When to plant fall plots
 

I plant a couple plots of buck forage oats every year and I usually plant them around the first or second week of august. I sprayed round up on the plots 2 weeks ago so they should be completely dead next week and I was planning on planting August 8. Just wondering what you guys have had success with

Cereal grains are tpyically planted around the first week of Sept., but if you have luck planting earlier there's no reason to change. You're further north than much of the midwest, so your growing season would likely end sooner than some of ours.

I would say that you probably have the best answer to that question since you have been planting them for years. Look back at your planting times and how well they grew with an eye towards how the weather may have affected these plantings.

I like the third week of September in NC but it depends on where you are, weather that year, soil moisture, etc. Here from Mid-September till late October you haven't really lost much either way if you can a shower on it to get it started.

yea i am farther north than most of you. Our hunting land is in Northern MI where we usuall have frost by mid-late october and snow in mid-late november. I've planted the same time every year and dont want to change unless I know there is a time that works better. Last year we didnt get rain until 2 weeks after I planted so it didnt grow as good as it should have.

I'd say mid-aug to mid september for you, but maybe someone a little closer to you will chime in to help you out. My first frost is usually late October, but its a lucky year if we get more than 3" of snow. Usually when temps start to drop to 75-80 for highs its a good time.

I agree, it varies with location. On my farms in southern KS and MO, I will mow my feeds in mid-August, spray Round Up around labor day weekend and then plant late September.

I don't know Northern Michigan's planting dates for various things, so Aug. 8th may be great... But down here people usually plant oats and wheat plots around the end of Aug/early Sept, because they don't need as much time to mature as say brassicas..

For the future on your hunting property, you may wanna look into brassicas or standing corn for a cold-season plot. Sounds to me like some type of brassica may be a good idea for your situation. Either root-type turnips or forage turnips (or both together would be even better) will become attractive to your deer right around the frost dates you mentioned, which are probably the weeks you'll be hunting a lot. Plus, they will provide a foodsource in the later parts of winter when everything else is gone. But just a suggestion, if you've had luck with what you already use, why change. :rock: