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Food Plots Sorghum

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hunter7272

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2011
Messages
79
Location
bradley county
Any of you guys had any luck with planting grain sorghum for deer? I like that they would potentially not eat it in the summer and be a good fall and winter food for them but not sure how heavy they would use it!
 
Tried a couple strips this year. It grew pretty well despite the drought formed heads. Deer ate it once the heads turned red. I liked that it survived to maturity. Better than my corn that got pulled out of the ground before it reached 3".
 
We planted it last year. It's a cheap version of corn just not as good food wise. We probably won't ever plant it again unless for screening purposes. Which is part of the reason we planted it to begin with. But about this time of year it wasnt as tall as i wanted it to be. But it did good and deer ate it just not nearly as productive as corn obviously.
 
I planted the wgf sorghum the first year I had my property, it came in nicely. There was a small buck that would lay out in it and never budge while I was up on my tractor, guess he thought I couldn't see him, Lol.
 
I've been planting it the last couple of summers. It produces a huge amount of biomass for the soil. However, I'm planning on switching to the shorter dwarf sorghum (milo) next year, and planting at a lower density. The sorghum grew so tall and dense that it shaded everything else out. And it was so tall by late August that it made spreading the fall seed very difficult. Unfortunately, I don't have the extra acreage to let it stand into fall. I need every square inch for my fall food sources.
 
BSK said:
I've been planting it the last couple of summers. It produces a huge amount of biomass for the soil. However, I'm planning on switching to the shorter dwarf sorghum (milo) next year, and planting at a lower density. The sorghum grew so tall and dense that it shaded everything else out. And it was so tall by late August that it made spreading the fall seed very difficult. Unfortunately, I don't have the extra acreage to let it stand into fall. I need every square inch for my fall food sources.
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You will like the result of this plan. The Milo combined with less density will translate to a more leafy, compact but robust plant in comparison to previous crops. Give it some nitrogen and watch it go.
 
Popcorn said:
You will like the result of this plan. The Milo combined with less density will translate to a more leafy, compact but robust plant in comparison to previous crops. Give it some nitrogen and watch it go.
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Will do Popcorn. Looking forward to seeing the results. Perhaps a few soybean plants will make it through the summer (I mix soybeans with the sorghum). They soybeans got quickly shaded out by the dense sorghum stand last summer.
 
Bucket said:
Do you just broadcast the milo and forage beans?
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Yes. After years of tilling my plots so they would hold soil moisture, I'm now back to using throw-and-mow planting techniques. I wait until the winter Crimson Clover has bloomed and died (producing a MASSIVE amount of seed) which is usually mid to late May, then broadcast the beans and sorghum (soon to be milo). Then I mow everything in the plots down as tight to the ground as possible. Then immediately spray the plots with Roundup. Because germination is not as good with this planting technique as drilling in seed, I increase my seed/acre rates by 50% above what is recommended for drilling.
 
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