Planting Winter Wheat, and other food plots

Hi, I hunt a 200 acre bush lot with some old pasture areas (near Smiths Falls) and this fall I plan is to broadcast winter wheat into a mowed field on Labour Day weekend. I chose that date based on this guide: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/...811/pub811.pdf I just have an ATV, and a grass seed spreader, with minimal budget... I also live 100 km from my hunting spot which makes actively maintaining it difficult. Has anyone had success broadcasting winter wheat, or would I need to disc the ground to expect it to grow properly?Without discing the land, is there anything else you would recommend trying to broadcast that might be a decent food plot for deer & turkey?

We rototilled the land at our camp not far from my place and broadcast seeded a deer mix, it contains a lot of clover, I do not think very much took, the existing grasses are all back in that area.

I think that you would have to get it turned over to properly seed it and not have it drowned out by the native grasses.

Just remember your not planting wheat to harvest a 100bu crop
Deer will enjoy the green so get it on the ground now it’ll be 6”-10” by fall that is If your not in a drought area

Clovers should have been planted April early May

You could get some tillage radish and plant now I have some planted mid May that are producing seed pods and deer are eating
I was hoping they would reseed the ground but deer are picking pods off

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by js4fn

Just remember your not planting wheat to harvest a 100bu crop
Deer will enjoy the green so get it on the ground now it’ll be 6”-10” by fall that is If your not in a drought area

Clovers should have been planted April early May

You could get some tillage radish and plant now I have some planted mid May that are producing seed pods and deer are eating
I was hoping they would reseed the ground but deer are picking pods off

---

You still have to have it tilled up enough to have the wheat or anything else take hold, planting over a bed of sod will not take in most cases.

Don’t know about that fox sure you can’t expect to grow on heavy covered ground
Doesn’t take much for seed to soil contact it’s more in the timing

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ed10c11bf2.jpg

My seeder. March 28 spreading 10.5 pounds red clover

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7904c13122.jpg

Today July 17

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e3f974f141.jpg

Tillage radish hand thrown in small areas

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e7f3c07580.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...dddfcac26f.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...12830e8d40.jpg

Clover hand thrown bush trails

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5ceadef034.jpg

Maybe I have a green thumb May 30

Quote:

---

Don’t know about that fox sure you can’t expect to grow on heavy covered ground
Doesn’t take much for seed to soil contact it’s more in the timing

---

You've got that one right, there are many times when farmers over seed crops without tilling, it is also done with lawns, timing is the issue.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by js4fn

Don’t know about that fox sure you can’t expect to grow on heavy covered ground
Doesn’t take much for seed to soil contact it’s more in the timing

---

Did not work for us on this new property, the old camp you could over seed and not have any issues, this one has such established grass that just came up and crowded out the new crop.

We spread seed after tilling once the snow was gone and the ground could be driven on.

Good job Js4fn, that looks mighty good.

Seed quality is also a big factor as well, as I often wonder how good the seed is in some of the hunting commercial products vs farm supply.

That looks like a great plot with very little prep work! Where did you source your seed of you can share?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ridger

Seed quality is also a big factor as well, as I often wonder how good the seed is in some of the hunting commercial products vs farm supply.

That looks like a great plot with very little prep work! Where did you source your seed of you can share?

---

Thompson’s local grain elevator
You can buy 50 pd bag of clover and a 50 bag of oil radish seed. For what they want for couple 15 pd bags of deer plot

Wish I would have priced alfalfa seed
Sunflowers would have been fun
But still check the date on the bags

Good looking catch of clover, I like a bit of white dutch clover, in the mix . Once you get it started, it will stay and reseed itself. I am not familiar with oil radish, is it an annual, or do you have to replant yearly, will it reseed itself. .

Fox, likely if you would mow or brush hog your native grasses several times . Your seed might catch. It may also show up next year.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by old243

Good looking catch of clover, I like a bit of white dutch clover, in the mix . Once you get it started, it will stay and reseed itself. I am not familiar with oil radish, is it an annual, or do you have to replant yearly, will it reseed itself. .

Fox, likely if you would mow or brush hog your native grasses several times . Your seed might catch. It may also show up next year.

---

The tillage radish takes three good hard frost to kill.
I was hoping by planting radish in May it would reseed itself but the deer are stripping the seed pods off right now and even if some are dropped I don’t think their Finnish so won’t be viable seed. It’s a wait and see right now

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by old243

Good looking catch of clover, I like a bit of white dutch clover, in the mix . Once you get it started, it will stay and reseed itself. I am not familiar with oil radish, is it an annual, or do you have to replant yearly, will it reseed itself. .

Fox, likely if you would mow or brush hog your native grasses several times . Your seed might catch. It may also show up next year.

---

That would likely help, but not possible due to resources and distance from the equipment.

This mix worked really well in SW Ontario when my dad turned over the land with a tractor then planted it, green into December and drew in deer like crazy, on this new property the soil is different, the grasses are different and the root competition is different, it just did not work out well with tilling behind a garden tractor or over seeding, too much competition.

In areas that were bare the seed took well, in areas that had lots of grass already there it did not.

I have lots of experience with winter wheat.
It stays nice and green when everything else has turned brown.
But it is big seed and unless you have a lot of rain the germination will be poor by broadcast seeding alone
Also the planting rate (seeds per acre) will be much higher to generate a lush food plot compared to planting to grain harvest.
Plus a hit of Round Up to kill off competitive weeds really helps.
I broadcast 50 pounds onto 1/4 acre. Then till it into the ground setting your tiller to chew about 2 inches deep. That leaves enough seed at a good depth for germination.
Adding a generous snort of Nitrogen helps a lot. 4kg of 48-0-0 on 1/4 acre broadcast at the same time as the seed.
Mid August up north
Sept 1st probably in Southern Ontario.

Why their called tillage radish
12” deep planted may 30
Deer are eating the seed pods they taste like a red radish/ green bean

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a13ad81450.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c3fc373c1d.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f1b78ebc00.jpg

That Tillage Radish does exactly as advertised.
The deep roots mechanically break up soil and give channels for water penetration as they rot
The density of greenery makes a great smother crop for weed supression and a lot of organic material for "green Manure".

But I prefer not to let it get too old.
I cut the greenery just before the seed stalks start growing tall and then till it into the ground
A big powerful tractor can handle it.
But my DR Rotohog struggles trying to break up and till the dense rope-like seed stalks.

On the other hand, deer do like the greens and seed heads.
And the bees just love the flower heads

This might be slightly off topic, but is a good tool for food plot maintenance, especially if you are a bit more off the beaten path. At our camp we have trails and a small field , that grow up with tall grass and weeds, if you are not there regularly. I built a drag to pull behind a 4 wheeler. Just a frame , 2 inch angle iron welded up On this a piece of old heavy crusher screen. On top of this an old tire and rim. Mostly make it from what you have laying around. Shouldn't be wider than your bike. Attach to bike with a loop of chain. Tow it wherever you want to knock grass, weeds and small brush , down. Also good to grade your road, fills in potholes. Likely in a a case where you are trying to get seed and clovers started, take some of the weight of and just keep tall grass controlled. Not fancy but it works. old243

I often over seed winter wheat into my alfalfa and clover food plots. I have found that by cutting and over seeding just prior to a rain fall it seems to help the germination of the winter wheat. I usually do it about the end of Aug. Never tried it on unworked land though.
https://i.imgur.com/3XMbXLF.jpg

If you want a dead easy crop to grow that feeds deer from June until "green up" the following year, try soybeans. In late May mow the grass / weeds in the area that you wish to plant. Wait a week or so and seed down the area at about 1.5 bags per acre. Set your rototiller to about 3.5 inch depth and work up the area. Afterward pack it down with a cultipacker / roller / log or whatever to firm the seedbed. Pray for rain. Done!

If the beans are roundup resistant and you want to have a clean crop you can spray after a month. The young plants will survive getting run over by an ATV or tractor. Weeds aren't a big deal though if all you're trying to do is feed the deer and turkeys. I leave the beans standing so the wildlife can get at them even in deep snow.


Attachment 37136
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...396b41c0e1.jpg