steviebiggun

Hello, I own 80 acres here in the middle of Minnesota. I have been planting food plots for about 5 years, I have one thats about 3 acres and another about 1 1/2. the rest is woods,my property issurrounded on 2 sides by low ground ( red willows)and the other 2 are farmland ( cornfields ). I have been planting corn and soybeans on the 3 acre plot. and turnips and clover mix ( Biologic ) on the 1 1/2 acre plot. I have been experiecing mixed success with all of this. it seems the deer like the soybeans early summer and again about a month before bow season. as for the corn I dont find them interested at all. the biologic seems to work over the summer months but not in the fall. My question is what would you guys recommend for a food plot. I know I can't compete with the bigger corn fields my neigbors have, and thats probably where the deer move around hunting season. but what could I pull some of the deer away from the big corn fields with. I need somthing that peaks around the middle of October, would a rye grass or winter wheat work, maybe theres somthing I don't know of. Please help. Thanks in advance, Steve

farm hunter

Yes Cereal Rye or Winter Wheat - even Buck Forage oats should all be good in Mid October -maybe even preferred at this time. Plant around Sept 1st - and apply some Nitrogen to the plot. We had always used Rye in the past with good results.

This plot is from a couple years ago - Rye - Planted Sept 5 - The picture is from Mid October in Central NY.






Its tough to beat a good White Clover plot too for October usage - but its a 4-5 year investment in time and effort. You want to know the soil will be OK - before you plant - you can't wing it like with other plots and always get good results.

Good Luck

FH

yeoman

Holy Hanah! If the deer aren't interested in your corn or soybeans come Fall(I presume you leave them standing), it sounds to me like you either have very few deer in your area or you are desparately lacking cover. I would guess the latter. Many woods are way too thin to provide screening cover for deer. Let some ground go fallow to grow up in weeds and grasses in locations not visible from roads. One other possibility: how late do the farmers around you pick crops? Where I am corn is off by end of September and beans by mid-November. Your plots probably won't attract 'till surrounding crops are off.

The Plot Doctor

Steve:
When planting in farm areas,You alway need to be sure what ever you plant has a VERY high protein value....Which also means that your soils Ph has to be at its best....Soybeans have protein values up to 40% while your turnips are at 12% at best....As for your winter wheat vs Rye I have had the best results with Rye......
Hope this helps and if you are interested I can send you out a food plot quide....
Tim

isatarak

Here where I am in Okla, rye and wheat are both grown. Cattle and deer both seem to prefer wheat. It must have something to do with the flavor. However, poorer soils will grow rye much better than wheat. On my place, the soil is basically river dune sand. It grows grass, but winter rye and cowpeas in the summer is about all it will grow. The problem is the soil is so sandy that rain just soaks in and disappears. In a dry summer it's almost impossible to grow anything. Same thing with a dry fall.My plan for the coming year is to invest in a manure spreader. I raise sheep and in the spring I always have a bunch of bedding and manure that is piled up. I intend to scatter this on the food plots and try to get all the rotten hay and organic material I can get on it and mixed into the soil. This will make the soil retain moisture better and help with soil fertility. On top of that I intend to fertilize heavily and see what I can get.

North Texan

For attracting whitetails, wheat works a lot better than rye. If you can get some russian beardless wheat, it works a lot better than the beared varieties. Most semi-dwarf HRW wheat, which is what you find around my neck of the woods, grows up a little while, then hits a lull about mid-winter when the temperatures drop. Russian beardless never seems to hit that lull, and it will grow and produce more forage than a HRW wheat.

isatarak, if you can get your hands on some Russian beardless, you might try it. Aound here, it seems to do o.k. in the more marginal farmland that some of the other varieties struggle in. And it is usually a lot cheaper to plant. For producing wheat, it isn't that great. But for forage, it is hard to beat.

isatarak

I appreciate that info. I may just look into that. I really need to try to get the fertility up on that soil to really raise some good feed. Where I live is good farmland and I can raise anything, but my hunting place is only a couple of miles from the Cimarron River and what I have is river sand that does grow blackjacks and grass and that's about it. It's going to take more than just fertilizer. I have to be able to retain moisture.

drhntr178

Oats would be my choice over both wheat and rye. Just as easy to plant and the deer prefer it over them when given the choice. I've planted all three in the same field and watched them walk right to the oats. The new QDM food plot book also says the same thing.

alsaqr

Planted a small plot of oats for the first time this fall. The deer just love it.