Seedworldusa, seed ranch, merit seed. Find a feed store that has whole oats. Probably bought about 15 over the years, never got a dud bag. plotspike forage feast and mossy oak has a wheat / pea blend thats cheap at tractor supply. I generally buy forage feast for new plot areas because I am tilling up the soil and amending initally. $30 for a 1/2 acre of weat / oats/ winter peas/ chicory/ and a clover or two. Hard to beat that.
How many acres, what kind of seeds, how fussy are you on foodplots? Some people want to see cover of a magzine plots.
I have clover blends I use. Coated seed isn't a huge concern. You want the nitrogen bacteria on it, they say its good for a year. Every year I buy some different clover for the blend. Try to keep seed under 3 years far as rotation goes. IF you got the critters in the soil, the clover seed does need to be innoculated. LEss common legumes use different strains, they are more important.
Also, we all travel here n there, find a place along the way. I gt some things for food plots / habitat I cant get in NY from north carolina when I go there.
Alberta lea seed has alot of places they ship to. Supposedly they only add $5 a bag to the order. Going to give them a try this year. Dealer is right on the way home from work I believe they whole bags though. Was going to buy 50lbs of crimson clover, 2 bags of buckwheat, and a bag of hairy vetch.
I think the most important seed to find is winter rye. It's a plan B plot at times for me. Spots in my plot didn't take, flooded plot areas die, or a new spot opened up at camp from logging. I also top dress the backyard with it. spots I just mow to keep the grass low. Also spread this stuff on ATV / snowmobile trails where you get some sun. I put it on a touch heavy 100lbs an acre, comes out to be about $25 bucks of seed.
I can get it for free from my borther in law, but buy bags from his friends who are establishing a feed store. They sell wheat even cheaper because they grow a few thousand acres of it in NY.
I test germinate some of my seeds. I put an inch or two of soil in a clay pot base. I randomly pick 50 seeds and count how many sprout. I've had 80%+ germinate on 2 year old rye, wheat, and oat seed in my basement. Very often the feed oats are 90-100%. Even IF I use all my seed one year, I try to keep a few pounds for lawn establishment or to check germination of older seed. I get nervous buying seed from a guy that's 50 feet from a grain dryer. Wet years have still been good germination though.
