dbltree
Super Moderator
Is right for me? No matter what type of feed you plan on planting, you cannot help but wonder which is best?
That is something that has no simple answer, as there are many questions you need to ask yourself first.
What are the primary reasons your planting and what are the problems you face?
We all hope to draw deer but when and why? Is it to actually hunt over or to provide deer with a premium food source in hopes of ending up with better quality deer?
What about soil problems and your ability to establish and maintain the food source?
What attracts you to a seed source? Price, advertising, claims of “deer prefer ours over theirs” ?
There are differences between varieties of all species of food sources but no one type is best or right for all of us any more then one variety of seed corn or soybean seed is right for all farmers.
There are at least hundreds if not thousands of different hybrid seed corn varieties met to fit farmers needs under wide ranges of soil, moisture and nutrient conditions.
We don’t have quite that selection available to us but we do have options…the question is which one?
Most people tend to choose highly advertised seed and then it becomes a “Ford versus Chevy” scenario. For the most part these are all high quality seed sources in convenient packages that will do the trick for most people.
For those that are interested in fine tuning their plantings it pays to know exactly what you are planting and why.
At the Deer Classic I stopped to pickup various “brand” seed packages and read the label to see what seeds it contains. Most contain seed mixes of which many may not be useful or compatible in your situation.
How many of you know what is in that fancy package? Why is Brand A better then Brand B…or is it?
An example is this…in almost all “name brand” brassica mixes; Dwarf Essex Rape is one of main types of seed. DER is one of the least expensive yet most productive brassicas. Do you know why you are paying sometimes 10X’s its worth?
In Iowa, deer have the best of the best…high protein, top quality food sources so I’m not sure that we can actually expect to feed an acre or two of anything that will actually influence antler growth for instance. Age and genetics will have much more impact then what we feed.
That leaves other very important factors such as yield, ability to withstand drought, grazing pressure, cold weather etc.
If one type of clover will, last into December or another will stay green despite no rain and a 100-degree August weather then those should be important factors to consider.
It may be true that given a chance, deer might choose one variety over another but that is a very very difficult thing to prove and in all cases I can assure you…if deer have a safe place to feed and feed is available…they are going to feed there!
In my case, I need very high yielding varieties that will produce as late as possible in the fall/early winter.
I’m hoping to compare individual seed varieties and small plots of well known seed mixes not so much for deer preference…but for all the other factors.
I would urge everyone to try different single varieties as well as mixes and share your results.
If you plant a commercial mix...read the small label on the back and share with us the species, variety and % of each seed in the mix.
Let us know what type of soil, time of year planted and how long it lasted.
Central Iowa is going even further and hopes to test nutrient levels of different varieties.
Where else are you going to get great information like that?!
That is something that has no simple answer, as there are many questions you need to ask yourself first.
What are the primary reasons your planting and what are the problems you face?
We all hope to draw deer but when and why? Is it to actually hunt over or to provide deer with a premium food source in hopes of ending up with better quality deer?
What about soil problems and your ability to establish and maintain the food source?
What attracts you to a seed source? Price, advertising, claims of “deer prefer ours over theirs” ?
There are differences between varieties of all species of food sources but no one type is best or right for all of us any more then one variety of seed corn or soybean seed is right for all farmers.
There are at least hundreds if not thousands of different hybrid seed corn varieties met to fit farmers needs under wide ranges of soil, moisture and nutrient conditions.
We don’t have quite that selection available to us but we do have options…the question is which one?
Most people tend to choose highly advertised seed and then it becomes a “Ford versus Chevy” scenario. For the most part these are all high quality seed sources in convenient packages that will do the trick for most people.
For those that are interested in fine tuning their plantings it pays to know exactly what you are planting and why.
At the Deer Classic I stopped to pickup various “brand” seed packages and read the label to see what seeds it contains. Most contain seed mixes of which many may not be useful or compatible in your situation.
How many of you know what is in that fancy package? Why is Brand A better then Brand B…or is it?
An example is this…in almost all “name brand” brassica mixes; Dwarf Essex Rape is one of main types of seed. DER is one of the least expensive yet most productive brassicas. Do you know why you are paying sometimes 10X’s its worth?
In Iowa, deer have the best of the best…high protein, top quality food sources so I’m not sure that we can actually expect to feed an acre or two of anything that will actually influence antler growth for instance. Age and genetics will have much more impact then what we feed.
That leaves other very important factors such as yield, ability to withstand drought, grazing pressure, cold weather etc.
If one type of clover will, last into December or another will stay green despite no rain and a 100-degree August weather then those should be important factors to consider.
It may be true that given a chance, deer might choose one variety over another but that is a very very difficult thing to prove and in all cases I can assure you…if deer have a safe place to feed and feed is available…they are going to feed there!
In my case, I need very high yielding varieties that will produce as late as possible in the fall/early winter.
I’m hoping to compare individual seed varieties and small plots of well known seed mixes not so much for deer preference…but for all the other factors.
I would urge everyone to try different single varieties as well as mixes and share your results.
If you plant a commercial mix...read the small label on the back and share with us the species, variety and % of each seed in the mix.
Let us know what type of soil, time of year planted and how long it lasted.
Central Iowa is going even further and hopes to test nutrient levels of different varieties.
Where else are you going to get great information like that?!