Corn

[Booner]

I have 4-5 acres to plant on our 160 acre farm. Beans, oats, peas get hammered and are gone by Oct. Turnips and radishes don’t get hit until Feb. I’m starting to think corn is the best option possible, what are your guys thoughts?

 

[swat1018]

Complex question. I wouldn't trade clover for much else. Corn is great to hunt over, but it's expensive, and tough to plant year after year. Deer are in my rye and radishes on and off all day long right now.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

What are your goals? Are you trying to increase the amount of food available in general, or are your trying to have a better plot to hunt over late season? What are deer feeding on your neighbors land? We rent out some of our land and occasionally the renter rotates in corn. When this is the case, our beans aren't really touched until all of the harvested corn has been picked up off the ground. If you have a lot of beans in your neighboring ground, you could put up some electric fencing to make sure you have some standing beans later in the season. It all falls back on what you and neighbors are doing. Another thing worth considering is that corn is a little more difficult to grow than soybeans are, but your mileage may vary.

 

[Tree Spud]

First off, update your avatar to show your location.

If deer are wiping out your beans & peas, why would they leave corn alone?

 

[Mortenson]

Is it 5 acres in 1 chunk or multiple smaller plots?

 

[Boll Weevil]

If deer are wiping out your beans & peas, why would they leave corn alone?

This.

 

[Bill]

Clover.

 

[Booner]

The deer usually leave our corn alone until late Oct. My goal is to have food available after our renter harvests all the crops. The beans and peas are literally ate as soon as they grow out of the ground. We have a 2 acre plot, and 3 one acre plots.

 

[H20fwler]

Do you get much snow?

 

[Booner]

Do you get much snow?

Yes but typically not until late Dec.

 

[Mortenson]

Just curious, but what are the deer eating in the 'hood to not be hitting the brassicas 'til Feb? If those aren't a viable option, I'd consider fencing a corn plot of that size or doing 5 acres of clover. Have you ever tried corn on those 2 plots? How'd it go?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Just curious, but what are the deer eating in the 'hood to not be hitting the brassicas 'til Feb? If those aren't a viable option, I'd consider fencing a corn plot of that size or doing 5 acres of clover. Have you ever tried corn on those 2 plots? How'd it go?

My brassicas are left untouched til Feb also. Radishes get topped in October but other than that its long after the new year. The deer will clean up all of the left over acorns and waste grain (corn and beans) before touching my plots.