At this point in time, I know that it's getting late to plant most food plots. I still have a couple acres that I would like to plant and just wondered if anybody usually planted anything other than oats, wheat, or rye this late? Would clover do well if planted right now?
Your in a little warmer climate than WI, but in general I would say no. You wont get much of a crop before it gets cold. Would get the roots set for a nice spring plot for next year though if your planning on keeping that area in clover. Big attraction yet this season? Id go with some grain.
Blue is right for the majority and rye/oats will have the only chance if frosts hold off to really provide anything this year...with the rye re-growing in the spring green up....clover can be seeded now to get a head start for next year, but I would also over-seed/frost seed some next year as well.
An oats and wheat mixture was my original thought. Maybe some clover because I will be frost seeding it later as well. These are mainly gonna be a help for the deer to get through winter rather than kill plots. I was just hoping that there may be something else to give some more variety. I have approximately an acre and a half to plant and wanted a good blend.
Crimson clover will do fine now here but it's an annual. Winter pea is also a good ingredient. We are in a warmer climate than a lot of these other guys and can get away with more than they can. neener neener.
This time of year i still receive many phone calls on this topic around the US. The first question i ask people is where do they live. Then we address when their average first frost date is. Knowing what your average daily temperature will be the next 60 days is very important. Even in Wisconsin, i am planting stuff but it's more research and trying to get things to grow to help answer questions like this. I normally would want people to get their food plots in by Sept 15, no matter if we are talking alfalfa, clovers, short season brassicas and grains. You can get growth after this point in time but your tonnage goes way down. I am currently conducting trails on 7 varieties of oats, forage winter wheat, winter rye, and numerous brassicas. The one thing i'm advocating for now no matter where one is and what your planting is GROWTH PROMOTERS and root stimulators. I am doing a trial on a new state of the art promoter that increases germ by around 3 days. I have some oats up thats 3" tall after 5 days post planting. All for less than $1 an acre. A huge no brainer this time of year. So missouri north, i'd want people to stick to the fall grains, kales and fast growing forage turnips. It is pushing it for any legumes.
original poster didnt ask what kinda trials you are doing or did i miss something??... cliff notes- plant some winter rye/oats and maybe try some brassicas broadcasted over the top for the heck of it. Good luck.
Thanks for the advice guys. I feel pretty good going with the oats and wheat. I know that it will do well. Anything else will be a bonus. The small farm I am putting this on is only 50 acres and is more of an improvement experiment than anything. I'm just tryin to see what works the best to attract and help more deer in the winter. This isn't my primary place to hunt but I'm trying to see if I can get this place to the point of getting a mature buck to spend a lot of time there. The more food the better.
Depending on what your plans are for next spring in that plot you could plant clover over top of the cereal grains and it should come up good for you. Would provide some early green for the spring time even if you are looking to do an annual planting again next year.
I just planted some cereal grains this last weekend just to see if I could get some to grow. Hoping to get a little 20x60 plot that was overseeded to grow up some.
I got everything planted on Sunday. It turned out to be more than what I thought, probably 2 acres or so. I put in some turnips, oats, and wheat. I'm anxious to see how it turns out once we get some rain.
