# new/first food plot ideas



## aquaholic2 (Feb 17, 2010)

Just getting started with our first 1/4 acre food plot in Perry Co. I have been disking it all spring and have the weeds pretty well gone I would like to get a fall/winter cover crop going so we have food for them when the nearby grain crops are in the barn. What should we plant, when......?


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

aquaholic2 said:


> Just getting started with our first 1/4 acre food plot in Perry Co. I have been disking it all spring and have the weeds pretty well gone I would like to get a fall/winter cover crop going so we have food for them when the nearby grain crops are in the barn. What should we plant, when......?


If you are looking for a 'cover' crop, (which is usually planted during the winter to help build the soil and reduce erosion) you could plant a mixture of winter wheat and clover. I like ladina clover.
The deer won't feed much on the clover after the first few frost. But if your intent is to help build the ground with a winter 'cover' crop, that's what I would plant.

If your ground in fertile, the ph is good and you just want a winter deer forage I would plant a mixture of radish, turnips and rape. And would plant in early August. About 2lb radish, 1/2lb turnip and 1/2lb rape should be about a decent mixture for 1/4 acre. With this mixture, after a few frost the leaves on these plants will start turning sweet. Deer should munch on them through the winter if they don't deplete the 1/4acre before winter is over.


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## aquaholic2 (Feb 17, 2010)

fastwater said:


> If you are looking for a 'cover' crop, (which is usually planted during the winter to help build the soil and reduce erosion) you could plant a mixture of winter wheat and clover. I like ladina clover.
> The deer won't feed much on the clover after the first few frost. But if your intent is to help build the ground with a winter 'cover' crop, that's what I would plant.
> 
> If your ground in fertile, the ph is good and you just want a winter deer forage I would plant a mixture of radish, turnips and rape. And would plant in early August. About 2lb radish, 1/2lb turnip and 1/2lb rape should be about a decent mixture for 1/4 acre. With this mixture, after a few frost the leaves on these plants will start turning sweet. Deer should munch on them through the winter if they don't deplete the 1/4acre before winter is over.


Sounds like a good option....yes, we are interested in attracting deer more than soil improvement


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## Tyler8866 (Oct 6, 2016)

Sugar beets


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Tyler8866 said:


> Sugar beets


If this were spring time, that would have been my choice as well.
Just have never known them to do all that well planted in late summer/early fall.


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## OutdoorMediaCo (Sep 6, 2016)

If your in perry stop in Rushville feed supply. They have what you want by the lb. In that small of a plot I would plant winter rye and clover. If its a 1/4 acre do 100 lbs of rye in two seedings once in last week of Aug and again in 1st week of sept. I would also add 4 lbs or red clover and 2 lbs of white. Next spring just let it grow and see how much weed competition there is. If you see rye and clover underneath do nothing as long as you can, then weed eat the rye right before the rye seed shatters and you will have a killer clover plot next fall. You want perennials in that small of a plot. Don't bother with brassicas. If you want a later season plot just overseed your clover with rye or wheat again next fall.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

OutdoorMediaCo said:


> If your in perry stop in Rushville feed supply. They have what you want by the lb. In that small of a plot I would plant winter rye and clover. If its a *1/4 acre do 100 lbs of rye *in two seedings once in last week of Aug and again in 1st week of sept. I would also add 4 lbs or red clover and 2 lbs of white. Next spring just let it grow and see how much weed competition there is. If you see rye and clover underneath do nothing as long as you can, then weed eat the rye right before the rye seed shatters and you will have a killer clover plot next fall. You want perennials in that small of a plot. Don't bother with brassicas. If you want a later season plot just overseed your clover with rye or wheat again next fall.


That's a great mix also. 
Did this very thing using rye with ladina clover and ended up with a beautiful stand of clover once the rye died out that lasted 4years. Just had to keep the weeds down and set mower at the right height when time to mow the tops off.
After the clover had taken over, through the warmer months the deer/turkey absolutely grazed like crazy. But after the 1st few frosts, they lost their appetite for the clover. Should have mixed in a bit more rye the second spring. 
FWIW, 100lbs of rye for 1/4 acre seems very heavy (especially if doing a mix) when 40-50lbs per acre is usually recommended. 
Why so heavy???


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## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

100 pounds of cereal rye on 1/4 acre would be way too much.


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## OutdoorMediaCo (Sep 6, 2016)

Browse pressure. Usually comes in 50 lb. bag.. 50 wasn't enough for my quarter acre last year. Mine looked like a golf course all fall and I could have used a higher stem density to keep weeds from crawling in this spring. I also seed the start of the main trails coming into the plot where I want them to enter. I would not put down that much at once but a couple weeks apart you will be fine!


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## OutdoorMediaCo (Sep 6, 2016)

fastwater said:


> That's a great mix also.
> Did this very thing using rye with ladina clover and ended up with a beautiful stand of clover once the rye died out that lasted 4years. Just had to keep the weeds down and set mower at the right height when time to mow the tops off.
> After the clover had taken over, through the warmer months the deer/turkey absolutely grazed like crazy. But after the 1st few frosts, they lost their appetite for the clover. Should have mixed in a bit more rye the second spring.
> FWIW, 100lbs of rye for 1/4 acre seems very heavy (especially if doing a mix) when 40-50lbs per acre is usually recommended.
> Why so heavy???


A person I know that does 20+ plots a year in rye and clover told me to go 200 lbs a acre on rye for high deer densities. I haven't seen a problem from too much only too little. It's cheap.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

OutdoorMediaCo said:


> A person I know that does 20+ plots a year in rye and clover told me to go 200 lbs a acre on rye for high deer densities. I haven't seen a problem from too much only too little. It's cheap.


Never heard of that much winter rye per acre but whatever works. Seems that much winter rye trying to come up would snuff out the clover seed mix.


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## OutdoorMediaCo (Sep 6, 2016)

fastwater said:


> Never heard of that much winter rye per acre but whatever works. Seems that much winter rye trying to come up would snuff out the clover seed mix.


I've learned from plotting with clover and in my yard, it's tough stuff. I've roundup sprayed a weedy plot and been left with a weed free clover plot. I fall seeded a clover plot once with a whole mix of other stuff and come spring I had a clover plot. I'd say the threshold of too much rye for clover is to take is quite high. When deer eat everything lip high it allows for more stems per foot. I'll let ya know how it goes this fall as I'm going super heavy on cereal grains.


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## aquaholic2 (Feb 17, 2010)

OutdoorMediaCo said:


> I've learned from plotting with clover and in my yard, it's tough stuff. I've roundup sprayed a weedy plot and been left with a weed free clover plot. I fall seeded a clover plot once with a whole mix of other stuff and come spring I had a clover plot. I'd say the threshold of too much rye for clover is to take is quite high. When deer eat everything lip high it allows for more stems per foot. I'll let ya know how it goes this fall as I'm going super heavy on cereal grains.
> View attachment 242982


 Thought I would update my plot progress....my new disc worked great this summer, I ended up with a 1/3 acre area ready to plant a couple weeks ago after a very wet summer in Perry. I put down a 5lb bag of turnip/radish/Rape/Chicory, hours before the rain from Harvey dumped on us. I was not able to go over it with any kind of drag, so I wasn't sure if I would get germination.
I got back down this weekend, and -presto-....very good sprout rate. The stuff is up about1" and good coverage. I scattered 10lbs of 19/19/19 fert over it. Now if the weather pattern holds and the rains continue we should be good to go. I will post some photos a little later, thanks for all the advice I'm a farmer now.....!


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## OutdoorMediaCo (Sep 6, 2016)

aquaholic2 said:


> Thought I would update my plot progress....my new disc worked great this summer, I ended up with a 1/3 acre area ready to plant a couple weeks ago after a very wet summer in Perry. I put down a 5lb bag of turnip/radish/Rape/Chicory, hours before the rain from Harvey dumped on us. I was not able to go over it with any kind of drag, so I wasn't sure if I would get germination.
> I got back down this weekend, and -presto-....very good sprout rate. The stuff is up about1" and good coverage. I scattered 10lbs of 19/19/19 fert over it. Now if the weather pattern holds and the rains continue we should be good to go. I will post some photos a little later, thanks for all the advice I'm a farmer now.....!


Good job! With those type of seeds there's no need to drag if you got rain in the forecast. The turnips raddish and rape are very susceptible to over browsing so don't get discouraged if they eat it to the ground. Adjust your seed mix next year based on how it goes. I always add some type of cereal grain and will be using crimson clover which is cheap attractive and a strong grower.


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