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Brassicas

October 23rd, 2013

Bryhn sent a note and pics off his KS brassicas...lookin' good!

I went by one of my farms in Bourbon county KS today where I was worried that the brassicas were not going to make it. Man was I surprised to see this. The last few rains we had sure helped them out. I thought I would share a few pictures.

This is a first time plot planted on new soil.

Thanks for the help!
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Scott from NE also sent a note and pics...well done!

My name is Scott I live in North Central Nebraska I have been following your threads since last fall. I started from scratch with your suggestion. This is one of three plots I have planted using your methods. Never before planted ground since God created it. It was mostly med. Grass native prairie waist high this spring. I am in shock and awe At how well this has worked out only with your help of course. You can see my cereal mix in the left hand side of the photos. Deer are hammering everything and I just wanna say thank you for sharing your knowledge! God bless.

Oh yeah pics are two weeks old as of today!

Scott
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We may all wear different hats, but across much of the country the results will be same if done right... ;)

Plant ALL in one plot in strips or blocks

Alice, Kopu II, Durana (or comparable) white clover 10% of plot, sow at 6#'s per acre with the rye combination in the fall or in the spring with oats and berseem clover. Correct Ph and P&K with soil tests

Brassicas in 45% of plot

Purple Top Turnips 2.5#
Dwarf Essex Rape 2.5#
GroundHog Forage radish 5#

Plant in mid to late July in most Midwest states, or 60-90 days before your first killing frost, Use 200#'s of 46-0-0 urea and 400#'s of 6-28-28 per acre. Follow the dead brassicas with oats and berseem or crimson clover in mid spring at 50#'s oats and 12-15#'s berseem clover an/or same of crimson clover and/or 50#'s of chickling vetch)

Cereal Grain combo in 45% of plot...I use 50# each rye, oats and peas along with radish and clover seed all plant in half of each feeding area

I use 50#'s each of the following:

Winter rye 50-80#'s per acre (56#'s = a bushel)
Spring oats 50-120#'s per acre (32#'s = a bushel)
Frostmaster Winter Peas or 4010/6040 Forage peas 20-80#'s per acre

Red Clover 8-12#'s per acre or white clover at 6#'s per acre (or 20-40 pounds hairy vetch and 20-30#'s crimson clover on sandy soils)
Groundhog Forage Radish 5#'s per acre

Plant in late August to early September, if following well fertilized brassicas use 100 - 200#'s of urea, if starting a new plot add 400#'s of 6-28-28 but for best results soil test and add only what is necessary.

Rotate the brassicas and rye combo each year
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Oct 29th, 2013

Andrew sent pics and story...

Mr. Knox,

I've been following you for a few years on Iowa Whitetail and Outreach Outdoors after hearing you speak at a QDMA seminar in St. Louis. I want to share some pictures of my recent food plot successes. Your guidance and prescriptive advice has made it easy for rookie food plotters like me to have a serviceable plot! My land is in North Central MO not far from the IA border...so as you well know with the droughts it hasn't been the best few years to "learn" plotting.

Besides a neighbor chisel plowing this field earlier this Spring, all of this field was worked solely with ATV implements (sprayer, disc and cultipacker), bag spreader and of course sweat! Additionally, the entire plot was planted in rye last year as I had a massive brassica failure in the drought; that was the first time the ground has been worked in over 30 years (according to a neighbor).

I planted the 3 acres with your cereal grain / brassica mix split down the middle on August 12th. Additionally, I have 1 acre of white clover that I'm working on getting in shape in an adjacent plot. My area had less than 2.5" of rain since planting and I didn't get a chance to check on things until this past weekend. I assumed that I was going to be hunting over a fescue and weed plot this fall and had an emergency bag of rye in the truck to try and salvage the ground.

When I pulled in the field my jaw dropped! The rye and improved soils from last year had to be the reason! Admittedly, I didn't perform a soil test and only estimated fertilizer and lime. I had a neighbor try an all turnip plot planted a week before mine and he only had ~15% germination...he will be hunting over a dirt plot next month!
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Sometimes it's far better to hear from others and I certainly enjoy hearing success stories like Andrew's!



The biggest mistake I knowingly made was planting the cereal grain side that early. It is a little high for this early in the year, but I was limited on time. Luckily the deer are still actively chowing the rye, oats, peas and clover while the brassicas are waiting for colder days! As you can see in the pictures, the customers are very appreciative of their new buffet!

I want to sincerely thank you for your leadership and willingness to share your wonderful knowledge. May God continue to bless you & yours and I wish you many successes with your Outreach programs! I give you the credit and the glory to God!

My Best,
Andy
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Thanks and Amen Andy!





The power of winter rye can not be underestimated...crop insurance for plotters!





My friend Skip sent in pics a while back...brassicas look great!





Hunt safe everyone and enjoy this great outdoors God created for us! :way:
 
Paul,

Just want to say "thanks"! Even though my plots could have done better this year (drought and first year ever of plotting)... they far exceeded my expectations, mostly due to all the information that I've picked up from these threads. Brassicas look good, and even though the winter rye is thin, the deer are HAMMERING it. The real payoff was my first sit this past weekend with my son, for youth season. We saw 6 -10 deer, several bucks and just had a blast. Wouldn't have been the same had I not gotten hooked on plotting. It was really satisfying to know that we turned some scrub ground into a highly productive, deer attracting area.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the help / advice.

Steve P.
St. Louis, MO
 
November 11th, 2013

There are many reasons and advantages to planting multiple crops in each plot, ease of rotation, soil building, reduced fertilizer, herbicide inputs, providing year around food sources to encourage habitual use of plots are all important. Any one/single crop be it beans or brassicas can be easily wiped out, so having different crops growing at different stages/times to avoid deer decimating a single species is very important.

In October and early November whitetails focus on the lush, rye, oats and peas and that insures that the root crops will be available in late December thru mid winter...



When deer are feeding on the brassica portion of the plot...



they are usually focusing on the forage radish tops



The "buffet" of crop species keeps deer moving thru the plot versus focusing on one thing



In most cases deer will eat forage radish foliage first, rape foliage early December and the turnip roots last



Deer don't follow directions very well however and we have seen cases where they decimate brassicas...



Roots and all by late October...



For us, this is where land management comes into play, increasing nutrient levels to increase yields to keep with grazing



Often increasing field/plot size is not an option due to CRP restrictions and a 2 ac plot surrounded by 200 acres of premium cover is going to get hit hard. Each individual may encounter different challenges but as one creates better quality cover thru planting NWSG and Timber Stand Improvement...you will have more deer and more intense use of feeding areas.

Yearly soil testing and soil management will help you feed more deer...on less acres... :way:
 
Dbltree,

So I've read this:

Plant ALL in one plot in strips or blocks

Alice, Kopu II, Durana (or comparable) white clover 10% of plot, sow at 6#'s per acre with the rye combination in the fall or in the spring with oats and berseem clover. Correct Ph and P&K with soil tests

Brassicas in 45% of plot

Purple Top Turnips 2.5#
Dwarf Essex Rape 2.5#
GroundHog Forage radish 5#

Plant in mid to late July in most Midwest states, or 60-90 days before your first killing frost, Use 200#'s of 46-0-0 urea and 400#'s of 6-28-28 per acre. Follow the dead brassicas with oats and berseem or crimson clover in mid spring at 50#'s oats and 12-15#'s berseem clover an/or same of crimson clover and/or 50#'s of chickling vetch)

Cereal Grain combo in 45% of plot...I use 50# each rye, oats and peas along with radish and clover seed all plant in half of each feeding area

I use 50#'s each of the following:

Winter rye 50-80#'s per acre (56#'s = a bushel)
Spring oats 50-120#'s per acre (32#'s = a bushel)
Frostmaster Winter Peas or 4010/6040 Forage peas 20-80#'s per acre

Red Clover 8-12#'s per acre or white clover at 6#'s per acre (or 20-40 pounds hairy vetch and 20-30#'s crimson clover on sandy soils)
Groundhog Forage Radish 5#'s per acre

Plant in late August to early September, if following well fertilized brassicas use 100 - 200#'s of urea, if starting a new plot add 400#'s of 6-28-28 but for best results soil test and add only what is necessary.

Rotate the brassicas and rye combo each year


And as I understand it I should follow my brassicas with oats and clover in the spring, which I will then till under when I rotate that area to the rye mix.

What I'm not clear on is what I do with my "Rye side" come spring...? Do I plant it to the same mix of clover and oats (until it's time to plant the brassicas), or does it get something else?

I guess an easier way to ask the same question is... what do I do with the portion of my plot that is planted to winter rye, and when?

Hope that makes sense... sorry if I'm missing the obvious.

Thanks.

Steve
 
Winter rye 50-80#'s per acre (56#'s = a bushel)
Spring oats 50-120#'s per acre (32#'s = a bushel)
Frostmaster Winter Peas or 4010/6040 Forage peas 20-80#'s per acre

Red Clover 8-12#'s per acre or white clover at 6#'s per acre (or 20-40 pounds hairy vetch and 20-30#'s crimson clover on sandy soils)
Groundhog Forage Radish 5#'s per acre

Add red clover with rye/oats/peas, spray or mow the rye in the spring and you are good to go :way:
 
November 22nd, 2013

Dave and his brother planted the brassica mix July 20th...wow, well done fellas!



Jess planted the rye mix in early September and Daves brother killed this buck in early November...gotta love it when a plan comes together!



This is a field/example of a situation where we are hard pressed to grow enough feed, 5 ac of cereal/brassica rotation and 1 ac white clover surrounded by heavily hinged/edge feathered timber. Note cereal mix is not up yet



Here the cereal mix is up and getting attention



They have kept the rye/oats/peas grazed to the dirt



and demolish the brassica roots in October!



There is no more ground to plant so we have to fertilize heavily to achieve high yields that assure the field will be full of deer in late December, early January. Failure is not an option so crops such as beans and corn are out of the question...



Planting multiple crops insures success in small fields with heavy grazing pressure, without the need for fencing etc.



Deer move from one food source to another without being forced to leave the field and thereby become habitual and easy to kill. No one crop can do this, especially in the midwest and northern areas and no combination of crops is better at feeding deer and building soils at the same time...;)

Plant ALL in one plot in strips or blocks

Alice, Kopu II, Durana (or comparable) white clover 10% of plot, sow at 6#'s per acre with the rye combination in the fall or in the spring with oats and berseem clover. Correct Ph and P&K with soil tests

Brassicas in 45% of plot

Purple Top Turnips 2.5#
Dwarf Essex Rape 2.5#
GroundHog Forage radish 5#

Plant in mid to late July in most Midwest states, or 60-90 days before your first killing frost, Use 200#'s of 46-0-0 urea and 400#'s of 6-28-28 per acre. Follow the dead brassicas with oats and berseem or crimson clover in mid spring at 50#'s oats and 12-15#'s berseem clover an/or same of crimson clover and/or 50#'s of chickling vetch)

Cereal Grain combo in 45% of plot...I use 50# each rye, oats and peas along with radish and clover seed all plant in half of each feeding area

I use 50#'s each of the following:

Winter rye 50-80#'s per acre (56#'s = a bushel)
Spring oats 50-120#'s per acre (32#'s = a bushel)
Frostmaster Winter Peas or 4010/6040 Forage peas 20-80#'s per acre

Red Clover 8-12#'s per acre or white clover at 6#'s per acre (or 20-40 pounds hairy vetch and 20-30#'s crimson clover on sandy soils)
Groundhog Forage Radish 5#'s per acre

Plant in late August to early September, if following well fertilized brassicas use 100 - 200#'s of urea, if starting a new plot add 400#'s of 6-28-28 but for best results soil test and add only what is necessary.

Rotate the brassicas and rye combo each year
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Paul- I'm looking for a new hand seed spreader for small quantities of small seed like clover and brassica. I saw one you recommended somewhere but can't find the link now....seemed like it was about the size of a gallon jug and white with red lettering. Can you point me to it? Thanks.
 
OHIOshedder said:
Paul- I'm looking for a new hand seed spreader for small quantities of small seed like clover and brassica. I saw one you recommended somewhere but can't find the link now....seemed like it was about the size of a gallon jug and white with red lettering. Can you point me to it? Thanks.
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Earthway and Solo make good broadcasters but others may share what works for them.
 
Clover and oats

What is the recomended fertilizer and or nitrogen amount you'd put in the soil following the brassicas in the spring to plant crimson clover and oats? My soil has been amended to make it almost perfect per soil samples before the brassicas were planted. Thank you Paul for everything you have done and shared for the qdma world. Your legacy shall last forever! God bless you and your family.
 
wv hunter said:
What is the recomended fertilizer and or nitrogen amount you'd put in the soil following the brassicas in the spring to plant crimson clover and oats? My soil has been amended to make it almost perfect per soil samples before the brassicas were planted. Thank you Paul for everything you have done and shared for the qdma world. Your legacy shall last forever! God bless you and your family.
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None should be needed, fertilize the brassicas heavily and that should provide nutrients for oats/crimson and the cereal mix in the fall. If the annual clovers do well then no additional nitrogen is needed for the rye mix, if not then 100# urea might be needed.

Thanks for your kind words :)
 
To anyone contemplating trying "Dbltree's Rotation"(yes, it should be capitalized and a proper noun) just do it! As a farmer and stubborn Norwegian, I stuck to growing corn for plots because I had the means and equipment to do it. This year because of the super wet, late spring I didn't get anything planted till late June, went with beans, and they got wiped out like I figured they would. This gave me the perfect excuse to try the brassicas, rye split. I was amazed at the deer traffic on the rye. And because there was enough rye to satisfy them, they left the brassicas alone till they grew up and made a huge crop, which the deer are now enjoying! I'm not good with posting pics so you'll have to take my word for it. Bonker also hunted over my plots so you could ask him how they worked, of course there is the ? of his credibility. Thanks Paul
 
I drove to my place this morning and didn't see a deer all the way down here...until I got to my brassica plot. There were 6 baldies out there in it at 11:30a.

This is the time of the year that brassicas shine.
 
dbltree said:
Bonker would never lead anyone astray...:rolleyes::D

Thanks for stopping by Dave! :)
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You're welcome Paul. It was great to see you. I should mention too that the brassica plot referenced above was planted by Jesse this summer. So it really is a Dbltree plot! :)
 
turkeyriver said:
To anyone contemplating trying "Dbltree's Rotation"(yes, it should be capitalized and a proper noun) just do it! As a farmer and stubborn Norwegian, I stuck to growing corn for plots because I had the means and equipment to do it. This year because of the super wet, late spring I didn't get anything planted till late June, went with beans, and they got wiped out like I figured they would. This gave me the perfect excuse to try the brassicas, rye split. I was amazed at the deer traffic on the rye. And because there was enough rye to satisfy them, they left the brassicas alone till they grew up and made a huge crop, which the deer are now enjoying! I'm not good with posting pics so you'll have to take my word for it. Bonker also hunted over my plots so you could ask him how they worked, of course there is the ? of his credibility. Thanks Paul
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I agree with that! My only problem was the deer were destroying my brassica plot to soon. They ate all the tops off all the brassicas by October. And it was bare dirt by November. The rye side was also kept well groomed. I will say the acorn corn and fruit tree crop was non existent due to a late frost so there wasn't a whole lot of good eating.Hopefully next year they save some for winter.
 
I planted antler king brassicas in late july. They came up great, however the deer have yet to touch them. This has got me confused?
 
Three possibilities I can think of. Do deer have a better food source nearby? Standing corn or beans cut high that left a lot of grain out there? Have the deer moved to a winter bedding area a long ways from your plot? Lastly, maybe your deer have never tasted brassicas and don't know what they are. There is a learning curve for deer to eat them. Try mixing some winter rye in with brassicas next year.
 
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