Fall plots

Hey all,

I am looking for some advice on a fall planted food plot. Last year I sprayed an acre, worked it up with a disc, and planted winter rye and winter wheat in late August. The deer really hit it hard and I am going to probably do the same thing. I haven’t touched the plot at all this year or even seen it (first born baby in April has really taken up a lot of time!). I would imagine that it is all headed out and about 4 feet tall now though. How would you go about prepping this plot for fall? Thanks!

I’m in a similar situation. I decided on trying the Real World Deadly Dozen. It showed that Archery Country here in Saint Cloud was a dealer for it. I called them last week and they said they did not have any, but they had some coming in soon and would call me when it was in. Got the call today that they have it in stock. Going to stop over there today or tomorrow to pick it up. Not sure how it will work, but worth the try. Hope to get it down soon. Hope the rain situation improves in the area I plan on planting it.

We are also Real World dealers and Deadly Dozen is my favorite summer planted blend. Works great and minimal work.

As always weed control is critical and food plots. Start your weed control routine now with a good spraying of glyphosate.

This year is all about planting to take advantage of any rainfall you do get. Plant ASAP. Forgot normal planting dates this year.

Slabz – You’re looking for how to prep the plot and I assume you want to use the Winter Rye and Winter Wheat again?
I’d mix in some brassicas with it too if you can.

Prep – If you had a good stand of rye and wheat, it may not have any weeds or very few? It tends to choke out other weeds if left.
I’d cut it which will kill some of it. then rough it up with your disc which will kill the rest of the old rye/wheat.
Then broadcast or drill in your new rye/wheat/brassicas.
Run it over with a cultipacker or roller or something to pack it down.
I don’t see any need to spray it depending on how many weeds are mixed in with your old rye/wheat.

I’m SE MN and will wait about 2 weeks yet to plant mine which will be winter wheat/rye and brassicas. If I plant too early the wheat/rye will get too big and may even head out which I don’t want.
If you’re North of about St. Cloud, now would be the time to start on it.

Yes, looking to plant wheat and rye again. I did do a small piece of brassicas last year and not once did I see a deer browsing them. I didn’t plant them until late August though so they were very immature still. The wheat and rye had virtually no weeds in them last time I visited it (December). It was planted thick- probably 300lbs per acre and layered. Will cutting it leave too much residue to disc effectively? I just have access to a small disc that seems to get clogged easily if there is too much litter. Would burning it work well if I was able to get a burning permit? I am 20 miles north of st cloud, you don’t think it’s too early for cereal grains? Thanks!

Planting brassicas that late up there last year was probably the reason they didn’t do well. Sometimes, if you get a good crop, it might take the deer a year or 2 to get used to them. Once they do, it’s game on.
For your area, right now would be the best time to plant both. Especially being as dry as it is this year.

What are you cutting it with, a brush hog type? If so, that should chew up the existing greens pretty good. And if it’s 3-4′ high and mostly wheat/rye you’ll end up with a lot of straw residue. If you throw your seed in, cut it with a brush hog type. Then roll it. If there’s not too much residue it’ll grow through it.
Burning it would be great but given the drought situation it might be iffy without starting the surrounding area on fire? If you can and it’s dry enough to burn, burn it, rough it up with the disk, plant it and roll it.

I have 2 plots that I cut a week ago. I’ll let it grow back to about a foot high, then spray it, wait a few days until I see it dying then spread my seeds right in it and then run a cultipacker over it. The crop residue covers it and keeps it moist. The seeds will grow right through it.
Another option for you but for your area, you’ll need to start soon whichever method you use.

You have a little extra time for the cereal grains but the brassicas should be done asap.

Yeah it would be either a pull behind brush hog or I have used a 3 point mower before. Thanks for the advice!

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

We are also Real World dealers and Deadly Dozen is my favorite summer planted blend. Works great and minimal work.

As always weed control is critical and food plots. Start your weed control routine now with a good spraying of glyphosate.

This year is all about planting to take advantage of any rainfall you do get. Plant ASAP. Forgot normal planting dates this year.

How soon after spraying with Glyphosate can you plant the deadly dozen seed. I know my buddy spayed it earlier this spring thinking we would get something planted much earlier. Not sure if he can or wants to spray it again at this point. This seed is going in along side some corn that was planted. The edge is normally fairly wet and this was the first year that my buddy was able to plow and spray it. Its in a low area near a swampy edge. Like I said. Most years by the muzzleloader season ( all I hunt these days ) the corn or beans that he plants there are all ate off. Looking for something that will extend a little longer into the season and hopefully draw deer well into the muzzleloader season.

fishthumper wrote:

How soon after spraying with Glyphosate can you plant the deadly dozen seed.

Guy for seat has no impact on seed. You can plant as soon as you want to after spraying but normally I like to see the weeds dying off. This is mainly so I can go back and respray in the areas that were missed.

Food plotters sometimes misunderstand why weed control is so important. It’s not about aesthetics. Weeds Rob click moisture and nutrient. And this year especially the stolen moisture is a real problem. If you force your food plot plans to compete for moisture this year when there is hardly any to begin with it’s going to seriously limit their growth potential.

I am hoping to get out this weekend and spray the area I want to plant. I think my area is going to take multiple sprays. Unfortunately I can’t get any equipment into the area so it will all be done by hand.

Jeff Schomaker wrote:

I am hoping to get out this weekend and spray the area I want to plant. I think my area is going to take multiple sprays. Unfortunately I can’t get any equipment into the area so it will all be done by hand.

Spray the area with gly and wait untill the spray is dry. Wait 1-2 hours.

Then use a string trimmer and shred all the grass and weeds. Mulch them up and cut down to just above the ground. Then spray again with gly.

This produces about the best kill possible.

Here’s a couple pics of my plots for this year.
1st is a mix of sunflowers, sorghum, peas and buck wheat.
The bees absolutely love it.

Then a strip of mostly Rape with some other leafy greens mixed in.
A strip of corn on either side. The Rape could be a little thinner but will get hammered when it cools down.

All my plots have done surprisingly well considering little or no rain mid May through late June.

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Little update on my plot that started this thread. I ended up spraying with roundup in mid July. Waited 2 weeks and sprayed again to get a good kill since it was quite thick. On Monday night, I mowed the perimeter with my litte lawn mower to make a fire break and Tuesday night I burned off the plot. The burn went very well and took care of almost all the litter. The wheat and rye that got burned dropped so many seeds, not sure if they will germinate after being exposed to the fire though? I plan on waiting until we have some rain in the forecast and broadcasting my rye, wheat, and oats and packing it. Hoping to have seed down by September 1..

I will be up to check on my food plot for the first time since I planted it tomorrow. I had some bad luck in that it did not get any rain for a few weeks after I planted it. There was some forecasted for right after I planted and it just missed the area. At first my buddy said it was looking like nothing was going to come up. But after a later rain he said it looked like some may be coming up. The area has had a fair amount of rain since, so I’m looking forward to seeing what it looks like tomorrow.