Cereal Grains and cover crops

[dgallow]

Excellent post, Paul!

As you know, the Elbon rye variety is a release from our area and we've planted it for many years. How do those seeds compare to rye you commonly plant? It is vey likely we both have rye fom the same seed fields this year. Elbon seed seems smaller than what you normally plant.

A good initial setting for rye/oat/pea/radish blends and the fluted feeds is that setting for rye or pea alone....those settings should be on the chart. A setting of 8 on the JDVB (about a pea diameter opening of the flutes) and #2 slot on the feed gate like Paul mentions drops 20rye,20pea and 5 radish per ac. We put about 1.25 ac worth of seed in the large box then monitor the acre counter to see when we hit 1 ac. The extra seed minimizes feed variation and easy enough to gauge how close you are on rate.

Small boxes are similar but tend to produce more variation. #1 on the JDVB is close to 4 lb turnip while #4 is close to 10 lb of Alyce or similar sized clover seeds (such as red, alfalfa, and arrowleaf). If you put radish in the small box and it is set too tight, it will grind the radish seed...radish with small grains in the large box works well...nice even plant distribution at target seeding rate.

I've also done the calibrations by counting avg seed per drop or seed weight over XX distance. An acre counter and acre worth of seed seem more simplistic and less time consuming.

Planting is probably the most fun in this whole game!

 

[DUG]

3 acres in the ground

We got 3 acres of Dbltree's cereal grain mix in the ground yesterday evening. Here is dad hard at work. The drill worked perfect for this mix. I even went in and no-tilled some areas where my clover died from the drought this summer. Not sure if it will work in those areas but we will soon find out.




We hope to get everything else finished up tonight.





There calling for 3-5" of rain for the weekend:way:

 

[caj4isu]

Got 1.25 Acres planted - Help from Isaac

I planted 1.25 acres of dbltree's cereal grain mix yesterday all by myself and got it in before Isaac's rains hit the property. I did not have time for clover or radishes, but figured I could just broadcast them on Monday before we get more rain next week.

I hope I did ok. I mowed the weeds, spread lime and fertilizer, roto-tilled (with a 4' tiller), broadcast the rye, oats and peas and then disc'd them in with my 5' 3-point disc. I didn't set the disc too deep (maybe 3-4"), just enough to turn the seeds in the dirt. No time to pack it down, and I don't have a cultipacker. I have a lawn roller, but it was starting to sprinkle at this point, and figured the roller would just pick up mud. I was figuring the rains would help to pack the dirt back together - really was my only option at that point.

I changed up the fertilizer a bit based on my soil tests and my fertilizer dealer's recommendations. My fertilizer dealer didn't have any urea and neither did Mershmans in Fort Madison. So I went with 300# per acre of 24-6-12 with an additional 100# per acre of 6-28-28. My soil tests very high for Phosphorus and moderate for potassium. I'm not an agronomist, so I'm hoping that this rate will work. My dealer did some calculations and came up with the 300# per acre of 24-6-12 as compared to about 150# per acre of urea - in between dbltree's recommendation of 100-200# urea per acre.

At this point, it appears that the new seed has about 2" of rain helping it along. More rain later this week should really help!

dbltree - where do you get your urea?

 

[dbltree]

dbltree - where do you get your urea?

Iowa-Missouri Hybrids in Keosauqua...call Aaron Palm at 641-919-1695...he has all the seeds, fertilizers and lime I mention in my posts...:way:

September 3rd, 2012

I love my drill but but for the average landowner, owning a drill may not be a realistic expectation although certainly older model conventional drills can often be purchased very reasonably at farm auctions. Broadcasting seeds, then is the most oft used method of getting seeds on the ground and a cultipacker the most efficient and effective means of covering or "planting" the seeds.

When planting tiny brassica seed we need to firm soil before and after broadcasting seed but larger seeds such as cereals and peas need to be planted deeper or at least "can be" and when dry soils may be a problem, planting at 1" - 1-1/2" will insure seeds are in the moisture zone rather then laying in dry soil on top. This is one major advantage of planting cereals because we can get them started even in dry weather while brassica seeds laying in the top 1/4" of soil need sufficient rainfall to get them germinated and in drought years that can be problematic...

When broadcast planting cereals then we want to take advantage of the loose fluffy soils right after tilling or discing

Regardless of broadcast method (bag seeder or power spreader), get the large seeds spread immediately following tillage

A UTV/ATV or 3 pt tractor mounted broadcast spreader is also a great place to mix the rye, oats and peas in the mix

I usually start "small" and with a little "by guess and by gosh" come up with a setting that will allow me to make two passes over the field, the second crossways to the first to make sure I get even coverage. Then with the seeds laying on the loose fully soil I cultipack to firmly press the large seeds into the soil and cover them.

Keep in mind that one can use a simple $30 bag seeder such as Earthway sells and lacking a cultipacker, simply run an ATV back and forth of the field to firm soil and cover seeds. In our case we cover the large seeds with a cultipacker first....

Which prepares the seedbed for the tiny clover and radish seeds which unlike the large seeds must be planted in the top 1/8" to 1/4" of soil.

After broadcasting the clover and radish seeds we cultipack a second time to cover those seeds and the job is then complete!

My drill is of course designed to do all of that in one pass which speeds up the process considerably but one can still plant a lot of ground in a short time the "old fashioned way" which is of course..tried and true!

A "real" rain sure makes a difference and the cereal mix drilled in before rains ranging from 1" to 2+" have come up immediately

The fact that cereals germinate easily and quickly, often in fact right on top of the soil (given rainfall) is often overlooked so if you are dealing with dry soils it is well to remember this attribute.

I know things are going well however when I see the radish and clover seeds popping up

along with the forage peas

Drought stressed soils often do not have sufficient moisture to get the tiny clover seeds germinated but we were blessed with several inches along with some additional rain from the remnants of Issac and they are up and growing!

It's always a great feeling to see things spring to life after planting, especially in a drought year

The feeding areas are screened and have a combination of brassicas in 1/2 and the cereal mix in 1/2 will insure that whitetails will have a year around food supply that is safe and secure....

I did leave a small area to plant later to compare planting dates and usage as we get later into fall

In most of our feeding areas you will find the following mixes and by following these threads you will also, eventually see how whitetails use these food sources even with plenty of corn, soybeans and alfalfa near by....

Plant ALL in one plot in strips or blocks

Alice, Kopu II, Durana (or comparable) white clover 10% of plot, sow at 6#'s per acre with the rye combination in the fall or in the spring with oats and berseem clover. Correct Ph and P&K with soil tests

Brassicas in 45% of plot

Purple Top Turnips 3#
Dwarf Essex Rape 2#
GroundHog Forage radish 5#

Plant in mid to late July in most Midwest states, or 60-90 days before your first killing frost, Use 200#'s of 46-0-0 urea and 400#'s of 6-28-28 per acre. Follow the dead brassicas with oats and berseem or crimson clover in mid spring at 60#'s oats and 12-15#'s berseem clover and/or 50#'s of chickling vetch)

Cereal Grain combo in 45% of plot

Winter rye 50-80#'s per acre (56#'s = a bushel)
Spring oats 80-120#'s per acre (32#'s = a bushel)
Austrian Winter Peas or 4010/6040 Forage peas 20-80#'s per acre
Red Clover 8-12#'s per acre or white clover at 6#'s per acre (or 20-40 pounds hairy vetch and 20-30#'s crimson clover on sandy soils)
Groundhog Forage Radish 5#'s per acre

Plant in late August to early September, if following well fertilized brassicas use 100 - 200#'s of urea, if starting a new plot add 400#'s of 6-28-28

Rotate the brassicas and rye combo each year

 

[jerred44]

? My brother and i did a half acre. In illinois. On. Friday, we disced what we could. The ground was as hard as a rock. We seeded, but before we could drag something over it to cover the seed. It started to rain, it rained from 3 pm friday. Till. Late sat nite, never a hard down pour but. A steady rain, i checked the plot today and i can tell that some of the rye and looks like oats r taking off, but i saw a lot of pea seeds on top of the dirt, the seed were split open and u could c they were sprouting, but. Will it hurt if they r on top of the dirt and not in it? Ill post some pics later

 

[Daver]

? My brother and i did a half acre. In illinois. On. Friday, we disced what we could. The ground was as hard as a rock. We seeded, but before we could drag something over it to cover the seed. It started to rain, it rained from 3 pm friday. Till. Late sat nite, never a hard down pour but. A steady rain, i checked the plot today and i can tell that some of the rye and looks like oats r taking off, but i saw a lot of pea seeds on top of the dirt, the seed were split open and u could c they were sprouting, but. Will it hurt if they r on top of the dirt and not in it? Ill post some pics later

Jerred - I think you should be fine as long you keep getting rains. I planted the Dbltree mix on Aug. 25th in a recently expanded plot on our farm. We got a real nice rain the next day and when I looked at the field this past weekend I too saw "split peas" on top of the ground too.

Many of our peas were germinating and growing and I kid you not...I think they grew 1"-2" from Saturday to Monday when I last looked at them. We also had a fair rain on them Saturday, so after all this drought we are getting rains now thankfully.

The rye, clover and peas were looking pretty good, so hopefully the rains keep coming!

 

[jerred44]

here is a pic of the seed on top of the soil

 

[jerred44]

and here are a few pics of our plot, white clover on the right and the cereal mix on the left

and just one of our setup

 

[DZJ81]

We started a new 7 acre plot this yr. Everything was started with oats and berseem and the brassicas went in mid July and received a timely rain and they shot up and were about 4-5 inches in no time but now are yellowing and little growth seems to be occuring and have had virtually no rain in over a month. We got the rye mix in the ground 2 weeks ago and still little if any germination. Is there still hope for either with no rainin the foreseeable future?

 

[dbltree]

We started a new 7 acre plot this yr. Everything was started with oats and berseem and the brassicas went in mid July and received a timely rain and they shot up and were about 4-5 inches in no time but now are yellowing and little growth seems to be occurring and have had virtually no rain in over a month. We got the rye mix in the ground 2 weeks ago and still little if any germination. Is there still hope for either with no rain in the foreseeable future?

The rye seed will just lay there until it receives rain and then will take off but the brassicas will struggle with no rain that is for certain. The "yellow" might also be lack of nitrogen or other nutrient deficiency depending on what if any fertilizer was applied.

 

[DZJ81]

Is it too late or can it be save with anything applied now?

 

[dbltree]

Is it too late or can it be save with anything applied now?

The fate of your plots probably rests in the ability of the next cold front to give you some substantial rainfall...

 

[DZJ81]

The only thing going for our plots is that the deer are still coming into the Alice, though that looks rough in its own

 

[dbltree]

September 11th, 2012

The winter rye, oats, peas, radish and clover salad bar is looking fantastic in all of our feeding areas!

Perfectly timed to take the heat off growing brassicas planted in the same plots with the highly attractive and palatable young rye and oats.

The baby peas are safe for the moment but not for long as whitetails will soon seek them out in earnest!

Keep in mind....this is Iowa where it is nearly impossible not to have a feeding area anywhere from feet to a 100 yards from huge fields of corn, soybeans and alfalfa....but these lush green food sources are so attractive, few deer can turn them down.

The young forage radish plants will be ignored for now but by mid October they will become the target of whitetails intent on putting on winter fat and most will be grazed to the dirt by December.

The baby clovers go almost unnoticed this fall but their purpose is to feed deer and our soils starting early next spring allowing us to avoid ending up with a dirt plot and teaching our deer to look to the neighbors for food...

In every feeding area it's the same story...strip plots containing 2-4 or more strips of brassicas and strips of the rye mix with white clover surrounding the area.

Each plant compliments the other, each growing in harmony with the other...no incompatible "buck on a bag" mixes here...

Cams on field scan will provide plenty of information regarding both deer numbers and usage of the feeding areas

Each feeding area screened with Egyptian Wheat to keep deer feeling safe and secure and encourage day time movement

While not always possible to see in the pics, this pic shows the white clover in the foreground...the glue that keeps this program working year around

Cams reveal the progression and usage by whitetails....mid August, young brassicas growing and field prep for the cereal mix yet deer are happily feeding on the clover in the foreground

A field of soybeans lays beyond the EW screen but deer prefer the safety of the hidden feeding area

Deer adapt to the year around food sources and safe feeding area at an early age

Much needed rainfall....

brings the newly planted cereal portions of the feeding area to life while deer begin to feed on the rapidly growing brassicas

Then deer turn to the lush green growth in the cereal mix, taking the heat of the brassicas

and day in day out...the clover areas are a dependable source of high quality, high protein forage and ALL of these tied together insure that our whitetails have a food source that they can rely on every single day of the year.

Take advantage of what others don't know...while they plant a fall food source only and force their deer to "change up", you can capitalize on their mistakes and quickly adapt deer to coming daily to your feeding areas. Create thick, safe sanctuaries utilizing Timber Stand Improvement and hinging techniques along with tree and shrub plantings, conifer screens and NWSG and then provide year around food sources in a central location that is hidden and well screened and your neighbors will wonder where all the deer went...

NOTE: A cold front is set to sweep across the midwest bring 8-12 hours of steady rainfall...perfect time to get some additional urea (nitrogen) on if you didn't get it on at planting. P&K and lime can also be added, although rainfall is not immediately necessary...it will help move nutrients into the soil in no-till planted crops...

Plant ALL in one plot in strips or blocks

Alice, Kopu II, Durana (or comparable) white clover 10% of plot, sow at 6#'s per acre with the rye combination in the fall or in the spring with oats and berseem clover. Correct Ph and P&K with soil tests

Brassicas in 45% of plot

Purple Top Turnips 3#
Dwarf Essex Rape 2#
GroundHog Forage radish 5#

Plant in mid to late July in most Midwest states, or 60-90 days before your first killing frost, Use 200#'s of 46-0-0 urea and 400#'s of 6-28-28 per acre. Follow the dead brassicas with oats and berseem or crimson clover in mid spring at 60#'s oats and 12-15#'s berseem clover and/or 50#'s of chickling vetch)

Cereal Grain combo in 45% of plot

Winter rye 50-80#'s per acre (56#'s = a bushel)
Spring oats 80-120#'s per acre (32#'s = a bushel)
Frostmaster Winter Peas or 4010/6040 Forage peas 20-80#'s per acre
Red Clover 8-12#'s per acre or white clover at 6#'s per acre (or 20-40 pounds hairy vetch and 20-30#'s crimson clover on sandy soils)
Groundhog Forage Radish 5#'s per acre

Plant in late August to early September, if following well fertilized brassicas use 100 - 200#'s of urea, if starting a new plot add 400#'s of 6-28-28

Rotate the brassicas and rye combo each year

 

[jerred44]

12 day update

after 12 days plot is coming up nicely

had a little trouble with the seeder here, dropped a lot of the GHFR in one spot

 

[Blizzard_T_Husky]

Hello Dbltree!

I live towards the Lansing area in Michigan and am new to food plots and farming in general. This is my first year trying your mix of cereal grains, peas, and clover and could not have had more fun with the whole process. Its been 20 days since planting and the rye/peas are around 8" tall.

I saw in previous posts that adding urea and tilling it in prior to seeding could help with growth. Is urea something that has to be always tilled in prior to planting or could this be broadcast onto my existing plot to help speed things up?

Thanks for the info!

 

[dbltree]

I saw in previous posts that adding urea and tilling it in prior to seeding could help with growth. Is urea something that has to be always tilled in prior to planting or could this be broadcast onto my existing plot to help speed things up?

First let me say that additional nitrogen is not always needed, areas with low deer densities may not require higher yielding plots, so keep that in mind.

urea is highly volatile and when applied to warm soils (such as this time of year) it will quickly be lost to the atmosphere....the following explains....

Incorporate Urea for Best Use

Nitrogen from urea can be lost to the atmosphere if fertilizer urea remains on the soil surface for extended periods of time during warm weather. The key to the most efficient use of urea is to incorporate it into the soil during a tillage operation. It may also be blended into the soil with irrigation water. A rainfall of as little as 0.25 inches is sufficient to blend urea into the soil to a depth at which ammonia losses will not occur.
Urea Losses to the Air

Urea breakdown begins as soon as it is applied to the soil. If the soil is totally dry, no reaction happens. But with the enzyme urease, plus any small amount of soil moisture, urea normally hydrolizes and converts to ammonium and carbon dioxide. This can occur in 2 to 4 days and happens quicker on high pH soils. Unless it rains, urea must be incorporated during this time to avoid ammonia loss. Losses might be quite low in the spring if the soil temperature is cold. The chemical reaction is as follows:
CO(NH₂)₂ + H₂O + urease

2NH₃ +CO₂
(urea) The problem is the NH₃, because it's a gas, but if incorporated the NH₃, acts the same as incorporated anhydrous ammonia. Also, half of 28% liquid N is urea and the same thing happens with this half as with regular urea.

Knowing this we need to incorporate the urea at planting time because later applications can be iffy when we depend on rainfall. yesterday they said 1/2 to 3/4" rain...today we find we're lucky to get a tenth in which case expensive nitrogen would be lost.

If your crop is 6" tall already I doubt you need any additional N and if you till under red clover each year it will provide enough nitrogen each fall and save you the time and expense of applying urea. :way:


Strip Plots

I really enjoy getting pics from friends who are doing a great job of planting combination food sources in each feeding area! Increasingly landowners are getting the idea...plant multiple food sources that provide year around food and your deer will quickly adapt to that and your odds of a successful season go up markedly.

White/ladino clover around the perimeter and or strips down the center, brassicas and the rye mix....all in one field...perfect!

No one crop can feed deer year around, at least in most of the country but plant a combination of crops in each feeding area and you provide everything a whitetail needs in one place. Provide great cover around the feeding area and they will stay right there...and that's the whole idea, right? If we hope to manage our whitetails and harvest mature animals then we need to do everything possible to hold them on our property and most of us do not have hundreds of acres...so we need to do everything possible to provide for their needs on our place regardless if it 10 acres or a 1000

It's all here...white clover to feed from April well into January (providing you use good quality drought resistant clovers and not BOB seed!), a simple brassica mix of turnips, rape and radish and the winter rye/oat/pea/radish/red clover mix which is easily rotated with the brassicas each year.

Tilling down clover adds a tremendous amount of organic matter and 50-200#'s of nitrogen per acre...perfect to plant brassicas into and in this case ladino clover was tilled under and despite extreme drought...the brassicas have thrived!

Planting multiple food sources in each feeding area not only keeps our deer coming 365 days a year but also allows to us use a combination that will, over time build up our soils and avoid the disease and pest problems that come with planting crops back to back in the same soil. A common mistake is for landowners to plant brassicas year after year in the same soil and then they wonder why they eventually begin to suffer. By using a crop rotation in EACH FIELD, you can have you cake and eat it too!

In the pics above, the white clover strips will remain but each year the brassica strips and rye strips will be flip flopped or rotated back and forth. All of those crops have soil building tendencies...each and every one and each is highly attractive to whitetails at the same time...man...you can't beat that with a stick! :way:

Plant ALL in one plot in strips or blocks

Alice, Kopu II, Durana (or comparable) white clover 10% of plot, sow at 6#'s per acre with the rye combination in the fall or in the spring with oats and berseem clover. Correct Ph and P&K with soil tests

Brassicas in 45% of plot

Purple Top Turnips 3#
Dwarf Essex Rape 2#
GroundHog Forage radish 5#

Plant in mid to late July in most Midwest states, or 60-90 days before your first killing frost, Use 200#'s of 46-0-0 urea and 400#'s of 6-28-28 per acre. Follow the dead brassicas with oats and berseem or crimson clover in mid spring at 60#'s oats and 12-15#'s berseem clover and/or 50#'s of chickling vetch)

Cereal Grain combo in 45% of plot

Winter rye 50-80#'s per acre (56#'s = a bushel)
Spring oats 80-120#'s per acre (32#'s = a bushel)
Frostmaster Winter Peas or 4010/6040 Forage peas 20-80#'s per acre
Red Clover 8-12#'s per acre or white clover at 6#'s per acre (or 20-40 pounds hairy vetch and 20-30#'s crimson clover on sandy soils)
Groundhog Forage Radish 5#'s per acre

Plant in late August to early September, if following well fertilized brassicas use 100 - 200#'s of urea, if starting a new plot add 400#'s of 6-28-28

Rotate the brassicas and rye combo each year

 

[dbltree]

September 18th, 2012

I build habitat for a living and with that in mind, no one in their right mind would recommend or re-hire a builder who did a cruddy job building their house, so it goes without saying that what I do, must work and work very well or no one is going to ask me to plant or continue their habitat program the following year. Whenever possible I stop by the various farms and check the food sources I planted and take a moment to send the landowner a few pictures since in most cases they live hundreds or even thousands of miles away.

Because God has blessed us with rain....each and every one looks outstanding!

But who cares if deer aren't eating the food sources? No worries there either....the rye/oat/pea/radish/clover salad bar is being grazed heavily!

In each case there are corn and beans only yards away but I know, without the slightest doubt that each landowner will have plenty of action based on the activity in their feeding areas...already!

On another note...not everyone is blessed with rich, high organic matter soils...including me! I ran the no-till drill down the farm lane which is hard as a rock from decades of heavy equipment use...just to see how the winter rye would do. No fertilizer...ever, no lime, no spray and scarcely any rain after planting yet...the rye is unphased!

Regardless if you have dry sandy soils or hard pan clay...winter/cereal rye will not only grow but flourish on nearly any type of soil and insure you can have an economical food source for your whitetails along with beginning the process of changing the quality of your soil.

Winter rye...it'll grow in/on almost anything and not cost you and arm and a leg to plant it....

Plant ALL in one plot in strips or blocks

Alice, Kopu II, Durana (or comparable) white clover 10% of plot, sow at 6#'s per acre with the rye combination in the fall or in the spring with oats and berseem clover. Correct Ph and P&K with soil tests

Brassicas in 45% of plot

Purple Top Turnips 3#
Dwarf Essex Rape 2#
GroundHog Forage radish 5#

Plant in mid to late July in most Midwest states, or 60-90 days before your first killing frost, Use 200#'s of 46-0-0 urea and 400#'s of 6-28-28 per acre. Follow the dead brassicas with oats and berseem or crimson clover in mid spring at 60#'s oats and 12-15#'s berseem clover and/or 50#'s of chickling vetch)

Cereal Grain combo in 45% of plot

Winter rye 50-80#'s per acre (56#'s = a bushel)
Spring oats 80-120#'s per acre (32#'s = a bushel)
Frostmaster Winter Peas or 4010/6040 Forage peas 20-80#'s per acre
Red Clover 8-12#'s per acre or white clover at 6#'s per acre (or 20-40 pounds hairy vetch and 20-30#'s crimson clover on sandy soils)
Groundhog Forage Radish 5#'s per acre

Plant in late August to early September, if following well fertilized brassicas use 100 - 200#'s of urea, if starting a new plot add 400#'s of 6-28-28

Rotate the brassicas and rye combo each year

 

[dbltree]

September 24th, 2012

When reading these threads it is important to remember, this is not about one thing, a couple crops planted and instant success! It's about a diverse array of habitat improvements of which cover is Job 1 followed closely by year around food sources. Whitetails are resourceful, opportunistic feeders and will quite literally eat almost anything including "weeds" like pigweed and ragweed.
You could plant weeds, you can plant almost any crop that deer eat, but....that doesn't mean it will help you build a successful habitat program that will in turn hold mature whitetails on your property AND...allow you to successfully harvest them, sooner.....rather then later.

This thread and the information within is only one small piece of the habitat pie, yet crucial nonetheless and as with all of the information I share, positive proof of it's (combined) effectiveness is provided on an ongoing basis.

The results of habitat changes can vary so it is important for each landowner to monitor the changes on an annual basis knowing that first year results may not be the same as those in the third year. If you plant only food sources and do nothing to improve your cover, results will be far less then those that make ALL the improvements necessary.

Monitor your feeding areas by using exclusion cages....

and trail cams on field scan mode

Remember it may take time to "unadapt" deer from using the food sources they are use too in the places they felt comfortable feeding and change to those you may have newly created. Keep doing the same thing in the same place and monitor activity over a period of years as you use every means possible to improve you adjacent cover.

Year around food sources will quickly adapt deer to a feeding area ESPECIALLY if you include white/ladino clover...note the clover along the timber edge along with brassicas and the rye combo that are easily rotated and the screening in the background.

A mix of white and red clovers surrounds every feeding area and deer follow it like a puppy on a string...in this case along and Egyptian Wheat screen...right to a blind

In this picture you can see the diversity that we provide...fruit trees, clover, rye combo, brassicas....

and an array of hybrid oaks and chestnuts surrounding the feeding area....EVERYTHING in one place and every deer comes to these diverse feeding areas!

They walk across this corn stubble field of freshly harvested corn....

With corn laying all over the ground....to get to the feeding area they have become adapted to using for a number of years now

This does not mean they will not eventually eat the corn but they do so as they travel across the field and still end up in the feeding area and while these deer did this from year one, others may take several years to adapt to the new feeding area and the new food sources in it.

This time of year I receive pictures from all over the country including this pic sent in by Terry from Nova Scotia! Well done Terry!!

The combination of food sources insure that deer will not run out of food...ever and this is what keeps them coming back

the old way was to plant "something" that would attract deer for a while in the fall....but then landowners are frustrated when deer are in the neighboring crop fields...something we no longer have to worry about....

Every feeding area on every farm is the same...clover, brassicas and the cereal rye mix

Right now the lush rye and oat mix is very attractive

and whitetails eagerly feed on young cereals

Taking pressure off the brassica half of the plot

where the forage radish plants are being ravaged

and in every feeding area...the whitetails are there...

you will hear...negative comments in forums from time to time but often the poster expects one thing to fix their problems but whitetails don't live on "one" thing...

They need thick cover and plentiful browse...not a 1/2 mile away but immediately adjacent to the feeding area

Poor cover = few deer = little or no use in a feeding area = excuses and a zillion reasons why the food source is to blame rather than....the landowners themselves....

Given a buffet, whitetails will choose or select the most tender and palatable plants within the buffet at first, such as forage radish, white clover, and then rye and oats. As plants mature and the weather grows colder they will feast on the peas and rape plants and later when the snow gets deep, the rye and turnips....but in each of these feeding areas the end result will be little if anything left by winters end....

Feeding deer year around takes some experimentation as to "how much" and that area will change as your deer numbers increase due to enhanced cover, start small and expand your feeding area as necessary to feed the deer on your property

Adapt the does to coming in every day, 365 days a year...

and it's a no brainer where the bucks will be this fall....

Share your feeding area and deer pics and be an encouragement to others who are not satisfied to plant "something" and have ho him habitat and hunting success....

Plant ALL in one plot in strips or blocks

Alice, Kopu II, Durana (or comparable) white clover 10% of plot, sow at 6#'s per acre with the rye combination in the fall or in the spring with oats and berseem clover. Correct Ph and P&K with soil tests

Brassicas in 45% of plot

Purple Top Turnips 3#
Dwarf Essex Rape 2#
GroundHog Forage radish 5#

Plant in mid to late July in most Midwest states, or 60-90 days before your first killing frost, Use 200#'s of 46-0-0 urea and 400#'s of 6-28-28 per acre. Follow the dead brassicas with oats and berseem or crimson clover in mid spring at 60#'s oats and 12-15#'s berseem clover and/or 50#'s of chickling vetch)

Cereal Grain combo in 45% of plot

Winter rye 50-80#'s per acre (56#'s = a bushel)
Spring oats 80-120#'s per acre (32#'s = a bushel)
Frostmaster Winter Peas or 4010/6040 Forage peas 20-80#'s per acre
Red Clover 8-12#'s per acre or white clover at 6#'s per acre (or 20-40 pounds hairy vetch and 20-30#'s crimson clover on sandy soils)
Groundhog Forage Radish 5#'s per acre

Plant in late August to early September, if following well fertilized brassicas use 100 - 200#'s of urea, if starting a new plot add 400#'s of 6-28-28

Rotate the brassicas and rye combo each year

 

[risto2351]

Well I seeded my RR beans with Rye on Sept. 8th and 9th before I headed West.

With the price of beans I was actually thinking of harvesting them and letting the rye

be my draw. Well I checked on the beans this past Sunday and with the lack of rain

the seed is still sitting on the top. Nothing has sprouted yet. Do I reseed or wait for

the rye that is there to germinate. With the cold weather that is coming

maybe I better leave the beans alone so I have a late season draw

because we are getting pretty late and it may not grow very tall at all?