Winter Rye Questions?

[Warner32]

Alright guys I have experience planting beans, clover, alfalfa, chicory and brassica mixes of PTT Radish Sugar beats

I have never planted WR and basically would like to know the positives of planting it vs other fall plots.... I see a lot of people on here that seem to swear by winter rye... But my main 2 questions are...

How does WR compare attractiveness wise in the late season compared to a good brassica mix if anyone has seen if the deer prefer one over the other?

And what is the nutritional value of WR for deer in the late fall and winter months?

 

[wiscwhip]

First off, where are you located? You don't have your USDA Zone listed.

 

[wiscwhip]

Got it, Ohio. Rye is planted for many reasons, and whether it is preferred over other crops is mostly irrelevant. Deer eat it, but most will tell you their deer prefer oats to rye. Problem is, in the north, oats die with heavy frosts and are not likely to overwinter, thus leaving you with bare dirt during early spring. Rye will put on growth at very low temps and will be one of the first things to green up in spring to feed deer coming out of a hard winter. Rye is also a great nutrient scavenger, oats and wheat are primarily nutrient users. Lots of reasons to plant cereal rye, the least of which is food preference. The nutritional value is excellent given everything else is dead.

 

[yoderjac]

Alright guys I have experience planting beans, clover, alfalfa, chicory and brassica mixes of PTT Radish Sugar beats

I have never planted WR and basically would like to know the positives of planting it vs other fall plots.... I see a lot of people on here that seem to swear by winter rye... But my main 2 questions are...

How does WR compare attractiveness wise in the late season compared to a good brassica mix if anyone has seen if the deer prefer one over the other?

And what is the nutritional value of WR for deer in the late fall and winter months?

I'm a bit south of you, so everything may not translate. In my area, deer don't show much preference between cereal grains. Personally I think folks put a bit too fine a point on relative attractiveness. Factors like security and plot location seem to drive use more than attractiveness of individual plants in many cases. The attractiveness of plants also changes over time as they peak. The nice thing is that you don't have to choose. As long as you keep the brassica rate light, you can mix it with WR. One cover crop mix that works well for mix is Winter Rye, Crimson Clover, and Purple Top Turnip. The winter rye can crimson provide early and mid-season attraction. Turnip forage tends to get hit after a hard frost and then the tubers get hit late in the season. Winter rye has roughly 15% protein but it has a lot of other value when it comes to soils.

Thanks,

jack

 

[bbcoach]

Food plots are about variety. Since deer are browsers, they like variety. They will eat a little of everything. So plant a little of everything to keep them coming around. WR is a cool weather grain, like WW, that will provide high protein green forage throughout the winter months and into spring. If you are a northern grower, oats will be a draw early September but when your night time temps hit 20 degrees for a few nights they are done. WR doesn't require very much fertilizer, it will grow in lower PH soils, it helps suppress weeds, it is easy to start and grow and deer will eat it. In my observations, WR will be utilized as much as brassicas and will give the deer a early spring food source when brassica leaves are long gone. To me, it's about having a variety of food sources and longevity.

 

[Warner32]

All great information guys I appreciate it, exactly all I wanted to hear about... Seems to me to best throw it into some type of mix with a brassica and clover fall plot in my circumstances...

When I was talking about attractiveness wise I was more wondering if deer see it as a "destination" food plot along the lines of a bean field or corn which I doubt it has that kind of draw nutrition wise.. Seems around here beans and corn trump about everything during deer season even late season.. But I like the fact WR is better for the soil... We have a bean plot with brassica thrown in the bare spots that is next to our new WR plot and then have a clover mix and Alfalfa plot next to that.. So it will be interesting this year to see for me what the deer really want.. I'm not extremely worried about feeding deer in the spring.. They find things to eat in the spring... More looking for a good plot to maximize my deer draw during the season..

Random question.. Do turkeys eat the WR at all since it greens up quick in spring?


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[Tap]

Rye is excellent for soil health. The current wisdom on soil health is to always have something alive and growing. Bare soil is not desirable. Brassica, around here, has been lone gone by February due to browsing.
One thing that I really like about rye is that it gets going very early in the spring. A lot of my plots are wet slopes early in the spring. I can't (and shouldn't) even try to get a machine on my fields in March/April. I'd cause ruts, soil compaction and erosion which would hurt soil health. If I plant brassica (and I do mix in a little) the deer will have them eaten to mud by late Feb, and then there is nothing to protect the soil, let alone produce any feed. And without the rye, then early season weeds start to explode. Yellow Rocket is one example.
When I plant rye, I know that I won't have to worry about my soil or erosion come spring time.

And the old saying about rye growing on a brick is true. No fertilizer needed and it handles a lower pH better than brassicas do.
Last fall, I mixed rye with Balansa Fixation clover, with some red and white clover. It was an amazing plot this spring. The rye was the main backbone of that mix. It kept the weeds at bay until the clover established. If I would have mixed-in brassica instead of the rye, the clover wouldn't have had a nurse crop in the early spring. The winter weeds would have become an issue.

I'm trying something this year...I left the rye fully mature and go to seed on one plot. I want to see if the rye/Balansa mix can become a perpetual plot. Balansa is advertised to be an excellent re-seeder. We'll see.

 

[JoshAnderson]

im from very north western minnesota... like 12 miles from Canada... and i have a 4 acre food plot i break into smaller fields and plant. in one plot is a mid july planting of PTT, DER, GHR and i also have an alfalfa plot out there a sorghum plot and a plot of WR, WW, and AWP (the peas are just for early season cause they get wiped out right away) and id say is a pretty even split between the rye and the brassicas on what they prefer. they hammer both of them. i can see a distinct line in the fall in the rye of where they have been feeding as thye start by the trees and work there way towards the middle. i would say plant some rye.

 

[bbcoach]

32, Once the leaves fall off the trees and the brassicas are gone WR will still be there. Corn and beans are great late season but a GREEN field will draw the deer in. Nothing else will be green except WR and WW. Not sure how long your season is in OHIO but it is a great draw and our turkeys visit the WR all winter long.

 

[yoderjac]

All great information guys I appreciate it, exactly all I wanted to hear about... Seems to me to best throw it into some type of mix with a brassica and clover fall plot in my circumstances...

When I was talking about attractiveness wise I was more wondering if deer see it as a "destination" food plot along the lines of a bean field or corn which I doubt it has that kind of draw nutrition wise.. Seems around here beans and corn trump about everything during deer season even late season.. But I like the fact WR is better for the soil... We have a bean plot with brassica thrown in the bare spots that is next to our new WR plot and then have a clover mix and Alfalfa plot next to that.. So it will be interesting this year to see for me what the deer really want.. I'm not extremely worried about feeding deer in the spring.. They find things to eat in the spring... More looking for a good plot to maximize my deer draw during the season..

Random question.. Do turkeys eat the WR at all since it greens up quick in spring?


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I think a "destination" food plot is more driven by size. When there is hunting pressure, deer don't like to expose themselves during daylight hours in large open food plots. They will typically stay in a thicker covered bedding area during the day and head to high quality food in more open areas at night. Deer tend to be willing to use smaller sub-acre plots more during shooting hours when escape cover is just a couple bounds away.

As for turkey, adult birds will use the grain head of winter rye if you let it head-out in the summer. Winter Rye can be tall, so some like to use winter wheat that is more accessible to younger birds. I'm not sure it matters much.

Winter Rye can be an attractant in the spring for turkey but not so much because they eat it. Planting for spring gobbler is all about habitat. Gobblers will roost where they can be heard by hens. Hens will roost where nesting and brooding habitat are close to each other. It is really all about poults. A very high percentage of a young poults diet consists of insects. WR and clover green up early as you say and attract insects. It is really the insects that are the attractant for poults. Having bare ground under a canopy (soybeans or whatever) near clover is ideal. Poults can move quickly through the beans with cover from avian predators. They can venture into the clover to bug and then retreat into the overhead cover when necessary.

So, when I plant for turkey, I don't worry so much about the "turkey crops" as properly arranging deer food.

Thanks,

jack

 

[Warner32]

32, Once the leaves fall off the trees and the brassicas are gone WR will still be there. Corn and beans are great late season but a GREEN field will draw the deer in. Nothing else will be green except WR and WW. Not sure how long your season is in OHIO but it is a great draw and our turkeys visit the WR all winter long.

And that may be where in Ohio where I hunt may differ from some southern states.. No doubt WR will stay green in the winter but we have a muzzleloader season that runs until January and our season ends beginning of Feb.. In those months we have snow.. Once snow hits or just cold temps in general.. Our deer here head to the corn or beans.. They no longer eat green.. They are trying to pack in those carbohydrates to store fat..I have seen on abnormally warm days in that time of year they will go back and hit a green field tho.. Which is why here some of our best hunting can be late season sitting on a corn field if the hunter wants to be sitting out in the weather



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[bbcoach]

I can't comment on snow but when we do get cold temps, I see the deer hitting both here. They will actually bypass the corn (Carbs) for the GREEN (protein), probably 50% of the time. When the corn and beans are gone, normally in December, they hammer my smaller plots. They normally will have all the food plots clipped very low by late February.

 

[bueller]

I will second what Warner said about the snow covered rye not being of much use up north. The deer here hammer our rye hard all the way up until a good snow covers the plots. That's usually mid-late November in my area. After snow covers it up the plots will be lucky to catch a set of tracks, with NO signs of feeding. The snow melts in the spring and the deer immediately begin hammering the green rye again. Because of this straight rye is a gamble for us come gun season late November. If it hasn't snowed yet the plots are a huge attraction. If there is 4" of snow on the rye it's a waste of time to even hunt over.

 

[Peplin Creek]

I feel like when it comes to winter attraction. It varies on what's available to them. I have had deer dig through snow to get to my green plots, yet last year they dug through snow to get to the acorns.

 

[Peeps]

I will second what Warner said about the snow covered rye not being of much use up north. The deer here hammer our rye hard all the way up until a good snow covers the plots. That's usually mid-late November in my area. After snow covers it up the plots will be lucky to catch a set of tracks, with NO signs of feeding. The snow melts in the spring and the deer immediately begin hammering the green rye again. Because of this straight rye is a gamble for us come gun season late November. If it hasn't snowed yet the plots are a huge attraction. If there is 4" of snow on the rye it's a waste of time to even hunt over.

I took my snowblower out and cleared out an area down to the rye. Once I did that they started hitting it hard again. If you have a tractor this would be easy to do in winter.

 

[browndog]

I feel like when it comes to winter attraction. It varies on what's available to them. I have had deer dig through snow to get to my green plots, yet last year they dug through snow to get to the acorns.

Many years ago, the fields by my place were planted in winter wheat. That whole winter, the fields looked like thousands of landmines went off through the snow from all the digging the deer were doing. It was crazy.

 

[Warner32]

im from very north western minnesota... like 12 miles from Canada... and i have a 4 acre food plot i break into smaller fields and plant. in one plot is a mid july planting of PTT, DER, GHR and i also have an alfalfa plot out there a sorghum plot and a plot of WR, WW, and AWP (the peas are just for early season cause they get wiped out right away) and id say is a pretty even split between the rye and the brassicas on what they prefer. they hammer both of them. i can see a distinct line in the fall in the rye of where they have been feeding as thye start by the trees and work there way towards the middle. i would say plant some rye.

That's what I was interested in was if anyone feels as if they prefer WR over brassica

Here in ohio we will get down to 0 degrees and even below that at the end of season and yes I have seen deer digging in the snow for WR and WW when there is nothing left to eat but having a few corn fields and beans around when it gets that cold the deer swarm to corn.. Their body naturally knows what they need nutrients wise that time of year when faced with that cold of temps

But to me like I said before I was really interested in the difference in Brassica vs WR attractiveness wise but doesn't seem like a big difference for a lot of people


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[Reagan]

I'm in Ohio in an area without many row crops. I started out planting more brassica. Thanks to the www I learned the benefits of rye. I now plant more rye than anything else.

My plots are small. Brassica can get wiped out fast. I've watched deer pull entire plants out of the ground, eat most of it and drop the rest to rot. When I plant rye, they just clip it off and move to the next plant. My plots end up looking like a mowed lawn of rye and stay green longer than a brassica plot.

When the rye goes to seed the following summer, the turkeys will have a feast.


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[bbcoach]

Agree 100% Reagan. Variety gives the wildlife what they prefer at different times of the year. Have a little of everything and you'll see wildlife all year, have a lot of one thing and you'll see wildlife sparingly. Remember, we are trying to improve habitat and food for all the critters, all year long.

 

[Warner32]

I'm in Ohio in an area without many row crops. I started out planting more brassica. Thanks to the www I learned the benefits of rye. I now plant more rye than anything else.

My plots are small. Brassica can get wiped out fast. I've watched deer pull entire plants out of the ground, eat most of it and drop the rest to rot. When I plant rye, they just clip it off and move to the next plant. My plots end up looking like a mowed lawn of rye and stay green longer than a brassica plot.

When the rye goes to seed the following summer, the turkeys will have a feast.


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Come turkey season how tall does your Rye get towards the end of the season?


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