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Whats the best grain or green the deer seem to like in southeast WI?
Not looking for anything expensive, something I can buy in bulk
I won't speak to southeast WI in absolutes but I believe what I would state would work throughout the Midwest. There are many opinions out there.
You don't want a mono-culture. The deer like variety. A mixture of oats, winter rye, clover (annual), Austrian winter peas, and brassicas (PTT, GHR, Rape, Kale, etc) is a great mixture. Seeding rates of each get reduced due to the combination. I personally spread my brassicas in July before a rain. I spread the rest in mid August. The oats will be killed by the 1st frost. The brassicas will take you through fall and into winter. They are great for late season. The winter rye will come back in the spring to help your soil.
The attached site is one of my favorites on food plotting. Look at the Lickcreek link. Paul Knox really pushed the mix I noted above. Grandpa Rays Outdoors has a Cafeteria Mix which is different but uses the same concept. Variety is the spice of life. The deer will appreciate it.
Currently I like a alfalfa-ladino-chicory mix for attraction most of the year. Ladino grows before and after the alfalfa growing season, and the alfalfa-chicory provides drought insurance. For a late-season winter draw it is sugarbeets. With good habitat and ag crops around,... brassicas, turnips, radishes, rutabagas get almost no use here (SE WI) ... but sweet sugarbeets will always have reliable late season to winter attraction.
What are your objectives? Soils? pH? Access to equipment? Annual or perennial? How much maintenance are you willing to put in? A ton of questions need to be answered to have a legitimate response.
Just being broad, what have y'all seen to have the most success
Mathews, skook is right on with his questions. If you have not done a soil test, you should. Crappy soil limits what you will have success with. I would ask too if you are looking at a fall only plot or plan to have something in there for the summer months or are you looking at a perennial plot.
I personally have perennial clover and chicory plots and also have annual plots that I use the mix (or variances such as GRO's Cafeteria Mix, Soil Builder Mix, etc) I noted above. I will often put buckwheat into those plots in the spring (June when no chance of frost) so that there is something growing in there to battle the weeds and grass. The deer in my area do like buckwheat.
Just looking for a fall plot, something ill plant in august, theres no access to equipment so im not looking for a lot of maintenance, i dont know the ph level of the soil and i dont have a lot of time to buy a ph soil tester
You don't buy a ph soil tester. You buy a kit (Whitetail Institute sells them as an example) and do that via the internet typically. You return the dirt to them and they tell you (typically in days of getting the dirt) how much lime you need and what fertilizer you need given what you plan to plant. Without a soil test, there is a good chance you are just throwing your seed money away unless you luck out. Let us know how your plot turns out.
Without a soil test and amending your soil (dirt is what you get out of a vacuum cleaner) If you don’t do this you are throwing money away in seed and time.
You might get some of those throw and grow products to give some results but it will never reach its potential. Also pending on deer populations and grazing pressure if the yield would keep up.
You need at least a small disk or atv sprayer to kill the weeds. I spray a few times in the summer and then lightly work the ground in mid July. Broadcast radishes, turnips, rye, or clover.
Here is another option for you. When I 1st got my land, I created an in-the-woods food plot by taking down a bunch of trees and raking the area. I also sprayed Gly to kill the grass/weeds My soil sample showed a ph of 4.2 which is terrible. I decided to plant Grandpa Ray Outdoors (see link) Soil Builder mix prior to completely amending the soil. It did great in the bad soil which did not have a lot of sunlight either. The Soil Builder mix is a good fall mix and I had deer in there all fall.
I used hand equipment to do the work and get down lime and fertilizer. I have expanded this plot over the years and created far more sunlight and I have the soil amended properly now. That took me multiple years. I used Soil Builder for 2 years and broadcast in winter rye, oats, and brassicas in August. It is now a clover/chicory perennial plot and I still broadcast in rye, oats and brassicas in August taking up any bare areas.
I have a clover plot planted last year that is coming in nicely. I am getting some grasses in there that I'm going to spray in the next couple weeks and the clover is just about tall enough to cut.
Given that info when do you think is the best time to spray the grasses?
It is so easy to take a soil test and get it evaluated, Biologic is cheap, simple and accurate. See link for form.
If you want a generic answer, go with grains, greens and mix in some soybeans or cowpeas and you should get something to grow. A lot of great info above. The best way is to experiment, get in and plant a mix and you will find out what works and what doesn't work. I would start at www.qdma.com for answers to your questions. BC
I decided to plant soybeans, and i just broadcasted them out and now whats the best way to cover them back up with soil? or should i just leave it and let them sink in with the rain?
You should get them into to soil. If have access to a drag or an old spring tooth, both will work. You can make one out of an old fence section as well. I have just driven over with using my atv tires to pack the seed into the soil with success as well. I have tried broadcasting and hoping for the best without attempting to cover...did not work for me.
@happygolucky, I like the mix you shared. When you come back after your brassica plantings to do the others (rye, oats, clover, and peas) in august, you are simply broadcasting them on the surface correct?
FrigidArrows, yes, I just broadcast them on the surface preferably timed with a rain. The seeds settle into any organic matter on the surface like the rolled buckwheat from when I spread the brassicas.
Good to see my beans have started to sprout, thanks guys for all the help!!
