Vet Judy

            Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a cool-season annual grass.  In the Midwestern U.S., it is usually seeded in the fall for early to mid-summer grain production.  As you move further north, it is more common to find wheat planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer or early fall.

            Wheat’s coldhardiness makes it a great choice for fall deer food plot plantings.  It is also a fairly easy crop to seed in large fields to improve the forage options during the early spring.  To improve your wheat stand, consider adding about 75 pounds of urea or ammonium nitrate per acre in the early spring.

            But wheat probably performs best as part of a food plots rotation in larger fields.  It may be seeded in the fall for fall and winter forage; then red or ladino clover can be “frost seeded” into the wheat field in the late winter or early spring.  The natural freezing and thawing of the ground works the clover seed into the ground.  The wheat may then be harvested for grain or straw, and the clover will be established in the field for summer forage.

            Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) should not be confused with wheat.  Its purpose in a deer plot planting is to provide a green forage and cover in the early season, along with grain in the fall.  You’ll find a variety of opinions on the use of buckwheat in deer food plots.  I’m not persuaded that deer will choose buckwheat over other plants in our setting, but this may be due to my northern location.

 For more annual deer plot forage choices check out the article:  http://www.diydeerfoodplots.com/articles/annual-forages.html

            Oats (Avena) seeded for fall forage in well-drained ground is one of my favorite choices for deer plots.  “Forage oats” seem to be very good deer attractant on our farm.  I think this is because oats tend to remain greener longer into the winter—I’ve even seen deer seek out oats from underneath snowcover.

            Either winter or spring oat varieties can be utilized for winter and fall forage.  (Spring oats have been developed to produce grain when planted in the spring).  Spring oats can be planted for fall forage from late July to early September, depending on your region and climate.  For forage, plant winter oat varieties about two weeks later than spring oat varieties.  In a field devoted solely to oats, the seeding rate will be about 100 pounds per acre.

            Oats are also a proven crop to help establish grass and legume seedings.  You might consider sowing oats along with alfalfa, a strategy used often by American farmers to help establish alfalfa plantings.

            Oats may also be a crop that can be used if you’re establishing food plot plantings on former pasture ground, especially in climates south of where I live.  Frost seeding forage oats into closely-grazed pasture ground in the late winter can result in suitable spring forage for wildlife in the early spring.  You could then come in during the later spring or summer and begin preparing the ground for your fall deer plot.

For more information on plant selection consider reading  http://www.diydeerfoodplots.com/articles/annual-forages.html 

Fawn in clover stand above:

Clovers are where the deer plots craze started, and, for good reason.  Over time however, mixes and forages have changed, advanced and been created to provide specific deer plots needs and  functions. 

While fall deer attractants can provide a better hunting resource, and winter food availability in northern regions, clovers provide the optimum spring health development food source.  That is why they are an integral part of deer habitat management in most areas.

When considering a clover planting, you should plant as a blend.  The basic clovers are red, white and alsike.  While almost any clover will do well in the spring, a well-blended plot should perform well year-round under all but the most extreme conditions.  I have found a simple mix of three pounds per acre of each red clover, alsike and Ladino, a white clover, has worked well for me. 

Another reason you should consider clover in your food plot planting program, is clovers fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. 

Simply put, as the clover planting begins to deteriorate and weeds begin to take over your stand and you should consider rotating back into annual forages, such as chicory or rapeseed for a year or two. 

These Annual Forages need nitrogen in order to grow and reach their maximum potential.  The clover, once tilled under, will provide some of that nitrogen need in the soil, thus reducing your investment necessary for commercial fertilizer. 

clover is also easy to seed.  Just be sure the weeds are gone.  The site prep starts before planting.  If the site is following a year or two of Annual Forage, you would simply include a spraying of emerging weeds, usually this is about the middle of May, unless you are located far to the south.  A tillage pass should follow that application to bury any dead plant residue.  If more weeds emerge, a second spraying may be in order just prior to seeding. 

You could conduct a light tillage just before you put in your food plot seed.  I try and plant my clover paddocks the last week of May or 1^st week in June.  The seed can then be broadcasted, no need for a drill, and then just run a drag over it when you’re done seeding. 

            Okay, let me tell you right up front: forage rape (brassica napus) is my brassica of choice in the deer food plot mix on my ranch.  It’s not just the fact that the plant contains 30% crude protein—but that’s certainly a good selling point.

            First of all, remember: forage rape is different than oilseed rape.  You won’t be able to utilize the oilseed varieties in your deer food plot like the forage varieties.

            Second, there are also different kinds of forage rape out there.  There are “giant” varieties, which are often used to graze cattle and sheep and “dwarf” varieties which are used in the sheep industry as a forage in lamb production.  If you’re using your food plot to also attract deer for the early fall hunting season, be sure to use a “dwarf” variety, which will naturally mature when the plant is shorter.

            Forage rape is often regarded as a little easier to manage for grazing than kale and turnips.  At my location, forage rape will be seeded in early August to begin being available to deer in September or October, after our first hard frost. 

            Honestly, the thing I love about forage rape is that it can offer a forage food source well into the winter.  It’s ready for grazing about 60 days after planting; I like to plant in early August so it’s ready for the deer by October.  After the first grazing, forage rape will regrow in about a month—an ideal addition to the fall deer food plot crop mixture.

            As for all brassicas, forage rape will be more attractive to deer after frost.  It is also not a one-size-fits-all wonder crop for your deer food plot.  But if you’re looking for a winter-hardy, nutrient laden grazing crop of choice for deer—especially in regions of harder winters—forage rape is my brassica deer food plot crop of choice.

brassica All-Stars: Turnips

            Imagine a food crop that you could eat several times while it’s growing…then come back later and get some decent nutrition by digging up the roots.

            That is, essentially, what a deer gets out of a turnip.

            The turnip, whose scientific name is Brassica rapa, is one of those gold-plated deer forages in the brassica family.  Turnips have the reputation for being a humble crop, but they’re a critical part of many deer food plot stands.

            You’ll want to seed turnip in the late summer in northern climates; locations farther south can get away with early fall seedings.  Peak forage growth for most varieties is 60-90 days, with the best leaf nutrition coming about six weeks after planting.

            Turnips will keep growing after the first grazing—that is, if the point where the turnip greens grow, located at the tops of the roots, isn’t removed.  This is why it’s important to offer other crops in the food plot mix besides turnip, especially crops like cool-season grasses that can be managed for early fall deer forage.  The idea is to let the deer get a nibble of the turnip while there are still other things to eat.  Then, when there aren’t as many other forage options, the deer will return to graze the turnip.  Like other brassicas, turnips promote this feeding habit naturally as the turnip greens can taste more bitter before frost.

            At my ranch, I’ve seen turnip stay green well into the winter and even be available underneath the snow.  Deer can also dig up the turnips for nutrition in the mid-winter.

            Agronomists have selected lines of brassica rapa that are best suited for grazing.  Be sure to use a grazing variety when you put turnip into your deer food plot mix.  Then watch turnips become a part of your deer food plot that you’ll wonder why you never tried before.