any feedback on chufa planting for turkeys. Seems to be a dynamite crop for fall, winter, and early spring months once the plant reaches maturity.

I typically plant 2.5 to 3 acres a year for deer. Usually run a blend of wheat and oats, with some clover mixed in. Definitely not new to the food plot game, just curious if anyone has had success planting chufa? I'm of course in VA, so planting dates seems to run from May to June, and the plants reach maturity in 100 to 120 days or so.

I'm thinking about planting around an acre or so and see how it does. Might be just what the doctor ordered to hold and sustain birds in the hard months. What do you guys think?
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soiltester
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by soiltester »

Can't get it to grow here as it dries out from un-timely rains!! :banghead:

Got 100# one time from N"WTF" for a Michigan buddy and he had a great catch, till' it all died out the following spring :cry: Don't know if it has to be tilled each fall or what to keep it going, cause it never got that far :LMAO: ?? AND it's on the noxious weed list in MI now so will never know if it will :slap:
ever wonder where the white goes when the snow melts??
VALongbeard
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by VALongbeard »

Man, that doesnt sound good.

That is the main thing that worries me is rainfall. Here we typically do pretty good until June and July. Starts getting dry a lot of time in those months.

Just hate to drop 100 for seed and another 100 flor so for fertilizer and lime and it doesnt do squat. Guess it's a chance you take.
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OLE RASPY
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by OLE RASPY »

Ask the guys on old gobbler. Lol.
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VALongbeard
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by VALongbeard »

OLE RASPY wrote: February 1st, 2019, 1:10 pm Ask the guys on old gobbler. Lol.
Heck with that.....LOL! I hate that site. After all of the banning and stupid mess that went on about TSS, I stopped visiting there. And lord and behold, would you know Federal started loading it. I hope those guys have the dirtiest sock in there mouth and choke on it after all the mess they started over that.

I would take my chances before asking them. That was funny when I read that though. LOL.
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GLS
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by GLS »

It will draw the birds in. Also hogs.
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soiltester
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by soiltester »

GLS wrote: February 1st, 2019, 1:51 pm It will draw the birds in. Also hogs.
It's in the sedge family like yellow and green nutsedge .. hard to get rid of once established!!
ever wonder where the white goes when the snow melts??
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by GLS »

We had a small plot on some land and couldn't keep the turkeys out of it.
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by VALongbeard »

GLS wrote: February 1st, 2019, 4:01 pm We had a small plot on some land and couldn't keep the turkeys out of it.
How big of a plot did yall plant? Just curious.
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Grumpy
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by Grumpy »

My wife has a chunk of that hanging on a rope on the shower head , might be more tender boiled up with noodles but raw it sure seemed chewy to me.
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by HunterGKS »

OLE RASPY wrote: February 1st, 2019, 1:10 pm Ask the guys on old gobbler. Lol.
But only if you plant it at less than 40 yards!!
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VALongbeard
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by VALongbeard »

HunterGKS wrote: February 1st, 2019, 4:28 pm
OLE RASPY wrote: February 1st, 2019, 1:10 pm Ask the guys on old gobbler. Lol.
But only if you plant it at less than 40 yards!!
Haha! That is priceless!
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Hoobilly
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by Hoobilly »

HunterGKS wrote: February 1st, 2019, 4:28 pm
OLE RASPY wrote: February 1st, 2019, 1:10 pm Ask the guys on old gobbler. Lol.
But only if you plant it at less than 40 yards!!
:usa:

That’s hilarious!
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OLE RASPY
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by OLE RASPY »

VALongbeard wrote: February 1st, 2019, 1:42 pm
OLE RASPY wrote: February 1st, 2019, 1:10 pm Ask the guys on old gobbler. Lol.
Heck with that.....LOL! I hate that site. After all of the banning and stupid mess that went on about TSS, I stopped visiting there. And lord and behold, would you know Federal started loading it. I hope those guys have the dirtiest sock in there mouth and choke on it after all the mess they started over that.

I would take my chances before asking them. That was funny when I read that though. LOL.
There’s a thread over there right now on chufa, reason I said that. Lol. They against it.
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SwampDrummin
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by SwampDrummin »

Planted some in my garden in Illinois just to eat. Pretty tasty little nut. None of the tubers survived the winter, anywhere the ground might hard freeze would seem to be out.
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by VALongbeard »

Imagine that........doesn't surprise me at all. Guess they probably classify it as baiting, even though the majority of the feeding is done before spring season.
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MKW
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by MKW »

Chufa...oh I just plant it to benefit the turkeys.
TSS...oh I just want a better pattern and a safety net in case I misjudge yardage.

Translation...
Chufa...I want a turkey attracting plot to hunt in with my decoys.
TSS...I want to be able to kill turkeys that hang up at 70 yrds.
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Hoobilly
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by Hoobilly »

MKW wrote: February 1st, 2019, 8:19 pm Chufa...oh I just plant it to benefit the turkeys.
TSS...oh I just want a better pattern and a safety net in case I misjudge yardage.

Translation...
Chufa...I want a turkey attracting plot to hunt in with my decoys.
TSS...I want to be able to kill turkeys that hang up at 70 yrds.
I just want another MKW trumpet.. :LMAO: :LMAO: :LMAO:
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MKW
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by MKW »

Nope, no trumpets...yet.

I'm just trying to liven this place up. I'm getting bored to death of pictures of snow and complaints of "I'm cold."
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Hoobilly
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by Hoobilly »

MKW wrote: February 1st, 2019, 11:19 pm Nope, no trumpets...yet.

I'm just trying to liven this place up. I'm getting bored to death of pictures of snow and complaints of "I'm cold."
:LMAO: :LMAO: :LMAO:

yeah once the winter blues is over it will liven up some

I hope to shoot some shells Monday when it warms up to see what they will do in semi warm weather :lol:
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poorcountrypreacher
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by poorcountrypreacher »

What do you wanna know about them? I plant about 5 acres a year here in AL, and have been growing them since the late 60s. Nothing else I've found provides as much food for turkeys in the winter. In years when there is a poor acorn crop the chufas can become the primary food source.

I don't read the other site, but I can't imagine why anyone would be against providing such a good source of food for turkeys, especially a winter source when they can really use it.

Chufas are similar to yellow nutsedge, but they are very different in important ways. Chufas will never be invasive; you can regenerate a crop the next year by discing, but they won't survive long if you don't manage for them. Lots of critters will eat chufas, but hardly anything will eat nutsedge (called nutgrass around here.) You can't get rid of nutgrass once you get it, but chufas have to be cared for to survive.

You can get by without herbicides on new ground, but after that you must have a herbicide program or weeds will take them over. Chufas don't compete well with much of anything. You do need rain to make a crop. Good luck if you try them.
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poorcountrypreacher
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by poorcountrypreacher »

A healthy stand of young chufas from this past summer:

Image

These plants were pulled up to check tuber production later in the summer. The tops are still green and they are far from mature, but they have already produced a lot of tubers:

Image
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GLS
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by GLS »

I've heard of folks making bread from the tuber. It has a sweet, nut-like flavor eaten raw. I've read that farmers would often plant a small patch and let their hogs into it just before slaughter, fattening them up and improving the flavor. Our patch was not more than 20 x 100 yards. Steve, that's a great looking crop. An outfit in DeFuniak Springs, FL was the source. Gil
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by Turkinator »

How far north has anyone had success getting it to grow?
VALongbeard
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Re: Chufa- Is it worth it?

Post by VALongbeard »

Sounds like it definitely is a preferred food source.

I have never planted this before, so my main question are is much should I plant? I basically hunt a 100 acre farm mainly for turkeys where I am looking at planting this. Would one acre be enough?

Also, is there any tricks to helping the turkeys find it when it matures? Discing or turning strips to aid in finding it for them?
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