Fall planting for spring forage
- Thread starter Tfrazier
- Start date
356
5 year old buck +
You can always use an annual clover, such as Crimson. These will help fix nitrogen and provide great browse and protect your soil. An added advantage is that it is easy to terminate. Cereal Rye (not ryegrass), which is also called winter rye, is a grain, and is the most popular option, and is a good go-to in soils that are poor quality. Both are inexpensive, easy to plant (broadcast) and produce excellent spring forage.
Crimson clover in the spring over what was a fall food plot in 2023.
Cereal Rye drilled into corn field after harvest (neighbor's farm 2024). I saw deer in this field daily that spring.
Crimson clover in the spring over what was a fall food plot in 2023.
Cereal Rye drilled into corn field after harvest (neighbor's farm 2024). I saw deer in this field daily that spring.
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Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
^ ^ ^ Yes! We seed ours around Labor Day weekend in NC Pa. It grows VERY easily. Grain rye can be planted anytime through September in most locations, further south - maybe in October.
Do you overseed it in an existing fall food plot?
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Not usually - but you could. We broadcast it along with some red clover, white clover, and a bit of brassica mix. The rye & brassicas feed in the fall and into the winter. The clovers come on strong the next spring, along with the rye, which will be the first thing to green-up once any snow melts for us. Rye is the earliest green thing where we're located, and the deer are in it like flies for early nutrition as winter fades. Once the rye gets about 10" tall, we mow it to let the clover take off.
We also plant rye alone in a separate strip that we let stand for fawn cover. Once fawns are OK to travel with does, we sometimes broadcast clover mix and brassicas into the tall rye - then roll it flat as a mulch, or mow it down as a mulch. Depends on conditions at that time. Rye's roots help break up soil, and add organic material to the soil once it's terminated. IMO (learned here from AG guys) you can't go wrong with rye grain.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
Rye doesnt need much of a season to get started, other grains need a bit more. In central NY zone 5, rye can be drilled in early october and go through the spring. I did a mix of rye wheat and oats as well as some clover seeds around labor day last year. Deer are in my little plot at home daily still eating the seed heads and clover.
Basic food plots do so well, I dont bother with fancy stuff. I add some brassicas when the weeds are getting a bit heavier from the clover making nitrogen and the grains adding carbon to the soil too.
I use an earthway 2750 bag seeder for smaller plots. Larger areas I use an ATV broadcast spreader. Solo 421 spreader is great for small seeds. Does low rates much better than anything else I have seen or used.
You can seed ladino clover while you plant those brassica and bean crops. It'll stay in the background and take over in the spring.
Basic food plots do so well, I dont bother with fancy stuff. I add some brassicas when the weeds are getting a bit heavier from the clover making nitrogen and the grains adding carbon to the soil too.
I use an earthway 2750 bag seeder for smaller plots. Larger areas I use an ATV broadcast spreader. Solo 421 spreader is great for small seeds. Does low rates much better than anything else I have seen or used.
You can seed ladino clover while you plant those brassica and bean crops. It'll stay in the background and take over in the spring.
