So I am not sure if this is a reality or more of a dream. But rather than planting a food plot in the spring, and then again in the late summer is there a shortcut? I usually do buckwheat, oats, or rye for spring forage, then I replant in late summer with Brassicas. Is there a shortcut? I am in Northern Wisconsin, and I do several plots consisting of perennials(mostly clover) and annuals (corn, brassicas, peas) Something like this? http://www.frigidforage.com/monster-magnet/ Or is it better to make two plantings? Please let me know what you recommend. I do not want to pay Monster Magnet prices, but I also do not know what blend I should be creating. Thanks guys!
Well, I plant ag soybeans personally. They provide green leafy browse for the summer and then after they dry down, they have the beans for the rest of the fall and winter. I leave them standing until spring time, then brush hog them off and repeat the process.
I guess I should have clarified this. We have one larger plot that will be corn along with soybeans. I am trying to find something for my smaller wooded plots. They all range from a 1/4 to a 1/2 acre. I do not mind planting twice, but I would love to have a brassica combo so that in the fall the deer will hit the plots as hard as the summer.
The first year I plotted, I used Evolved Harvest Mega Plot. It sounds similar to what you are looking for. It turned out pretty decent. I'm sure other seed companies have similar products.
Thanks I will check that out. I just am worried that the brassicas will not be very effective when they just get baked all summer.
That is the issue. Brassicas are strictly a fall/winter attractant. What kind of soil are you working with?
So the soil is pretty good. I will ad some lime and some fert. But I just had it tested so I can achieve optimal results. In the past these plots were rye/buckwheat all summer, then replanted late summer with brassica blends. I want the believe the Monster Magnet will have the soybeans and sunflowers which will help shade the brassicas for the fall. This might allow for more growth and hopefully the other plants will help avoid browse till later in the season? Has anyone used Monster Magnet by Frigid Forage? I have liked their Big N Beasty results.....
The beans and sunflowers could get wiped out in a hurry in that small of a plot. Try one with RR beans and over seed with brassica in late July. See if the beans make it that long. Otherwise planting in spring, and again in late summer may be your only option.
Yes. I have done it for the last 4 seasons. You will need to prepare nice seed bed, broadcast and then either cultipack them in, or use some type of weighted drag to cover them and pack down the seed bed around them. It works great, you don't get pretty rows, but once they canopy, you really couldn't even tell the difference between drilled beans or broadcast beans. You will generally need to use a bit more seed when you broadcast compared to drilling them.
Yes, you can broadcast them into loose soil at 50 to 75 pounds per acre. Lightly disc or drag them in.
Here's something pretty interesting. Last years soybeans didn't shatter very much, so there was still a lot of pods still on the stalks this spring. I brush hogged them down some time in early April. As I brush hogged, I noticed all the bean being spread all over the field. I decided to change up my food plot strategy this year and divided the plot into 3 sections. The southern section, I'm planting a perennial clover plot, so I tilled it up hoping to get them in the ground by the first of May. The rest, I have let lay dormant and am getting ready to till it up for a late May planting of Soybeans, and then on the North end I'm planting half an acre of Egyptian Wheat. As you can see in these pictures, Soybeans are really resilient seed. This picture is of beans that just laid on the surface after being brush hogged down. This picture shows soybeans coming up after being tilled under twice.
Walk through a cornfield in the spring on a corn-soybean rotation and there are typically volunteer soybeans everywhere.
Clover would be the best for all of the above seasons. Food plot brands whitetail institute imperial whitetail clover. You can plant it early spring, thell eat it in summer and they can regererate. The only maintinense is mowing and spraying down the grass. Soybeans is another all season plot. But if youre planting small plots. Deer will devour it before the season opens unless your planting agriculture size as in acres.
Thanks for all the advice! I ended up planting last week/weekend. I did some smaller plots with the Monster Magnet just to see what it does and then a good variety of stuff. All in all I did the following: 1.5 acres Corn 1 acre WI perennials and Oats .5 acres RR soybeans .5 acres RR soybeans .5 acres Monster Magnet .5 acres Monster Magnet .25 RR soybeans I already have 4 established clover plots, along with all the roads covered in clover... Now I just need the deer to start thriving again up north.....
