What to Plant? Cattle?
Whitetail Deer
I am working on a plan on 187 acres in NE Kansas. I have been cleaning up about 25 acres of tillable land in 3 different fields by a creek. Now I need to make a plan on what to do as an absentee owner-
For tax purposes I have been advised to show some income, and that I am legitimately farming and/or grazing the property. In the surrounding area there is a mix of corn, beans and hay (brome, and some alfalfa)
I am considering two options-
1. Have a farmer cash lease per acre and grow alfalfa. Would require a 5 year commitment due to startup costs.
2. have a summer grazing lease 60-90 days May-Aug and then plant winter Rye with some brassicas mixed in. The Rye can be harvested/baled in May then the cows go on.
Which would you do? pluses or minuses? Some say Cattle scare off the deer?
I like cattle. They can be used to enhance native habitat and I haven't found them to spook deer off at all. Summer stockers gives you plenty of time to plant fall plots once they've been shipped in August. If you plant cereal grains you can let the cattle on the plots in May and they'll fertilize them for you. I prefer wheat over rye (I plant both). The deer just use the wheat more.
Alfalfa is great (especially if YOU don't have to take care of it). You can still plant some plots that aren't alfalfa to add diversity, and you don't have to worry about water and fence like you do with livestock.
Yeah, as an absentee owner I can't take care of anything! That's why I would lease it out and let the local farmer tend to whichever.
The alfalfa route with no cattle would allow some diversity, especially with a small kill plot or two. And the timing to set up for deer season not as dependent on when the cattle leave...
I do like that the winter cereal grains and brassicas provide nutrition when the other crops on neighbors are gone. My farmers said in that area they tend to harvest wheat later than rye- Jun/Jul which would put the cattle on later into the summer.... Also the rancher neighbor had implied there was a possibility of trading cattle for hunting access on his lands......
Get in good with the rancher! Lol, joking... unless he really is serious about the extra hunting access. Hell, I have land that I'd consider trading hunts or fishing on.
I assumed the wheat would be a plot that you could give to the cattle when they show up. We do it all the time. Often cattle gains on wheat outweigh (pun) what the wheat would have brought in harvest.
You see a fraction of the deer with cattle around. Alfalfa is too hard to start and maintain. Soybeans are the best early and late food source IMO.
Crossing off the cattle option would be a no-brainer for me. If you don't get much rain after they take the cattle off, there won't be anything out there and you might not get anything new to grow. Plus, you have to deal with other items associated with cattle that don't exist otherwise. I have also had deer go AWOL after tillable ground was turned to pasture, but suspect each situation is different. However, I think you have to weigh soil type and what it will grow. I don't know anything about NE Kansas.
or plant a bunch of cedar trees and tall native grasses for cover
Plant Sainfoin use it for silage or hay. Easy to plant and grow, deer absolutely love it. and you can make a good profit from the hay. You will have deer in there all year.
I have leased four fields to a dairy farmer to grow high quality hay. It is working out very well for me. It is wonderful having someone pay me to grow food for the deer. The hay fields feed deer for most of the year. Definitely through the November rut. The hay fields work well as destination food sources. I have about 10 food plots to go with them to provide some variety. I would suggest that you make sure the farmer does plan to grow alfalfa or some legumes and not some sort of grass hay that the deer won't eat, and that the farmer is experienced. Plus set a no later than date for the last cutting of the year to make sure that the alfalfa has a chance to grow and attract deer in the fall. A late fall cutting is a good thing because the fall rains will then bring new growth which the deer prefer. Our date in Ohio is September 10 as the last day.
#1 - I lease 27 acres to a farmer for alfalfa. Its a deer magnet until the first frost. I plant brassica in some smaller 1-2 acre surrounding areas that are too small to lease out. That gives me a post frost draw and source of carbs to get them thru the winter, which is important to me because I am in mid MN and we do get some winter kill.
Looks like the consensus is to go with the alfalfa option.
I have not heard of sainfoin- will have to research that.
I do like cover but I had areas way too thick with cedars it was practically impenetrable. I don't mind some cedars but not where it dominates a landscape and makes the ground sterile its not productive. I would like to turn the rockytops of the the property to more cover.
Good luck to ya, and keep us updated on how things go!
Cattle doesn’t scare deer away. Farmers who kill everything on the range that cattle won’t eat is what scares the deer.
Most cattle farmers here leave some thickets and tall perennial grasses for the wildlife. These areas scattered all over their place create excellent hunting ground. Because there often areas that are too rough to clear and turn into grass , often connect these scattered areas of natural trees, brush, and native grasses. It results in the best hunting imaginable. The prescience of cattle has zero affect on it as far as I can tell.
FWIW, I posted the first response before reading the thread.
Do you have the time to run some cattle?
What I was trying to say is all the crops in the world mean zilch if deer don’t feel comfortable.
Some deer don't mind cattle, most to some degree do. Just spend a minute thinking about an animal that has nothing to gain from any disturbance, and cattle produce disturbance. You very best case scenario with cattle is hoping you have more deer that "don't mind" than those that do. But you will always have some deer avoiding it because of them. Getting rid of cattle is a no-brainer for me and a decision I did as well when I bought a piece. I gave the guy one more year with current rental arrangement so as to stay a good neighbour but deer use doubled after cattle were gone.
