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Food Plots Basic Food Plot Info

GREAT article. I'm doing a couple of things as suggested. First, I'm ordering my seed NOW! That way I have it handy as soon as conditions look right, and sometimes the right conditions don't hit the forecast until just a day or two ahead of time. Second, I've learned the hard way not to till my thin soils. Just three weeks without rain will wipe out those type of plots, as soil moisture evaporation is incredible fast in thin, turned soils. I will be broadcasting seed, then mowing, then spraying before germination. The thatch produced by mowing will hold moisture much longer. Third, although I will be planting my primary crops in mid-August, I won't add cereal grains until late September. Planted in August, cereal grains will grow too tall and "stemmy" by deer season.

Someday I will drop the big bucks and buy a seed drill! That is the best way to reduce soil moisture loss.
 
Last year I planted winter wheat in mid September and then had no rain for I believe 3 and 1/2 Weeks. I did not have the problem of too much growth. Actually in December I only had one and a half inch high shoots and sparse at that. But it did attract deer and they hit it pretty hard . But by Spring it was beautiful. I've been told not to plant winter wheat two years back to back for various reasons. This year I believe I will try cereal Rye and plant about the same time if the weather looks right.
 
rifle02 said:
Last year I planted winter wheat in mid September and then had no rain for I believe 3 and 1/2 Weeks. I did not have the problem of too much growth. Actually in December I only had one and a half inch high shoots and sparse at that. But it did attract deer and they hit it pretty hard . But by Spring it was beautiful. I've been told not to plant winter wheat two years back to back for various reasons. This year I believe I will try cereal Rye and plant about the same time if the weather looks right.
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I would love to know why. I've been planting winter wheat in my plots for 20+ years straight.
 
Wheat is a staple in any fall plot. It is not particularly nutritious, nor is it preferred by deer. But there is nothing else that provides the level of allopathic competitive weed suppression than wheat. Keep planting it year after year. Your plots will thank you!
 
megalomaniac said:
Wheat is a staple in any fall plot. It is not particularly nutritious, nor is it preferred by deer. But there is nothing else that provides the level of allopathic competitive weed suppression than wheat. Keep planting it year after year. Your plots will thank you!
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Very site specific. At my place I've tried wheat, elbon rye, oats, and triticale, and wheat is by far the most preferred.
 
Well, I was shocked. Co-op had the seed I wanted and I didn't have to order it. So it's all stored in our walk-in cooler so the mice can't get after it. Will plant somewhere around August 10, weather permitting.
 
Bucket said:
I usually spray, wait a couple of weeks, then sow and mow prior to rain.
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I used to follow that pattern as well, primarily because I didn't think I would get a good kill of the weeds/grasses in the plot if I sprayed right after mowing. However, I tried the spray-right-after-mowing technique the last three plantings (two spring, one fall) and found I got a great kill from the spray anyways. I also found having the weeds/grasses dying as the food plot seed is germinating gave the plot plants a big leg up over the weed competition.

However, this year (for fall) is going to be a little different. Because I have a good crop of Crimson Clover growing under my summer crops, and I don't want to kill it, I'm going to broadcast fall seed, mow, and then wait a week or two and spray clethodim just to kill the grasses. I don't mind if I have some broadleaf weed competition in my fall plots until the first frost. It's the grasses I'm really trying to knock out.
 

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