Planting Winter Wheat, and other food plots

[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.

[js4fn]

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

[Fox]

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.

[johny]

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.

[js4fn]

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

[johny]

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

[old243]

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

[KMG Canada]

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.

[Gregoire1960]

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.


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