Establishing Food Plots Without Buying Large Equipment

[00:00:08.220] - Chris Griffin
Welcome to Back to Your Roots, a podcast that provides insight into all things farming, financing, and farm life, guiding you back to your roots.

[00:00:17.440] - Chris Griffin
Thanks for joining us again on Back to Your Roots. I'm your host, Chris Griffin, and today we have a special guest, uh, Coye Elliott. He is the administrator at McCracken County High School and the school system. But we're not here to talk about the school system.

[00:00:29.860] - Coye Elliott
Yeah.

[00:00:30.340] - Chris Griffin
So a little bit something that he is a big hobby for his and along with golf, but he's an avid hunter and he's here. He's going to talk a little bit about the necessity of food plots for hunting, for deer hunting, turkey hunting. So, Coye, tell us a little bit about yourself.

[00:00:46.530] - Coye Elliott
And so thank you for having me on. This is definitely not just a hobby. This is a passion of mine. Hunting, fishing, that kind of thing. I've been involved my whole life. But a little bit about myself, I'm the personnel director for McCracken County Schools. I was a former principal at Lone Oak Middle School, and so that's my job. But hunting, being in the outdoors, is really what my passion is, and that's my, my release, I guess you would say. Um, you know, uh, anybody that works in a school system will tell you, you know, no matter what level, if you're a teacher— I was a former agriculture teacher before I became a principal— and anybody in the school system will tell you, man, like It's a stressful job, especially today. And so I'm able to use my, my love for the outdoors as sort of my release. That's sort of my medication that I take. Not on any kind of medication, but that's the medication that I take to help me enjoy things outside of my work.

[00:01:39.840] - Chris Griffin
Well, we were kind of talking before we got on here, you know, you're talking about you and your son and spending quality time together. I thought it was really cool. So tell us a little bit about that.

[00:01:46.910] - Coye Elliott
Yeah, my—

[00:01:47.410] - Coye Elliott
Yeah, absolutely. My son's 11 years old. He has already killed the Grand Slam turkey, killed all 4 species in the United States.

[00:01:52.700] - Chris Griffin
There you go.

[00:01:54.960] - Coye Elliott
He did that when he was 9.

[00:01:56.020] - Chris Griffin
That's awesome.

[00:01:56.730] - Coye Elliott
We travel across the United States together hunting and being a part of that. But most importantly is we do that here in western Kentucky and we hunt fish here in western Kentucky. But then we also, we prepare and plant, plant food for those animals and stuff. And so that's really what has become our passion because we don't just show up the day of hunting season and let's just see what happens.

[00:02:16.100] - Chris Griffin
A lot that goes.

[00:02:16.620] - Coye Elliott
It's 365 days a year for our family and but it's a healthy 365 days a year. It's something that we do together. It's something that as expected. And we put in— I teach him all the time, you know, if you work hard at something, it's going to increase your chances on being successful. Absolutely. That's just a good motto for anything.

[00:02:33.600] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, that's, yeah, that's a great, that's a great motto for sure. Do you own some of your own land?

[00:02:38.190] - Coye Elliott
I do, yes.

[00:02:38.950] - Chris Griffin
So that's, that's, and that's a big thing too. I mean, I think the next question, and what I was kind of jumping into, is, you know, a lot of times I don't think people really realize the investment in land. And yes, you know, it very— it doesn't really devalue. I mean, if you look at land prices especially, I mean, I've been here for 4 years, even just in the short 4 years I've been here, what the price per acre was in, in 2022 compared to 2026. Yeah. So just talk a little bit about owning your own land. So, and there's more that goes into it, just owning it. I mean, like you said, it's a 300, you know, there's, there's maintenance that goes into that and keeping it, keeping it up and keeping the value in that as well.

[00:03:12.480] - Coye Elliott
So the greatest line I've ever heard, my dad has said this to me before, this was a long time ago, and he said, you teach your kid to hunt and you won't have to hunt your kids. And, um, I think that that's a, a great motto to live by because, you know, I grew up on a farm. My grandfather was a farmer. My mom and dad were both school teachers, but I spent a lot of time outdoors. I spent a lot of time with my grandfather and working on the farm, and then my father and I spent time together hunting and fishing and things like that. And so one thing that was always a goal of mine was to own my own farm, and that was actually— River Valley AgCredit gave me my first loan for the farm that I got. And we were able to, my wife and I started, we purchased a farm, and then we fixed that farm up for what our hobbies were with the outdoors in mind. And what's really, really cool about, you brought that up about land going up and prices going up, and we were able to sell a small farm and then take that profit that we made from that and turn it into a little bit bigger farm.

[00:04:04.210] - Coye Elliott
So we've done that now, I think, 3 times. I'm fortunate enough right now I own a farm in southern Illinois, about 30 minutes here from Paducah. I own a farm in Graves County. And then I also own a farm in Palmersville, Tennessee. So all 3 of those are recreational farms. I'm able to hunt in 3 different states on my own property as well, and I lease some land and stuff too around those. But it's just very, very cool whenever you harvest something on your own land that you've worked for. My son, this last weekend actually was youth season in Illinois, turkey hunting, and we killed the first turkey on our farm in Illinois. He was able to kill his first turkey in Illinois as well. And so that's cool. It was really cool. Came into the clover food plot that I had planted 2 years prior. I mean, it was just, it all came together and it was just, it was a really cool moment.

[00:04:49.060] - Chris Griffin
Well, and you know, we were talking before we got on as well, you know, so talking about like owning land and your family and different things. So my dad owned some acres in Ballard County in the flooded timber, so big duck hunters. And when he passed away, you know, now my brother and I have, you know, that's our, our land. And you know, that was able to get passed down to us.

[00:05:07.690] - Coye Elliott
Yes.

[00:05:08.270] - Chris Griffin
More than likely his son and my son, yeah, you know, they're probably, you know, if they want to hunt, which they both like to go. And, you know, so I think it not only is, you know, obviously the value is there and you're able to use that to buy other properties in the future, but land a lot of times like that and farms like that, they really do stay, especially hunting properties. I feel like they really do stay in the family a lot as long as there's interest in hunting. And not having to deal, this is my other thing, especially our place. I know you talk about leasing and non-leasing. Having a place of your own to just—

[00:05:36.630] - Coye Elliott
Well, you're the boss.

[00:05:37.370] - Chris Griffin
You're the boss. You go when you want. You invite who you want.

[00:05:40.260] - Coye Elliott
That's right.

[00:05:40.910] - Chris Griffin
And I always joke, I said, if you end up coming to our hunting place, you're, you're a true friend of ours.

[00:05:46.100] - Coye Elliott
Yeah.

[00:05:46.510] - Chris Griffin
You know, we definitely like if you get invited. So, uh, so I know, you know, I think that's something else, you know, when you're talking about land, obviously, you know, the appreciation and value, but just the opportunity to, to use that.

[00:05:57.210] - Coye Elliott
Well, I mean, we can talk, you can have a whole podcast just on you know, the financial part of it, the tax gains that you get from it. Uh, you know, if your farm is producing income, you are going to then be able to write off some of your hobbies that you do on that farm. And I'm not a tax expert by any means, but, you know, I have a really good tax advisor here in Paducah, actually Shelton and Associates, Wayne Shelton, almost like a grandfather to me. And, you know, and he's been able to show me, hey, Coye, if you can get that farm to produce, you you income, then some of the things that you do on that farm, when you go and plant food plots, whenever you go and, and seed things, or, or if you use the government to give you, get you in programs that you're going to be able to do for like set-aside land, CRP, and those kind of things. So there's a financial gain definitely from your hobby. And I think what's really cool is if you can figure out what your hobby is and what your interest is, but then somehow figure out how to make money on it.

[00:06:50.780] - Coye Elliott
Yeah, that's a win-win.

[00:06:52.040] - Chris Griffin
That's definitely a win for everybody. So you talked about the food plots and kind of, you know, it's a 365 situation. You know, there's maintenance that goes into that. So tell us a little bit, you know, why are food plots so important for deer management, not just hunting success?

[00:07:05.350] - Coye Elliott
Yeah. And, you know, I think that the whitetail deer, if we're talking about deer right now, which is the most hunted game in North America, big game in North America is the whitetail deer. And, you know, it's probably, it's probably the best fed animal right now. You know, you look at some of it on my farm anyways. They eat better than what a cow would on a farm because, you know, I've got alfalfa, clover. My goal whenever I go into a farm situation is to produce food as close to 365 days a year as I can. I feel like if I can put something at the dinner table every single day of the year, it's just going to be more likely for that animal to stay on me longer.

[00:07:43.410] - Chris Griffin
Oh yeah.

[00:07:43.810] - Coye Elliott
And if they stay on me longer, then it's going to—

[00:07:45.500] - Chris Griffin
they don't have to go anywhere else. Yeah. I mean, why?

[00:07:47.490] - Coye Elliott
It just increases my chances to be able to harvest that animal if it comes to that one day. So You know, there is that, that gain from it as well. But then I guess the satisfaction, just like I was talking about with my son, he was able to harvest that turkey last weekend over a clover food plot that I and he put in a couple of years prior. There's a huge satisfaction to that, you know, watching that bird come in strutting across that clover that I know that I planted and that we, we've raised and we maintain, we bush hog, we spray, and we do all those things. And they're just a huge satisfaction that comes from that.

[00:08:20.350] - Chris Griffin
Yeah. And I could, you know, I could see, like you said, you know, putting in the work and the time and then, and getting the results from that.

[00:08:25.270] - Coye Elliott
Yes.

[00:08:25.430] - Chris Griffin
You know, it makes it, you know, a lot of times when you put the time and effort in, it just, it's a lot more satisfying at the end of the day. So I could see where, especially for him, it's, that's probably a neat, a super neat experience.

[00:08:35.610] - Coye Elliott
Well, and it's a good teaching moment for my son. He's 11 years old and we don't just show up on opening day of season and hope things go well.

[00:08:42.600] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:08:42.860] - Coye Elliott
You know, that's our thing is, man, you put the work in prior to and it'll pay dividends. But I think that's just a good lesson. Like I mentioned to you earlier, it's just a good lesson for really anything in life.

[00:08:51.590] - Chris Griffin
I mean, And I always, you know, that's what, you know, my parents kind of always taught me that too. I mean, I feel like, you know, whether it's lending and showing up to work that day, hey, if you're unprepared and you have no plan, you're probably not going to be very successful. Same way with golf. You know, we were talking about that.

[00:09:06.850] - Coye Elliott
And if you have no plan, you plan to fail.

[00:09:08.440] - Chris Griffin
Yeah. If you have no plan at all and you're just winging it, it's probably not going to work. And so, you know, it's, I think, uh, like you said, you know, him being able to experience that and get the results from that. I mean, that's a life lesson he'll use in work and other other experiences it has down the road. So it's really neat.

[00:09:23.470] - Coye Elliott
Yeah, so working hard with things doesn't mean you're going to be successful.

[00:09:27.520] - Coye Elliott
Working hard means you're going to have a chance to be successful.

[00:09:29.920] - Chris Griffin
And that's all you want.

[00:09:30.650] - Coye Elliott
That's right.

[00:09:31.210] - Chris Griffin
And that's because we were talking about, and before we got on, you know, we were talking a little bit about my past and playing golf and some other things, and you were talking about you'd play golf in high school and some other. And so, you know, I think even on golf, sometimes you can go out and you can hit balls all day long and practice And sometimes you still don't play very good in the tournament. You're like, I don't know what gives, but ultimately it does pay off eventually. And like you said, the food plot situation, it may not work all the time, but eventually he got the fruits of that success or, you know, those, those inputs, you know.

[00:10:00.990] - Coye Elliott
So for sure.

[00:10:01.510] - Chris Griffin
So yeah. So the food plots, I know obviously, you know, keeping, you know, them on the property and hopefully for more successful hunts. But how does it actually impact the health of that herd and their behavior over time?

[00:10:15.430] - Coye Elliott
Well, I mean, it's just like anything in life, you know, what you you eat is going to affect you, you know, us as humans as well. And so if you can produce something that is going to be a high protein food for those animals, it's only going to increase their, you know, their weight, their size. That also has a huge impact if we're talking about whitetail deer, of course, with the rack size, you're going to see a huge increase with that. And, and that's what, you know, we hunt for meat as well. You know, we eat everything that we harvest. But, you know, when I go out there, I want to kill the biggest buck that I can. You know, and so that's, that's the purpose of going out there, that trophy that, that comes with it as well. And so if you can produce something that's going to be a high protein food, that's only going to help with antler growth as well. And so the healthier that animal can be is going to optimize what that animal can produce.

[00:11:02.080] - Chris Griffin
Okay.

[00:11:02.560] - Coye Elliott
And I think that that's the purpose of the food plots for me, is being able to do that. But then also it gives you an advantage. It gives you an advantage of that. It's something that is attracting to them. You know, last year my son and I, we had a goal. We want to kill 3 deer in 3 states and either being he kill it or I'm able to harvest it. And with Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and we were able to do it, we actually ended up and killed 4. That's awesome. And in 3 states, he killed, he killed one in Illinois. I killed one in Illinois, and then he killed the buck in Kentucky and Tennessee. I'm getting to the point now where, all right, you've shot some. It's time for Dad to get an opportunity to.

[00:11:37.650] - Chris Griffin
But yeah, Isn't that funny how that always works? Like, hey, what about me? I know.

[00:11:41.810] - Coye Elliott
What's interesting about all 4 harvests, 2 of those were in standing alfalfa that I planted. One of those was in a standing cornfield that I planted. And then I would go in and bush hog some or, or allow them to just stay standing and give them an opportunity to do that. And another one was in a brassica field, that brassica and wheat that's going to be a late season food plot. So all 4 of those were harvested in food plots that we worked and put in prior to.

[00:12:06.800] - Chris Griffin
Well, so that was actually a question that was— I was thinking about. Explain a little bit the difference in those food plots, you know, talking about the alfalfa and stuff and like, you know, what's the benefit of, you know, what do you get from kind of each one of those?

[00:12:17.770] - Coye Elliott
Alfalfa I have seen is probably the most impactful, most attracting food plot I have ever seen in my life.

[00:12:25.550] - Chris Griffin
Really?

[00:12:26.750] - Coye Elliott
And it's not grown a lot in western Kentucky. And a lot of that reason is, is because it's a very difficult plant to grow. Okay, my best friend Sam Brown, he's an avid hunter as well. He and I are partners on a business together in Mayfield, and, and he, he sort of got me in on the alfalfa, and he's like, man, you need to try this, but it's very finicky plants, very hard to grow. And so I don't know that I figured it out, but we've, we've done well with it, and I have never seen a plant that produces animals that come to it like, like alfalfa does.

[00:12:57.810] - Chris Griffin
So they just love—

[00:12:58.460] - Coye Elliott
It's crazy.

[00:12:59.180] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:12:59.690] - Coye Elliott
And I think a lot of it is, is it's the way, you know, the way it tastes to them. But then it's super, super high protein. And if you think about it, how many alfalfas do you see? Alfalfa fields have you ever seen driving down the road? Yeah, not many. You know, you see a lot of clover, you see a lot of beans, you see a lot of corn. They really can't get it. Yeah. So that's been a really big game changer for us. We're actually planning on next week is spring break. During spring break, I plan on planting another acre and a half of it at my farm in Tennessee. It's a Roundup Ready variety now. You know, technology's advanced so much, you just spray Roundup over top of it, you kill everything but the alfalfa. Then, you know, that's a plant that's gonna produce about this time of the year, about middle of March is when it really gets kickin' up. And then it'll produce all the way 'til about the 1st of December. And so, like I'd mentioned earlier, you know, 365 days is what I strive for. So I also plant in the fall brassicas, that's the leafy, a lot of people call them turnips sometimes, you see with a bulb on it.

[00:13:56.020] - Coye Elliott
But there's a different variety of brassicas I try to plant with wheat and oats, and I try to plant that in August, September of the year. But the deer really, really start hitting on it when the alfalfa, when the clover, when everything else goes dormant in December, they start on it December, January, February.

[00:14:12.400] - Chris Griffin
Okay.

[00:14:12.620] - Coye Elliott
And so that just gives them something in the winter months when there's not as much food readily available in this area during, during those 3 months. And so I also plant corn that I leave standing. it's not as high on protein, but it does give the deer and the turkeys something extra that they're always striving for. And I plant it. I've got a 4-row little planter that I put behind my tractor and plant 20 acres a year, probably, that I just leave standing.

[00:14:37.500] - Chris Griffin
That's what I was going to ask, you know, somebody who's, let's say, owned property, never really planted food plots and stuff, you know, obviously they're not going to need the same equipment as a full-blown farmer, but kind of go into what you have and what you've seen is, hey, like this was useful, but maybe this is something, hey, if you get it, it's great, but it's, it's not a necessity either.

[00:14:55.870] - Coye Elliott
So, so, you know, we've advanced so far in technology, you can plant everything that I told you just now— corn, alfalfa, clover— you can do all of that with a four-wheeler now.

[00:15:06.700] - Chris Griffin
Okay.

[00:15:07.090] - Coye Elliott
You know, they make attachments for that now to be able to do that. It just depends on what kind of financial, you know, situation you want to put yourself in.

[00:15:14.150] - Chris Griffin
That's right, you could use a four-wheeler.

[00:15:15.580] - Coye Elliott
Absolutely, absolutely. It depends on the size. I have a I have a tractor that I use. We have a 4-row planter that I bought for that, disk. You know, I'm basically a small farmer.

[00:15:26.400] - Chris Griffin
Well, because I was going to ask, even like, you know, spraying, you know, your roundup and stuff like that. I figured probably you had some type of sprayer though on your, on your four-wheeler or something, some small sprayer that—

[00:15:35.620] - Coye Elliott
Yeah, I have a small, a small sprayer that I put behind my four-wheeler, but then I've also got one that it's a bigger one for spraying over corn and that kind of thing. But I've advanced that. But, you know, the cool thing about food plots and management of whitetails are is you don't have to have huge equipment. You don't have to go in and say, all right, now I've got to go invest $100,000 of equipment. You really don't have to do that. And, you know, the good rule of thumb for food plots is, is about 5 to 10%. So if you have 100 acres, you want to probably plant 5 to 10 acres of that in some kind of food plot or something.

[00:16:08.900] - Chris Griffin
That was actually a question I was going to ask because I didn't know, you know, what, what is a good number?

[00:16:12.380] - Coye Elliott
Yeah, 5 to 10% is always a good number for that. But that can vary. You know, there's some farms that I've got it in 20, 25%.

[00:16:18.800] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:16:20.450] - Coye Elliott
You know, based on land availability and that kind of thing. And then you say, well, man, my farm's all woods. What can I do? And there's some things you can go down and spend, as you know, everybody can afford a chainsaw. And that's something I think a lot of people don't think about as food plots. But man, you can produce some natural food plots just with a chainsaw in a 1-acre setting of woods that produces a ton of food for animals. And that's, that's something I try to incorporate as well on my farm, are hinge cuts. And going in, and I try to take on every one of my farms about an acre, half acre a year that I go in in January and February, and I go in and cut the trees that are not going to be mass-producing trees. Not your oaks or anything like that, but, you know, your elms or your maples and, and trees that are not gonna— that are not gonna be high timbered value trees and try to open that forest floor up a little bit. Yeah. And just let mother nature do it.

[00:17:15.660] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:17:16.080] - Coye Elliott
And, you know, you can take—

[00:17:17.410] - Chris Griffin
Sometimes that, like you said, kind of opening that up a little bit, it actually helps out a lot.

[00:17:22.060] - Coye Elliott
Absolutely.

[00:17:22.500] - Chris Griffin
In there.

[00:17:22.740] - Coye Elliott
So, you know, if you think about, you know, people that go in and cut timber on their farm, and man, a lot of people are totally against that because it's going to affect the wildlife. But what people don't realize is how it affects the wildlife in a positive way.

[00:17:34.230] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:17:34.570] - Coye Elliott
That timber stand improvement is a huge tool for wildlife management, is once that sun can hit that forest floor that it hadn't seen sun in years and years and years because it's been overgrown for 100 years in oak trees or whatever that is. Once that sun hits that floor, mother nature produces even your briars. You know, greenbrier is something people don't think about. That is a huge snack for deer.

[00:17:57.500] - Chris Griffin
And you, I mean, I, you know, you even see it. I mean, it's not the same thing, but like if you go to southern Illinois and a lot of their forest management, all these hiking trails and stuff, they go in and clear out a lot.

[00:18:08.940] - Coye Elliott
You'll watch them cut a lot of trees.

[00:18:10.480] - Chris Griffin
Absolutely. Or do a burn. Yeah. Do a burn, and they're doing like what you're saying. Yeah, so that forest floor can get some sunlight and some other things, and it'll start producing itself.

[00:18:17.910] - Coye Elliott
Yeah, sometimes it doesn't look as pretty, and people, you know, that's the thing with food plots, man, is, is you think about, you want it to esthetically look good in your mind, but a lot of times those weeds that you're getting rid of are food for animals.

[00:18:29.810] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:18:30.230] - Coye Elliott
And so that's the same way with that forest stand improvement, is it doesn't look pretty at times when you go and lay down a bunch of cedar trees and you cross them up and doing those hinge cuts. But what you don't realize is those cedar trees laying down now become bedding area for deer, nesting for turkeys. And then whenever that sun hits that floor, after about 2 years' time, it produces all of this new growth that then they're going to have a bedding area and food all in one.

[00:18:57.750] - Chris Griffin
Well, and that's something too, you know, we're talking about owning land. I think a lot of times you get like somebody who's maybe not had a history of being around hunting or being around recreational properties, they'll come in, they want to buy 50 acres. Yeah, I don't think they realize in their mind there's more maintenance to that property than just saying, hey, I'm gonna buy 50 acres and I'm gonna— I'm like, and I always wonder, I'm like, do they actually know what they're getting into, you know? And a lot of times they come back and then a year, hey, I need a tractor, hey, I need a bush hog, yeah, you know. Yeah, they didn't really think about that type of stuff. And I think, you know, just bringing that up because I mean there is some maintenance there, like you said. I mean, with the, with the forest floor, some trees that aren't producing trees, you know, things like that that are very important to your, to your property and keeping the value. Probably, in my opinion, if you maintain that property just like a house, it's going to hold its value.

[00:19:46.040] - Coye Elliott
Absolutely.

[00:19:46.710] - Coye Elliott
And it's going to increase.

[00:19:47.600] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, it's going to increase.

[00:19:48.710] - Coye Elliott
And if you can ever figure out how to get that property to produce income for you. And so there's so many different programs, conservation programs. If you just go see your local conservation office and say, hey, I want to do a timber stand improvement, Are there programs out there for it? There are. And they will pay you to go in and do the things that I'm telling you about, about going in and harvesting some of your trees that are not of high value, not necessarily harvesting them, but basically cutting them down, girdling them, trying to get—

[00:20:13.650] - Chris Griffin
so would this be like USDA? Would you— that's right, USDA.

[00:20:16.170] - Coye Elliott
Okay. And I've actually got one of my farms right now working on getting a second one in, a forest stand improvement program. We've had one of our farms now in it for 3 years, and it produces income for us, not a ton of money, But it's, it's enough for you going in and doing the work. It makes it worth it. And then the cool thing is they're paying you to get it ready and make it better for what your hobby is.

[00:20:34.960] - Chris Griffin
I got you.

[00:20:35.360] - Coye Elliott
And so again, that's nothing better than that.

[00:20:37.130] - Chris Griffin
Whenever— well, I think too, like something to think about and you can talk, go into this a little bit more. But let's say you have a property you're going to sell and you've had deer on that property.

[00:20:47.750] - Coye Elliott
That's right

[00:20:48.120] - Chris Griffin
Well, a lot of times you'll see, you know, especially like real estate places like Whitetail Properties and stuff. They'll use, you know, your trail cams and they'll show, you know, hey, this buck's been on this piece of property, kind of going to that. Just like, do you keep track of that?

[00:21:02.410] - Coye Elliott
I do.

[00:21:02.970] - Chris Griffin
And, you know, and obviously you're not selling, but like you said, if you've got a property you're selling to maybe hopefully buy another piece of property, hey, the animals that are on there and the deer and the turkey, it helps with the value of that when they go to sell that.

[00:21:16.750] - Coye Elliott
Yeah. I mean, and you're just, uh, you're, you're putting together a resume.

[00:21:21.110] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:21:21.590] - Coye Elliott
And that resume.

[00:21:22.430] - Chris Griffin
That's a great way of looking at it.

[00:21:23.610] - Coye Elliott
Yeah. Is, is building all the time. And, you know, you may have purchased it X amount of dollars, but because of this resume and just because of the deer that you harvested on it, that deer that you harvested on there could be the game changer in you making significant amount more money on that property because you have proof, you have that resume builder.

[00:21:42.450] - Chris Griffin
You're not just saying, hey, they're out here. Hey, I've got, I've got trail cam, I've got actual proof of this. This deer.

[00:21:47.590] - Coye Elliott
Yeah. You know, in today's world too, all of my trail cameras now send them to my phone. You know, it's not an old school like we did 15, 20 years ago where you got to go out and pull the card and, and go through all of them. I get emails and I get, I get actually messages on my phone now.

[00:22:05.520] - Chris Griffin
Does that ever get you super excited?

[00:22:06.950] - Coye Elliott
Oh, that's—

[00:22:07.390] - Chris Griffin
I was getting ready to say, that's how we start every morning. We sit at work and be like, oh man. Yeah.

[00:22:12.260] - Coye Elliott
I mean, I try to start every morning looking through some of my trail cam pictures and honestly, it goes back to what I was telling you. I'm not. You know, I work in a stressful job and a stressful, stressful profession, and that's my medication. Yeah, it really is. And I don't have high blood pressure. I don't have any kind of ailments that I know of anyways. Yeah. And I honestly, I attribute that to my hobby and my hobby being out in the outdoors, what God created, being able to be a part of that. And man, I— and now it's so instant because, you know, youth season's coming in, in Kentucky and Tennessee this weekend. I'm going to be able to take Easton with me on that and I got pictures this morning of gobblers that were in one of our food plots right next to one of our blinds.

[00:22:50.420] - Chris Griffin
Yeah. You know, like, that's neat.

[00:22:52.030] - Coye Elliott
I can't wait to go Saturday morning because I know what we're going to be getting into.

[00:22:55.580] - Chris Griffin
You get to spend time with your son, you know, which that's, you know, I know we were talking about that too. You know, I remember going with my dad owned the Cooper Field in Ballard County with a bunch of guys. I remember when I was a little tyke going down there with him, those, and I still have those memories, you know, and I remember going with him and and hunting with them and getting breakfast sandwiches at the Five Star and on the way down to Ballard and stuff. So I know, you know, that stuff he'll remember forever.

[00:23:19.400] - Coye Elliott
You had mentioned like Whitetail Properties. Those guys have done a... I'm friends and I bought property from Justin Mason and Dusty Clark. They do a great job and they do an unbelievable job of putting together that resume of information to be able to tell the story of that farm. Every farm's got a story. The last farm I bought in southern Illinois, I bought it from Justin. And with Whitetail Properties. Dusty actually helped sell my farm in Kentucky that I was able to take and take that proceeds from that and do a 1031 exchange to be able to buy a little bit bigger farm in southern Illinois. I'd always wanted to have a farm in southern Illinois, and I used Justin to be able to do that. And, you know, he found me the perfect property, I felt like. And it was just really, really, really cool. The stories that came behind that farm used to be, I think, a pig farm 75 years ago, and there's still some old buildings and structures on that farm. And so it's still got that history. But then there's also where it's at in southern Illinois, there's actually, um, an Indian burial mound.

[00:24:17.610] - Chris Griffin
I got you.

[00:24:18.010] - Coye Elliott
On that property. So I mean, how many hundreds of years ago? Just think of what that property's seen, how many deer and turkeys have walked the, walk that field and stuff. And so that's really neat.

[00:24:27.910] - Chris Griffin
I always tell people here, you know, whether it's whitetail or whoever you decide to use, you know, if especially if it's hunting property, you know, you need to definitely need to find somebody that is versed in that, that understands that, understands how to market it, because it's it's a totally different animal than just selling a piece of...

[00:24:43.800] - Coye Elliott
That's exactly right.

[00:24:44.380] - Chris Griffin
Agricultural tillable, you know, 100 acres of tillable property in Ballard County, in my opinion. You know, it's just a totally different.

[00:24:50.100] - Coye Elliott
Well, and somebody that sells a home, that's in home real estate, it's totally different than someone that's in farm and agriculture.

[00:24:55.990] - Chris Griffin
It's a totally, even, you know, and you said like, even when they're trying to pull comps, they're trying to price that property, you know, a lot of times it's not just pulling comps. I mean, it's, hey, let me see your trail cams. Like, there's there's more that goes into what the value of that property is than just, hey, what's the price point.

[00:25:11.920] - Coye Elliott
What's interesting too about that value is I bought that farm 3 years ago, and I guarantee you that farm is worth 20%, probably more, just from the things that I've done to it. Just in 3 years, I could probably make a 20% profit off of that farm. I don't want to sell it. My wife says that's my, my biggest problem is, is I've got the idea that I want to buy and sell But the problem is I have trouble selling it. I don't want to let go of it.

[00:25:36.800] - Chris Griffin
That's how a lot of my guys, a lot of people that I work with, you know, I'll do the loan, they're like, yeah, I'm gonna keep this for, you know, I think I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna hunt it and then I might sell it and then buy something else in the future. Well, they never sell it.

[00:25:49.130] - Coye Elliott
Yeah.

[00:25:49.520] - Chris Griffin
And then they come back, they still want to buy something in the future, but they'll keep the one over here too.

[00:25:53.420] - Coye Elliott
So absolutely.

[00:25:54.150] - Chris Griffin
No, I get, you know, talking about, you know, the value increasing, you know, I just did a loan for some guys that own some property They bought that property 3 or 4 years ago, got a pretty decent deal on it, and then they used that property as additional collateral to buy another property.

[00:26:10.480] - Coye Elliott
Absolutely.

[00:26:10.980] - Chris Griffin
And that property had increased probably $3,000-$4,000 an acre from when they bought it 3 or 4 years ago. Yeah. And, you know, just kind of goes to show you, you know, kind of where that is.

[00:26:20.400] - Coye Elliott
Once you can get, I mean, you're in the loan business obviously at River Valley AgCredit, and you know, if you're coming in for the first time, you're probably going to ask for a 15 to 20% down.

[00:26:29.130] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:26:29.640] - Coye Elliott
But, you know, the last 3 farms that I bought, I've not had to put any money down.

[00:26:33.020] - Chris Griffin
And that's the thing, once you get that first one—

[00:26:34.700] - Coye Elliott
That's right.

[00:26:35.330] - Chris Griffin
You can either use it as additional collateral, you can sell it, do a 1031 exchange. There's a lot of options.

[00:26:39.770] - Coye Elliott
That's right.

[00:26:40.430] - Chris Griffin
To do stuff.

[00:26:41.060] - Coye Elliott
And so, you know, that's been good for my family and I, is, you know, we've been able to get past that portion of where they're requiring money down because everything that I've purchased or I've sold, I've been able to make money and use that for that purpose.

[00:26:54.000] - Chris Griffin
One other quick, you know, kind of wrapping up a little bit, but, you know, going back to the food plots, and I meant to ask this earlier, what would you say is the average cost per acre? And I know that may vary based on corn, alfalfa.

[00:27:06.040] - Coye Elliott
Yeah, you know, clover is something, if you said pound for pound, if I could only plant one thing on a farm, clover would be, uh, White Ladino clover would probably be the one I would choose for you if you're just getting started because it's the easiest to grow and it's the less cost per acre, but you're probably looking at something like that with fertilizer. After you get the pH correct, after you get your soil test done, you know, you're probably looking at $300 for an acre of that. Now if you start getting into alfalfa, Roundup Ready alfalfa, and everything that goes into that, you're probably looking at doubling that.

[00:27:36.280] - Chris Griffin
Okay.

[00:27:36.620] - Coye Elliott
With seed and everything, really, you could even be close to $800, $900, or maybe even $1,000 an acre. Corn, obviously that's something that's, you know, the first two I told you, clover and alfalfa, they're going to come back every year, so that part's good. But you know, when you start looking at corn, soybeans, that kind of thing, your costs are going to go up. That's going to be in that, yeah, you know, $700, $800 an acre depending on if you can, you know, how much you pay for the seed. But you have to replant those every year, but there's a purpose for them as well, and I do those. But it just depends again on what you're looking for, what you're planning, and what your expertise is. And that goes back to you don't have to have any of those plants to be successful deer hunting or turkey hunting. Like I said, the cheapest thing you can do to get started immediately is a chainsaw and start doing some research on some of the tree you know, a great example is an elm tree. Elms, winged elm. When you go into the woods and you see a tree that has that square branch to it, that's a winged elm.

[00:28:31.720] - Coye Elliott
That's actually referred to as a food plot tree. Okay. It has no value whatsoever, but if you cut that, that elm and leave about 2 inches or so, or 2 foot or so of the stump above, that elm is going to produce shoots off of it that are like 35 to 40% protein. And those shoots, after it starts producing, those deer will start feeding on those. And it's just like them eating in a clover field or alfalfa field. Any, any elm that I see, I try to cut and try to produce that, or hinge it. Hinge cutting is still leaving that bark on one side of it, and that plant will grow for 2 to 3 more years even though you've cut it down.

[00:29:08.780] - Chris Griffin
Okay.

[00:29:09.200] - Coye Elliott
Because it's still attached. And then while it's growing, it's trying to produce those shoots. It's and produce those things. And that's, again, that just goes back to that's just, you know, $150 investment in a chainsaw can go a long ways on a farm.

[00:29:21.580] - Chris Griffin
Yeah. Well, and this is that's a perfect segue and kind of like my final question. Somebody who's wanting to get into it or, you know, because I know you've got a lot of experience, you did it, you know, with your dad and then obviously you've done it now and you're teaching your son, you know, what, what's probably the biggest piece of advice and what's something you've probably learned the hard way and, you know, planting those food plots and deer hunting and turkey hunting. That you wish you'd go back like, man, I wish I'd known that before I made that mistake?

[00:29:47.800] - Coye Elliott
I guess my biggest piece of advice is don't be, you can't be scared of work.

[00:29:51.990] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:29:52.560] - Coye Elliott
If you're going to buy a farm, you know, you'd mentioned this earlier, you know, so a lot of people go in, they buy 50 acres, they don't realize what they're getting into with that. And so if you want to be successful in anything, it's going to require a little bit of work. And so don't, if you're scared of the work, if you know, if you're good to go in and get your hands dirty and get some dirt on your, you know, on your boots you're going to be able to be successful in this. But I guess, you know, don't overspend. I think that's the best advice. I think a lot of people go in and, you know, a lot of things and this probably with anything in life is, man, I want to have the tractor, I want to have the farm, I want to have the implements.

[00:30:25.330] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:30:25.650] - Coye Elliott
And I'm just going to finance this. And it's good for your world.

[00:30:28.610] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:30:28.850] - Coye Elliott
You know, but I think that people can get stretched on that, which causes stress. And if it's causing stress, then you're not going to enjoy it. And so You know, do what's best for you and your family, and then it may grow. You know, I didn't start with the tractor and the implements and the enclosed or in the gooseneck trailer that I have. You know, I started small and I was able to work my way up to the stuff and the equipment that I have now. I probably plant way too many acres.

[00:30:55.380] - Chris Griffin
Well, that, and I was actually, you know, you're talking about start small and kind of— yeah, you know, it's almost like one of those things I feel like you get into it. Hey, just start with a 1-acre plot, you know, and that's what I did. And let's do a 1-acre plot, let's get really good at it and figure out the dos and don'ts, and then hey, let's move to something else. And like you said, I think some people would probably get into it like, all right, I'm going to do, I'm gonna do corn, I'm gonna do alfalfa. And it's like, yeah, well, let's not do all that this year.

[00:31:19.500] - Coye Elliott
Yeah, let's start small and, and be realistic. But you know, right now I'm probably taking care of maintaining or planting probably 60 acres a year.

[00:31:27.620] - Chris Griffin
Okay, it's a lot. I don't think people realize. Yeah, I mean, 60 acres, I mean, that's I mean, when I hear 60 acres, I mean, there's guys that in my portfolio where 60 acres, if they're a part-time farmer, 60 acres is a decent amount, you know, for sure. It's a lot to maintain.

[00:31:41.770] - Coye Elliott
And so it's a lot to maintain, but again, if it's what your love is, it's not really work. And I, my stress reliever is setting up on that tractor and, and, and spending my time out in the outdoors. And, uh, also then being able to set in that plot that I maintained or I planted or I helped produce and then been able to get lucky enough to harvest an animal over it.

[00:32:02.760] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:32:02.920] - Coye Elliott
You know, that then we're going to take to my family and then we're going to feed my family for the rest of the year if it's a deer.

[00:32:06.780] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:32:07.260] - Coye Elliott
You know, there's, it's more to it than that. It's more to it to me than that. You know, that's my love, that's my passion, and that's why I, I love doing it so much.

[00:32:17.380] - Chris Griffin
Well, Coye, I've really enjoyed talking. I honestly, I feel like we could keep talking because I was told before you came that you, you're a talker.

[00:32:23.690] - Coye Elliott
Yeah.

[00:32:23.850] - Chris Griffin
I'm kind of a talker. And Shay told me, she was like, I don't think you guys are gonna have any trouble getting a 30 or 40 minutes.

[00:32:28.490] - Coye Elliott
No.

[00:32:28.670] - Chris Griffin
And I have a feeling if I didn't wrap it up, I think we could probably 10 or 15. So I understand. But no, I've really enjoyed. I've learned a lot myself. Like I said, I was mainly, you know, I grew up as a duck hunter. We, my, my dad and brother deer hunted and turkey hunted a little bit, but wasn't something I was super into. And so not something I'm super, you know, obviously versed in. And I've learned a lot today, honestly. And I hope the listeners have learned a lot and could maybe take some tidbits and apply to their own hunting property and, and food plots and hopefully, you know, be successful in the future. So Coye, we enjoyed having you.

[00:33:00.400] - Chris Griffin
Thank you.

[00:33:01.050] - Chris Griffin
As always, glad to have everybody on Back to Your Roots, and we'll see you in the future.

[00:33:05.290] - Coye Elliott
All right. Thank you very much.

[00:33:06.240] - Chris Griffin
Thanks for tuning in to Back to Your Roots, where we dish the dirt on all things ag. Be sure to never miss an episode by following and subscribing. While there, leave us a review about what you want to hear next. Stay in the know between episodes by following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok. For more resources, go to our website at rivervalleyagcredit.com.