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Brassica Letdown

DWilk

DWilk

Active Member
So we put in an acre of Imperial Winter-Greens this year. This was our first time dealing with brassicas and we fought with weeds and bugs a little. We ended up with a respectable stand; some of it was decimated by insects but healthier chunks grew to 3 feet.

Foxtail was noticeable but the brassicas were still there. My question is... why haven't the deer even touched it?

What is everyone's success rate appealing to their herd with brassicas? I've heard some deer don't prefer it, but I've never heard of deer ignoring the plants altogether. They absolutely have not touched the stuff, and the deer are certainly there, even walking through it on a regular basis.

This was disappointing to me to say the least. Do the deer here have abnormal taste buds from the seemingly thousands of deer that go crazy over the stuff? .. Or is there something we could've done different? These were the Whitetail Institute brand and off the top of my head included a half dozen types of rape and kale, no turnips.
 
Sometimes it just takes deer a year or two to get used to the brassicas.

Do you have lots of other food available in your area? Sometimes it takes deer as a last resource to eat it. When they do finally start to eat it they will always eat it.

I would also add some turnups to the mix of wintergreens next time. I really don't know why W.I. doesn't add turnups to the wintergreens.

If they don't touch it this year you could try Doublecross which is clover and brassicas. Might be a way to bring them into it eating.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Do you have lots of other food available in your area? Sometimes it takes deer as a last resource to eat it. When they do finally start to eat it they will always eat it.</div></div>
I will second that /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TallTines</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Do you have lots of other food available in your area?
</div></div>

Standing beans, clover, alfalfa, standing corn, sorghum all within a few hundred yards radius. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

They've got a few choices that's for sure. I wondered if that might be a player in their decisions, I just figured they would've got on board by now. Like I said, deer walk through that plot daily.
 
I would be patient and whether it takes this year or not, I would plant it again next year.

It is an awesome food source when they do start to eat it both as a kill plot and nutritional standpoint.

Dwilk, just out of curiousity how well did the wintergreens stand up for you in the snow and ice? How does the wintergreens look right now? Is there still plenty of green?

I have planted them but mine get pounded before Nov. so there is hardly any forage left....just the turnups I plant w/ em. I ask because i am thinking of planting lots of acres of the stuff in hopes that it will be a better late season forage attraction.

How is the sorghum being hit for you? It was always a last resort food source for us so we stopped using it and just went w/ other sources. W/ all your other plots I would think they would have be mainly in those.
 
Last year, the deer never touched my Turnip/brassica mix. This year I tried RR Sugar beets. As soon as the snows came in December, the deer have been in the sugar beets each night. The RR sugar beet plot is right next to RR corn, RR soybean, and several clover plots.
sbeetsm-5.jpg
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DWilk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">So we put in an acre of Imperial Winter-Greens this year. This was our first time dealing with brassicas and we fought with weeds and bugs a little. We ended up with a respectable stand; some of it was decimated by insects but healthier chunks grew to 3 feet.

Foxtail was noticeable but the brassicas were still there. My question is... why haven't the deer even touched it?

What is everyone's success rate appealing to their herd with brassicas? I've heard some deer don't prefer it, but I've never heard of deer ignoring the plants altogether. They absolutely have not touched the stuff, and the deer are certainly there, even walking through it on a regular basis.

This was disappointing to me to say the least. Do the deer here have abnormal taste buds from the seemingly thousands of deer that go crazy over the stuff? .. Or is there something we could've done different? These were the Whitetail Institute brand and off the top of my head included a half dozen types of rape and kale, no turnips. </div></div>

Assuming that you have read the brassica thread, then you also know that I have 2 different farms, two different sets of deer all with access to the same brassicas.

One farm the deer decimate the brassicas every year while the other they never touch them until late in the year when they eat the turnips.

Why??? I don't have a clue...this scenario plays out across the country and always leaves people scratching their heads?? /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif

I tested all brands and varieties side by side and they could care less...if your going to plant them save yourself some money and buy less expensive seed.

Don'T put all your eggs in one basket!! Plant seperate plots of clover, cereal grains and brassicas and see what they prefer at different times of the year.

I'm very interested in the sugar beets also and I plant to test those next year, however like brassicas, some may love them some may not.

I had one strip pf oats and rye with a scattering of brassicas in it and they foraged nightly in the rye but never touched the brassicas.

BuckinOats-1.jpg


My other farm there is nothing left to take pictures of because they at them to the ground...go figure... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TallTines</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Dwilk, just out of curiousity how well did the wintergreens stand up for you in the snow and ice? How does the wintergreens look right now? Is there still plenty of green?
</div></div>

The plants that grew fairly well and were green before the frosts have stayed green. None of it has stood well in the snow..knocked it pretty flat.
 
We planted Brassicas for the first time this year and the deer decimated the entire plot before the end of November. I'll be planting a lot more this year!
 
I went out and looked at my turnips a couple of days ago. Man are they gonna smell bad this spring when they rot. No action at all.

The 'Bonker
 
I think its pretty interesting how some deer will eat the living you know what out of the plants and other deer won't even touch them.

I wonder if it is more dependent on the genetics of the herd or if it really is just that the deer haven't figured out what they are missing? We are the only people in the area that planted any brassicas so we have no one to compare results with. Either way, it is a bummer, but what can ya do. It's still fun putting plots in.
 
I ate at a nice place Saturday night- could have had the pork chop and turnip greens but instead opted for the bison and buttered leeks.

Bonker- I think you should plant leeks.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: pharmer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Bonker- I think you should plant leeks. </div></div>

Isn't that what politicians do?

Different spelling, and I think if I plant leeks then my pants will leak.

The 'Bonker
 
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