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Fall food plot advice

Pretty new to food plots. I did do a very small clover plot a few years back. It grew great and was low maintenance. The deer used it, but I wouldn’t say they were crazy about it. This year I’m planning to go in and mow a bigger plot with my rider, then burn it down and disc before planting. I’m in northern Missouri and planning to plant in the mid August time period. 1/4 to 1/2 acre. What should I plant? I’m thinking a mix of 5-10 plants. Something with oats, wheat, turnips, beats. What advice do you guys have for a type and brand? It’s hard to decipher through the advertising. Looking for something they’ll hit hard in October and November and then hopefully give them some nutrition in December- March timeframe.

Just go with Buck forage oats and crimson clover. If your PH is pretty good, you wont need anything else at all. They will hammer this for sure. August is too early tho. Wait til mid to late September.

Following here. Why not 5 or 7 Card Stud from Evolved Habitats? Anyone have experience with these?

KSflatlander. I thought that sounded like a good option also, but would like to hear what the experts think i should plant.

KHNC, season start’s September 15th here, I’d really like to have everything in a couple weeks before season starts. How hot are the oats? Should they be a mainstay?

I'd recommend going heavy with cereals (wheat, rye, oats), clovers, radishes (they love the tops), and chicory. I don't like to buy BOB seeds as they are usually not cost effective for what I want. Most the seed you need can be purchased or ordered through a local CO-OP. You'll get more seed for less $$$

My favorite fall mix is a custom blend and consists of:

Percent is by weight:

Winter peas 50%, awnless winter wheat (or buck forage oats) 30%, radish 5%, bulb turnip 5%, forage rape 5%, crimson clover 5%.

This will provide a 4 month long attraction plot. I generally plant this around 7/25-8/10 in Ohio. A week earlier in far northern climates.

Much better than the deer head stuff since the seed is more effectively planted separately rather than throwing big seeds and small seeds at the same time.

Hopefully you can source the peas and wheat locally and order the smaller bag’s from a distributor like Merit seed, Hancock, etc.

Good luck

Don, our season is Sept 15 in SC also, but is always hot! Oats will come up quickly, but clover seems to attract better early. Your plot isnt real big, and thats why i didnt say beans or peas. And brassicas arent any good until late season. BFO are a sure thing , as is crimson clover.

Sorry, didn’t see the 1/4 to 1/2 acre plot. KHCN is right, forget peas in a plot that small.

Thanks everyone

Pat did you mean 7/25-8/10, or 8/25-9/10?

I planned on planting my SE OH parcel the latter of those two with a similar mix.

Pat, what would you replace the peas in your mix with? Or, just increase the rest to cover? BC

Brassicas are a great fall food plot. turnips Radishes, Dwarf Essex Rape, Kale. The greens are attractive in the early season. After first frost they start to pour energy into growing the tubers and storing sugars and carbohydrates which will be great for the rut thru late season and put them in great shape for the winter not that you probably have to worry about winter kill in MO.

Gis, I always plant my fall plots end of July/beginning of August now. I get much better tonnage that way. And they are drawing deer before archery season begins. I used to plant beginning of September like conventional wisdom says but I started to question that wisdom and my results are much better planting a month earlier. Plus if it goes dry you have almost no time to recover.

Bow crazy, I’d probably do 2x or 3x on crimson clover. Brassicas seeded too heavy are counterproductive, plus the crimson is great for soil building.

Check out the food plot mixes from Green Cover Seeds. I used a Warm Season Soil Builder mix on my home plot this spring and so far I’m impressed. It a very diverse mix and it supplies lots of organic matter and it’s thick enough to provide weed suppression. Spring plots are not very useful here as our summers are hot and dry, but mine is still doing very well. This particular mix is for soil building, which I needed in this plot, but they have several mixes that should work well for food plots. I’m gonna plant one of them in this same plot this fall. One of them might suit you.

Nice plot drycreek!

Pat, you probably have the most beautiful plots I've ever seen! Very nice!

Not this year Catscratch. Rained the day after I planted my Ohio spring plots so everything germinated then no rain for 30 days. Worst case scenario. They are fighting back now but they’re at least 3 weeks behind and the deer are hammering the slow growth.

But thanks for the compliment.

No magic answer IMO. Hunters are constantly searching for the best blend and there really isn't a perfect answer. My opinion is clover is over rated for what it is. If you only have small plots (less than 1 acre) it's a great option to keep something that is browse tolerant and green. Brassicas can be good if there is limited food around, but they may only hit the greens and not the bulbs. In my experience oct/nov usage is expected. Peas, oats and rye give more green options that they will use some but not as other preferred sources. The grains grow relatively easy though and can handle browse pressure. The mixes like green cover and such will help keep a mix on the ground and likely will help build soil but just don't have the draw of a dedicated food plot. Less maintenance and input costs though. If your plots are big enough corn and beans are a no brainer with draw and nutrients. However they are not very browse tolerant. Personally I will try and keep the traditional grains if I can in some form or fashion and then some type of year long green available. Just don't expect them to be crushing your late season rye plot like a sept bean field...just doesn't happen.

Bracken or hay-scented Fern problem on small 1/4 ac plot. Should I use Round up 2x prior to replanting in 3-4 weeks for fall crop. (time frame for R-Up vs planting)

Soil is acidic and lumous

going off pats post with percent by weight, I assume you go off the seeding rate per acre. winter peas 50% with a seeding rate of 50-70lbs per acre would 25-35lb. Is this correct?

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