When do you plant your winter food plots? I threw out a 100 lbs of oats and wheat before this rain on a new plot. What is the disadvantage of planting oats and wheat earlier than mid September?
When do you plant your winter food plots? I threw out a 100 lbs of oats and wheat before this rain on a new plot. What is the disadvantage of planting oats and wheat earlier than mid September?
Army worms
Good info, thanks
Army worms and also one good thunderstorm will sprout it , and in late august/early september ,the chances of hot,dry days and weeks are pretty high and can burn new growth up real quick .
If it aint got 8 toes & a green head,it aint a duck.
I needed to plant something in a newly cleared timber stand. Oats and wheat are cheap. We will see how it turns out.
The biggest problem is lack of rain, then Army worms, and lastly weed competition. Whenever you turn soil, new weed seeds are exposed. The best thing about fall food plots is that you have a lot less problems with weeds due to the below freezing temperatures.
In the end, despite the risk, we are all busy. You got it done and that is what counts. I would rather have an early planted food plot and none at all. It might work out just great!
When I do those I usually throw in some leftover soybeans, sunflowers, garden seed....anything the deer hit hard when it is young. The deer will decimate those summer foods the first month of deer season that act like sort of a cover crop. The fall things will push through after the first freeze.
Fungus thrives on early planted cereal grains. Aphids quickly spread the fungus. Stunting and yellowing of leaves occur. Deer will not eat it as much and some will avoid it.
October 1st is a better choice as a planting date.
Also this......
"Increased risk of*wheat streak mosaic*and related diseases. Wheat curl mites survive over the summer on living plant tissue of volunteer wheat and certain other grasses. As soon as those host plants die off, the wheat curl mites leave and start searching for a new source of living plant tissue. Wheat that is planted early is likely to become infested, and thus become infected with wheat streak mosaic, high plains virus, and Triticum mosaic virus. The wheat curl mites can normally move only about a half mile or more through the air before dying, so if wheat is planted early, make sure all volunteer wheat within a half-mile is completely dead at least two weeks before planting."
Last edited by Catdaddy; 08-19-2022 at 08:01 AM.
Winter rye last week of September
"They are who we thought they were"
You can dress a fat chick up, but you cant fix stupid
Do not hunt doves over it. Illegal
Either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing.
Session fly infestation
Either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing.
Do oats germinate okay when broadcasted? rate per acre?
I got 200 lbs of oats and a half a barrel of rye just waiting till after labor day. I'm with Glenn September 14th I park the tractor.
We planted the first weekend of bow season and waited to October to hunt. We held enough acreage to control the pressure. Hunting and food plots improved after that change.
I will do the same on my places this year my neighbor couldn’t wait and planted white clover last weekend. I am curious how it will turn out.
I still prefer hinge cuts and just tilling the soil and fertilizing. Not as pretty to hunt but just as effective, imo.
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