Is it based on a certain weight of seed blend per acre?
An example is a 4 way cover crop blend i sell a lot of and the ingredients are crimson clover, berseem clover, radish and annual rye.
The full rate on the annual rye would be 25 lbs/acre the full rate on the crimson would be 15-20 lbs/acre the full rate on the berseem is 12-15 lbs/acre the full rate on the radish is 8-10 lbs/acre
So i typically put 3-5 lbs of radish in blends depending on if it's a 3 way, 4 way or 5 way blend.
I would typically put 4-8 lbs of annual clover
i typically would put 5-8 lbs annual rye
so my 4 way cover i set at 14-18 lbs per acre and if one uses 16 lbs/acre, you would be getting 8 lbs of annual rye, 4 lbs radish, 2 lbs berseem clover and 2 lbs crimson clover
so the formula for this blend is 50% annual rye, 25% radish, 12.5% crimson clover and 12.5% berseem clover. So, even though you have 50% of the mix being annual rye, it's really only 8 lbs of annual rye per acre which is only a 1/3 rate of that.
So, some seeds like ethiopian cabbage you only need 1-2 lbs of seed per acre yet the grains typically are 100 lbs per acre. When you buy seed, always figure out how much seed your laying down per acre verses the blend percentage.
I'll run one more example ..
I use a 5 way blend as a forage type cover crop. The mix has the following: triticale 30% barley 30% crimson clover 20% Radish 10% Forage brassica 10% 20-25 lb seeding rate
so what you end up with is 6 lbs triticale, 6 lbs barley, 4 lbs crimson clover, 2 lbs radish, and 2 lbs forage brassica per acre. Yep the grain numbers are only about 1/8th of the straight rate but they are mearly nurse crops to bulk up the seed for the crimson, radish and forage brassica, which at 8 lbs per acre is a pretty decent level for a thick stand.
Look closely at tags. Say your wanting to know how much seed to apply per acre or what blend to use. i believe in uncoated seeds for the food plot guys for many reasons. For example your buying medium red clover and the seeding rate is 8-10 pounds per acre. If the clover is uncoated your fine. If the seed has 35% coating you really should use 12.3 lbs of coated. Yes, some will argue that coated seed will germ better. For some seed this is true and for others it is totally not needed except for less than ideal conditions. Look to the USDA and pls seed recommendations.
So, look at the economics as well
8 lbs of uncoated for $2.50 per lb is $20 per acre 12 lbs of coated seed at $2.25 per lb is $27 per acre
Side note, some seeds it's hard to find uncoated. Some seeds it helps to have coated for planting purposes.