What food plot seed do you use?

[Mark Christianson]

This coming spring I plan to do some new stuff at the family farm. I am totally green when it comes to food plot and the management of them.
I have gotten some great info from FM'er Perchjerker on his methods. He has done his homework for sure.
His best seed has been Imperial Clover from The Whitetail Institute.(Jump in any time PerchJerker, sorry to steal your thunder).....
It's pricy though. I hate to go spend a couple hundred bucks on seed, and either fail miserably in planting it, or just have it not be the optimum thing for our area.

Anyone out there have any experience to share with types/brand of seed, that may be a better value? I have found umpteen web sites with food plot seed, with prices ranging from just over a buck a pound, up to nearly 5 bucks a pound.
Now, one thing I realize as well, is that one brand my be a pound in weight, buy you may not need nearly as much to cover your desired areas.

Help???

[PerchJerker]

Of the seeds I've tried, 1 has been great, 3 have been terrible, and everything else has been pretty good.

The best has been Imperial Clover. The 3 bad ones were perennial ryegrass, wintergrain rye, and iron clay cowpeas. The ryegrass was only eaten for a few weeks after it came up, and the rye grain and cowpeas just didn't get eaten at all.

I experimented with a lot of different seeds my first two years. Some grew better than others, and some were preferred by my deer. I'd suggest trying at least 2 or 3 seeds or blends to see what works best. Believe me, there's not much that's more frustrating than not having deer eating your food plots. That's why the Grazin' Trophy Buck Mix and 1 or 2 of the blends from the MDHA could be good things to try, in addition to some Imperial Clover.

My version of Field of Dreams ... If you plant it, they will come.

[BLACKJACK]

I've had luck buying the deer mixes from a place called Albert Lea Seed House, its a mixture of clovers, alfalfa, and timothy. I've also planted straight red clover and the deer seem to like that. You need to mow it periocally to keep it fresh, but don't mow it too short come fall, because then the deer will keep working on it until its gone.

I also tried something called forage oats last fall. The problem I had was that after I planted it around Sept 1, we didn't get any rain and it barely came up. I did see deer using it, but it wasn't a very good test.

Perchjerker, do you thing the Imperial clover is worth the high price? Have you tried anything else?

My plan this spring is to try at least three different clovers blends. I plowed up a 4 acre patch, I'm going to split it into thirds and try straight red clover on 1/3, Imperial on another third, and who knows what on the other third. Then in fall I'll see which one to they hit the most.

Another thing to consider is weed control. Use roundup or something to kill off the weeds when you start and then consider some sort of grass killer to extend the life of your cover.

[PerchJerker]

Howdy Blackjack.

I've tried lots of clovers, seed blends, and other foodplot seeds. Almost everything I've planted has worked, but Imperial Clover has been the best. Every year I plant more and more Imperial Clover.

When I say it's "the best", it's because:
1. It's green as soon as the snow melts in the spring, and my deer start eating it right away. Weeks before anything else in the woods gets green.
2. My deer eat it all spring, summer and fall. More in the spring and fall, less in the summer. Some of the other clovers and blends I've tried haven't been used much until fall. I like getting good nutrition to them while the does are nursing and the bucks are growing antlers.
3. I have a plot that's lasted for 3 years, and I have another one going into its 3rd year. The 3 year old plot is going to get replanted because it's gotten too weedy for my liking. I haven't used herbicides enough, but I'm going to try that more this year.
4. Of all the seeds I've tried my deer definately prefer the Imperial Clover over everything else. The only exception is right after the first hard frosts in the fall, when the deer devour the brassicas I plant, but that only lasts for a couple of weeks.

My soil is PERFECT for clover, which might be one reason Imperial Clover works so well for me. And I'm in the middle of a National Forest and there's no farm fields or agricultural crops around for miles.

I've never tried Red Clover by itself, only in blends. I've heard that deer don't prefer red clover if white or ladino clovers are available (Imperial Clover was developed from white clovers). My deer definately prefer Imperial Clover over the blends I've tried with Red Clover in them. It will be interesting to hear what you find in your side-by-side planting this year.

biglakeba$$ told me about some seed blends the MDHA is selling this year. You may want to look at those if you're looking for something to experiment with this year.

[BLACKJACK]

perchjerker, guess I'll have to try some of that Imperial clover, you're the second guy that I've heard say very positive results from it. The MN deer hunters seed might be worth a try. I'm always leery of stuff that comes from down south. I haven't done much with the herbicides or fertilizer either but a three point spreader and a three point sprayer are on my wish lists. But before or after the trail camera???

[PerchJerker]

I have a trail camera. I like it, but holy cow is it expensive to use -- batteries, film, and developing.

I'm in bear country, and they say bears like the smell of the film and will rip the camera apart to get it. Haven't had a problem yet (no bear pictures yet either).

[Mark Christianson]

BJ
You can get a trail camera for 70 bucks at Gander or Cabelas, and they work plenty good.

[BLACKJACK]

biglake, guess I'm trying to hold out for a digital so I'm not running in and getting film processed all the time. Hopefully the prices will keep coming down...

[DinnerPail]

bigjake, I've tried the Imperial and other mixes right from the local feed store. The nice thing about the Imperial is that the seed is coated and can lay there without any problems until is rains. I've had good luck with other mixes from the feed store as well. Alot depends on your soil, when you plant and moisture. My advise is try different vareities and see what works best for you. One thing is have your soil tested and fertilize accordingly, because if the soil doesn'tcontain the proper nutrients it won't mater what you plant.

Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

[jlm]

I have been planting food plots for years and have tried just about everything out there. If you want to spend the money on the stuff packaged for deer plots, go for it. It works great if you prepare the soil properly. However, I have gotten to the point that it is too expensive to plant as many acres as I do with the packaged blends. I have had fantastic luck with clover blends that I have made up myself from local grain elevators. It grows great...but you have to prepare the soils to the correct PH and you have to fertilize. That makes all the difference in the world. This can be an incredible amount of work though as most of the PH levels in my area are far from perfect. To be honest with you, if you live in an agricultural area, I would skip pasture blends such as clover, alfalfa etc. Deer in my area prefer other things and hardly touch the clover until late in the Fall when everything else is dead. My advice would be to plant soy beans. They go nuts for them and in my area they will eat this over anything with the exception of sugar beets. Its cheap to plant to. However, you HAVE to keep the weed growth down. The other thing that I would never skip planting is late season rye. They love this stuff and its still green for the rifle season if the snow does not cover it. Plant in September or August (depending where you are) and the tender green shoots of grass are to die for. This has been by far my best late season browse. I have had over 30 deer on a two acre plot. Plant lots, they will over browse this stuff and pull the roots. I hope to get at least 5 to 10 acres in this year and I bet they will over browse that much. Anyway, no matter what you plant, you have to do the ground work before you put the seed in. Lime and fertilize....your results will be much better!

[BLACKJACK]

jlm, where do you get your soil test done and what does it cost? Do you do spread the lime and fertilizer yourself or get the elevator to do it? Do you fertilize every year or just the year that you plant the clover? How about the soybeans, I'd been thinking about trying the roundup ready soybeans so I could keep the weeds down, but with all the other crops around I thought why bother. What other plants like turnips and sugar beets have you had luck with?

Thanks for the info!

[jlm]

Soil tests can be done for very little money. If your soil appears to be consistant, one or two tests are sufficient. There are many people who can do the tests. I take them to private testing companies which charge $15 per sample. When they determine the PH of your soil, they will recommend how much lime or whatever is needed to get the PH in line for the crop you want to plant. Many grain elevators can do them to (I think they send them away to a lab). You can get your own sample with a little tool they can loan to you which takes a little core of dirt from the ground. I spread everything myself. You can get machinery to so this or you can do it very cheap by broadcasting it with your own broadcaster or one that hooks to an atv or tractor. You would use this for the seed, the lime (or whatever is needed) and the fertilizer. Why would you plant soy beans (and yes I recommend round up ready beans if you want to pay a little more)? Here is why in my opinion. If you have any means to fence off some of your crops so the deer can't get to them, you have a gold mine during the firearms season. Take your fence down a week or so prior to season and every deer in the area will come for good chow. They love beans! I have never planted turnips but others I have talked to say that deer mostly like the greens and not the actual tunip (particularly in agricultural areas) which means it will be a short lived crop. Beets grow well in some areas and deer love them. Seed can be spendy but sometimes you can get it free from farmers or conservation groups. You will be hard pressed to find a better deer attractant!!! Yes, you would fertilize clover and the like when you plant. You should also top dress it throughout the year at least once. The soil test guys will recommend how much per acre to apply. Fertilizer is pretty cheap to and can be purchased at some grain elevators or seed dealers. In my opinion, this is the most important step in the whole process. It makes a world of difference. You should re-fertilize every year (sometimes several times depending on how much you put on). Hope this helps. Its a lot of work to do this but it also is a lot of fun to mess around with it. Give it a try. One word of caution for clover growers. The first year you plant usually does not result in a great crop. BUT, the second and third year will typically be much better (perenials)....soooooo, don't plow it up just yet. Give it a chance. Oh, be sure to mow throughout the year to, that will help with weed supression and promote growth! Good luck!

[Beeber]

Greetings:

This is the first time I have visited this Forum. I read this thread and thought I would add my 2cents. I hunt in NE MN and have planted food plots for the last 10 years. I think you need to ask yourself what it is you really want and how much time you want to spend. Perennial stands of clovers/alfalfa and such are nice because you only need to do site prep work once every 3 to 4 years. Sure some maintenance is needed such as fertilizer, weed control, and mowing, but this might take you 3 to 4 days a year. Annual crops in my experience generally work better as an attractant and to some extent as a food source. However annual crops take a greater time commitment to be successful. I like to have both so as to provide a good source of nutrition all year. As stated in other posts the 3 keys to success are 1. Proper Site Prep, 2. Fertilizer, 3. Weed control. If you ignore any of these chances are you will not be happy with the results. I too would not recommend buying high priced "Food Plot Seed". I think it is a waste of money. You are better off going to your local elevator or agronomy center to buy your seed, fertilizer, and chemical. There are many types of forage legumes and crops to choose from. Ask your local Ag retailer or UofM Extension specialist for adaptability in your area. I personally like Red clover mixed with Birdsfoot trefoil for a perennial legume mix. The clover is nice and lush and establishes easy. The trefoil does not establish fast but is fine stemmed and very palatable even without mowing in the summer. It is also very long lived >5 years if taken care of. Just make sure you do not mix more than 20% Red clover or it will not allow the trefoil to get established. For Annual crops I like Field Peas mixed with Soybeans planted in the spring. And for Aug/Sept planting I like either Winter Wheat or Winter Rye mixed with Soybeans and or Field Peas. As stated in other posts I have found soybeans to work great for deer and field peas are even better. If you can, get a soybean variety that will not fully mature in your area. Mix it 50/50 with a Field pea variety. The field peas will mature in early August but will stay upright attached to the Soybean plants into late fall or early winter. It is important to control your weeds. A mix of Select or Assure II and Basagran plus Oil adjuvant will take care of most weed problems in conv. Soy and Pea. The winter wheat or rye needs to be planted early enough to get good growth before the snow flies. Also Nitrogen fertilizer is important. Both will give great fodder in the fall and again right away in the spring when deer need it most. In Late May you can work it up and start again. The reason to add the soy and or pea in the mix is deer absolutely love young soybean and pea plants. I bet by the time November comes along you will be hard pressed to find a single soy or pea plant in your plot, all you will find are the 2" stems. Before you start your field prep in the spring or late summer It is a good idea to use a healthy dose of Roundup to take care of any existing weed problems especially perennial weeds. It will make your life a lot easier.

Well I hope you find this useful

Later

Beeber

[Mark Christianson]

Good stuff Beeber!

[psegriz]

Beeber That was good. Ya know farming better than me, but was just wondering my dad got seed corn through ff or mdha, not sure as long as he didn't harvest til spring. Do those organizations also provide seed of other types?
GRIZ

[PerchJerker]

I agree Beeber -- good stuff.

Where in NE Minnesota? I'm about 40 miles NW of Grand Rapids.

[Mark Christianson]

Yes, MDHA has food plot seed blends that they sell. Its on their HSOforum.

Last spring I got free seed from the SWCD in Wright County. I got 2 kinds of sorghum, sunflower, and corn. I only got the corn and one sorghum planted, but it never rained all summer, and I had nothing to show in the fall for corn. The sorghum was very poor to, but it got some seed heads.

[BLACKJACK]

Good info Beeber! Need to reread your info and plan accordingly. By field peas do you just mean the peas that they plant early for the canneries? After reading your post, it reemphasizes what I need, which is a small 3 point sprayer - and the knowledge how to use it.

biglakebass, don't get discouraged on the grain sorhgum, last year was a dry year, the same thing happened to me, very little production on it. When you get a good stand with lots of heads, the pheasants will flock into it, if its in the right spot!!!

[Beeber]

Greetings,

I have attached a few University links for more information on MN weed control and Variety performance in MN and ND. What you can not find on the MN site you should be able to get on the ND site. Both are very good.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/DC3157.html

http://www.maes.umn.edu/maespubs/vartrial/vt-cntnt.html#croplinks

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/aginfo/variety/index.htm

BlackJack: I would not use the fresh market peas as the seed is likely to be expensive. Field Peas are the ones you would find in soup. You may have to make a few calls in NW MN or ND to find a source of seed. If you want a few numbers let me know. There is a guy in NE MN (Cook) that could get them for you too. However, I would ask locally first.

PerchJerker: I hunt about 30 miles north of Hibbing.

Take it easy

Beeber

[BLACKJACK]

Beeber, you talked about planting soybeans and peas. Do you have any farm fields with soybeans in them around you? Was wondering if it would be worth the effort if the farmer next door has several fields of beans?

[Beeber]

BlackJack,

In my case Soybeans are not grown in that area. However in Soybean production most of the fields are harvested by the middle of Oct. If it were me I would plant a variety that would not mature in my growing zone and leave them through the winter. If group 1.0 beans are grown in your area I would try to get my hands on some group 2.0 seed. This way it will stay green late in the year long after the local soybean fields have been harvested. The peas are a good choice in your area as there are very few Field peas grown in MN and the deer love them. As stated before I would mix them with Soy so they do not lodge and you end up with a diseased mess.

Take it easy

Beeber

[BLACKJACK]

Beeber, so thats what they're called, 'Field Peas'? We have a seed guy down the road, will he know what I'm talking about when I say 'field peas'. When you say 'what goes in soup it makes me think of beans like lentils and navy beans...

Also you said 'no more thatn 25% Red clover mixed with Birdsfoot trefoil '. So if I'm making my own mix I should go 25% red clover and 75% trefoil? Or should I add anything else? Some of the other mixes that I've bought have white clover, alfalfa, rye, rapeseed, etc.

Thanks for the advice. Keep an eye on this site, I'm sure as spring heats up there will be more food plot questions.

[This message has been edited by BLACKJACK (edited 03-19-2004).]

[Beeber]

BlackJack,

Your seed guy should know what you are talking about. For variety info take a look at the ND site link I posted.

If you want to add something else to the legume mix I would go with white clover. Red clover is the easiest to get established so I would still use it to the tune of 10 to 20% of your mix. White clover and Trefoil have about the same growth habit but white clover can have coarser stems and should be mowed in June. I would guess that if you added 10 to 20% white to the mix you should be fine. You could add a little alfalfa if you wanted as well but again you will have to mow it and make sure your soil pH is NOT less than 6. The red, white, and trefoil will grow in just about any pH but will do better in soils with a pH LESS then 7. Also make sure to add the appropriate innoculant as red clover and white clover use a different one than trefoil. Alfalfa also uses a different innoculant than red clover, white clover, and trefoil. I would not add a grass to the mix as it will make weed control very difficult with a herbicide. If you just have broadleaves, and in this case legumes, you will have more herbicide options to choose from.

Take it easy

Beeber

[rocky]

Where I hunt, I can not get to it with a four wheeler so prepping the ground would be pretty tough. I could bring a rake to stir up the ground but that is my only option. From reading these posts, it looks as though you need to do alot of prep work to get these seeds to grow. I hunt a big oak ridge that is pretty shaded. Do I have any options that I can use that would work with those conditions.

[Mark Christianson]

I picked up my MDHA food plot seed yesterday.
Wooohooo
50% off their listed prices.