2019 Food Plot Seed Review!
Whitetail Deer
Contributors to this thread:
Your deer should all be fat and happy.
Pat, a few years back while working in research at University of Georgia I would get some silver queen corn off the stalks and just field corn and take down to where I hunted. The deer didn't eat the sweet corn but liked the field corn. The pigs eventually eat all of it which the pigs was what I was after.
I really enjoyed reading this review of various plots. Gave me a few ideas for mine
Thanks for the review. I know now what I will be planting this spring.
Incredible amount of work. Passion comes threw big time!
Hope you kill a giant New York Bear!!
Interesting about the B trefoil. Much better early deer activity than I expected.
Great review. Good to know the trefoil did well in moist soil. I may give that a try this year.
Has anyone successfully grown the Alfagraze 300 on non-irrigated dry land in Colorado? I've tried 2 different alfalfa strains with limited results. Growth was spotty at best, and the native grasses and weeds quickly took over. I'm certainly no farmer, so my results could easily be from lack of know-how.
I have apporx. 10 acres to plant in central Colorado. It's mostly native grasses, with sparse patches of cactus and yucca plants. I've tried alfalfa, corn. winter wheat, and oats in past years. The oats grew the best, the deer loved it early on, and turkeys were all over it after it seeded out. But I'm looking for a perennial solution for my plot, since I don't wish to plant every year.
Any advice is welcomed.
Matt
Great info, Pat.
Curious about the Blackhawk clover. You stated it is an annual, but they said something about it reseeding itself. Do they think it will reestablish itself, or, will you possibly have to go in and frost seed into the plot to try and thicken it up, or replant it each year?
I’m a fan of the Real World beans as well. Planted some of the Northern blend and the Gen2 variety, side by side last year. I couldn’t see any preference by the deer for one vs the other, however, the Gen2 beans do hold the matured beans in the pods much better than the northern blend (which is the main selling point of the Gen2 beans). Frankly, I’m not all that concerned about having the shatter resistance factor due to the fact the deer have all my beans eaten by early January anyway. Have you tried the Gen2 beans in your plots yet?
Great stuff Pat. Very interesting on the trefoil. When I first started plotting, many people told me to stay away from it because once it got going, it was hard to kill. I have a spot that gets wet spring and fall and the trefoil would have wet feet. I think I will give it a whirl this year.
I’m definitely doing a mix of BT with Alsike clover in my wet areas this year. Very helpful
I was wondering if you have active food plots from previous years on the property and what type of activity you saw in comparison to location and plant type for 2019. For example if you have another type of clover how did it compare to the Blackhawk and if the Blackhawk was near some other older plot what was the usage of both? Thank you for doing these reviews it is very interesting to see the different types of plots. I wished mine looked as good these.
Pat, Great information passed on...lots of work!
I'm very interested in the ongoing followup on the Blackhawk Clover as well..Keep us posted.
I've had great results (west central MN) with Real World Beans - Northern Variety as well!! Pod production, shatter resistance, grazing pressure and growth rate to achieve canopy have all been fantastic.
The bad news is an Invasive...water hemp in particular that is roundup resistant. This year I am "forced" to go with Liberty beans and Liberty link chemical to mix up my chemical makeup to deal with this issue.
Maybe I missed it...Pat, what type of seeder are you currently using to plant your plots (and what kind of soil prep..disking, fertilizing, row spacing)?
Mark
Did you mow the Blackhawk clover any over the course of the summer?
Great information. Thanks Pat.
Now if you would just replicate this experiment in central Kansas where we only get about 30" of rain, that would be great.
I've gotten tons of good advice from people on this forum.
Pat, I have a question about the Alfagraze. When Round up ready alfalfa first came out you weren't allowed to use it in food plots. They didn't want any of it to mature enough to go to seed. I have some RR alfalfa that we bail regularly, which works great. It comes back quickly and I don't bale it very late in the season so it goes into winter about 3/4 grown. I've never dealt with grazing alfalfa. Do you have to mow it or do you just rely on the deer to keep it down so it's not too mature and stemmy? Can you give us a little more info on this? Thanks
Pat, 10-4 on the planting equipment.
The Alphagraze alfalfa results were very positive! I've got a little .8 acre piece that it would work well in to take the pressure of the beans.
Mark
sagittarius's Link
JSW, "When Round up ready alfalfa first came out you weren't allowed to use it in food plots. They didn't want any of it to mature enough to go to seed."
Nothing has changed. The Technology Use Guide still says ... "Planting Limitation: Grower must not plant Roundup Ready Alfalfa in any wildlife feed plots,". Same for RR Canola, and RR Sugarbeets. The question is, will Monsanto or Bayer ever attempt to enforce it?
http://tug.monsanto.com/
Thanks guys. Very informative.
When the RR beans first came out Monsanto sued farmers into bankruptcy over breach of contract. It was a big deal 6 or 8 years ago but you don't hear about it so much anymore. I certainly don't want to be the food plot guy that they make an example out of.
I have some planted but it's a large enough field to warrant bailing. I'm planning to plant 12 acres on another property this fall. If I only planted one thing, it would be alfalfa. It is about as good year round as you can get and you can make some money off of it.
Pat,
The price of the Alfagraze doesn't concern me, as long as I'd get 2-3 good years out of one planting. I'm just not sure I have the proper soil/water conditions for alfalfa. All of the alfalfa around here is grown in creek bottoms that are either sprinkled or sub-irrigated. My plot relies on rain only.
I'll probably just plant oats, again, and call it good enough.
Matt
Excellent presentation and analysis!
Question for you, Pat. Regarding the Real World beans, do you have any agricultural fields within close proximity of your food plots? I have planted forage beans in my plots in the past (Whitetail Institute) and sometimes it seems that I'm losing out when competing with the farmer's soybean fields a couple of hundred yards away. I guess my bottom line question is whether you have nearby bean fields as well? Thanks.
That's not farming. Those plots are works of art.
Pat, here is a suggestion for future plots. I’m planting some this year. Sainfoin. Compared to alfalfa it is non-bloating, even more attractive, grows earlier, stays green later, more drought tolerant and excellent pollinator. Disadvantages are slightly less tonnage over the growing season and doesn’t tolerate lower pH. It is glycoside resistant naturally. This is info I’ve read, not from experience, so take with a grain of salt.
Wow that’s a pretty dang good looking field of Sorghum. Is the Sorghum a late season food source and what I mean by that is after the first hard freeze and consistent low freezing temps? Will it last a bit like large leaf brassica will do?
Does the Birdsfoot Treefoil seed have to be inoculated before seeding?
Looking to put a few food plots in this year. Area/woods are mostly shaded. What would be the correct seed for this type deer food plot. White cover? Any help or tips would be great.
Looking to put a few food plots in this year. Area/woods are mostly shaded. What would be the correct seed for this type deer food plot. White cover? Any help or tips would be great.
First, I would definitely recommend getting a soil sample first of all. Clover and/or rye would probably be your best bets.
Can you cut any trees down or, at least, trim some branches out to open up the canopy some? Clover does pretty good in partial shade, but several hours of sunlight will definitely help.
I did some research on Sanfoin It’s pretty slow to get established. Some say that it’s best to start with a cover crop to reduce weed competition. As for glyphosate resistance, it does show resistance to very low doses of glyphosate, but so does clover. Tonnage is also less than alfalfa or clover. If allowed to bloom, it’s better for pollinators. Overall, not enough positives for me.
I’m planting 2 ac Sainfoin and 2 ac of alfalfa within a couple hundred yards of each other If I can ever get any equipment into my property. I’ll let y’all know how they compare.
I'm struggling to understand how you got such great growth and utilization out of an annual clover during Sep and Oct. When in 2018 was the Blackhawk arrowleaf clover planted? Also, did it come inoculated from Hancock?
Sainfoin is an excellent deer attractor, better than alfalfa for sure. Prone to root rot in wet soils.
Alfalfa produces more tonnage, and is hardier than Sainfoin. In contiguous fields, virtually 99 % of the deer will be feeding on Sainfoin. And yes, Sainfoin is great for pollinators.
This is an excellent and informative thread.
Another couple things about Sainfoin. It starts up earlier and actually produces more in the first cutting than alfalfa, but does not recover from cuttings as fast, so yearly tonnage is less. The earliness is important for deer recovery from winter. It also requires less fertilizer, and is more resistant to disease; although not root rot as stated. Bales are safer to provide as supplemental feed in winters because it is non-bloating.
Pat what do you believe would be a better plot Durana white clover, Hancocks killer clover mix, or the blackhawk clover. Thanks