Summer Planting - Food Plot Advice

[Lenny]

Complete food plot newb here. I have some land between Milton and Guelph - bit heavier, clay, lots of rocks. Currently has winter wheat that the turkeys and deer love, but it is coming off soon, and then nothing till next year's crop.

I have good water sources, security cover, and decent deer populations. I have salt licks and some nice bucks in the area, just want to give them a reason to stick around during this fall's bow season.

I have aceess to a tractor, disc and cultipacker. I'm thinking a mix of early season food like red clover, maybe some rye, peas, oats, and some brassicas, turnip and radish for late season and to give the soil a bit of a boost. Id rather not have to spray, and the fields should be pretty easy to work up after the wheat comes off.

The most secluded field is about 4 acres. I would probably put a couple of strips across the other fields, just for wildlife viewing.

Let me know if you have a seed blend, application rates, etc. for this part of Ontario for planting this time of year, and any tips or suggestions (weed control, mowing, fertilizer, etc.)

Here is one of the guys I hope to keep around.....taken in early July
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I appreciate all your suggestions.

[js4fn]

Think it’s too late for clover
I would hope for nice rain after wheat harvest and get some volunteer wheat going again or even get couple bushel of wheat from harvest and spread on stubble
Radish would do well if you have the moisture

[MikePal]

Not to late to plant a few strips of turnips, they'll develop enough by late Sept and the deer won't touch them till after a killing frost. Great plot for ML season in early Dec.

[Fenelon]

I planted 3 large 1 acre plots last year. The hot weather and lack of rain was a real pain. I took soil samples from each spot and sent it to Guelph for analysis. I think it was worth the cost as the results give you the fertilizer requirements to get good growth.
Plot 1 - I used Cabelas clover mix, then added additional seed from the local Agrico. I added double cut red clover, more white clover, and alfalfa. I tilled the area heavily with my 40hp tractor tiller , dragged it with an atv harrow, hand spread the seed, and used a 6ft garden lawn roller to pack the seed bed. I was dissapointed in the results from this one. Much of the area re-grew with grass and blueweed. Germination was marginal for the whole plot and what did grow did not do well from lack of rain.

Plots 2 and 3 - these ones I first killed with Roundup before tilling the sod. 100% improvement with no competing grass regrowth and substantially less weeds. I hand seeded feed oats (do not used treated seed oats unless you have a drill to bury all the seed. The pink fungicide coating is extremely toxic will kill your turkeys and songbirds if they eat it). I planted Cabelas mixed brassicas with daikon radish and a separate bag of turnips. Fantastic results, even though the weather was hot and dry. Plots weren't planted until the first week of August. By bow season, both were solid green and lush, about 10-12 inches high. The deer pounded the oats right up until late sept. and pretty much cleaned it out. Marginal grazing on the balance until the first frosts in November. It became deer candy by the second week of the gun hunt, then really heavily hit after the third week in November. A total magnet for the Dec. ML hunt. If you bow hunt up till Xmas then this would be definately worth planting. Deer were pawing through 10 inches of snow to get at the turnips and radishes. So were the porcupines and snowshoe hare! They were still hitting it in early January. Some of the white turnips were the size of grapefruit. I picked a few and added them to a stew and they weren't bad! Tasted like kohlrabi. Come spring, the deer hit it again heavily, cleaning up the leftover radish. Some of it survived and re-seeded itself this summer. I will definately be planting the Cabelas mixes again this year, probably next week.
I bought an old 1940s International $200 dollar grain drill off Kijji this year and drilled seed oats. Fantastic germination. Nice lush green plots after late May seeding. ATV pulls the drill easily. Deer are hitting it now like crazy. Next week I'm going to till a few tractor strips in any of the weaker spots in the plot and seed with the Cabelas mix and drill more fresh oat seed in them. Should be good for the fall hunt. I advise strongly to kill your spot first with Roundup and make sure you roll (pack) after you seed.

PS I tried frost seeding with Cabelas clover mix in april when there was a tiny bit of snow still on the plots. The results were much better than the may application that I had tried. Had good germination but then the GD drought and heat this summer pretty much killed anything that had grown. The clover does not seem very drought tolerant when it's in its early growth stages. Too bad because it had produced a pretty good stand of clover. The certified seed that Cabelas sells is really good stuff. Can't beat it for the price either - 5lb bag for $39. I couldn't find a cheaper quality seed anywhere else. Perhaps others know where to get it. Anything certified from the local Ag suppliers came in large bags and you'd be paying $200-350 per bag.
Dave

[Mcfasio]

Now is a good time to plant Cabellas Brassica Blend. Would ideally be planted on freshly tilled soil, or into a buckwheat stand, as described in this article:
https://www.fieldandstream.com/story...til-food-plot/

[Alex75]

There is still time to plant food plots in July. You can try turnips, radish, winter grass and winter peas, but there is number of other options: fall planting. It all depends on rainfall though, because if there is no rain, the yieald is week.