No luck with oats

First annual plot I ever did was a brassica plot. My dad had planted oats in a 3 acre field inside our woods. I already claimed the arrowhead portion of the field because machinery couldn't navigate it well anyway. We got the oats off sometime in late July/early August. I went and worked up a good half acre of it and broadcast brassicas. The combine we used shot about half the oats out the back with the straw, so where there was a straw row, I had great oat germination. Inbetween the rows, my brassicas came up.

The deer had never seen brassicas and ignored them, but they went nuts for them green oats when it got cold out.
 
To be honest, i have found sometimes it takes the deer a year or two to fully accept something new. I planted soybeans on my home ground one year and could not tell they every ate a leaf off of them. I planted them again the next year and they ate the ok - and from then on - they have destroyed them. I planted some tecomate lablab plus this year and it has been very lightly browsed.

Maybe if I planted BFO for two or three years - I might see a difference, also - but it would have to be a huge difference. I have purchased 95 bags of wheat for planting this fall - BFO costs four times as much. The deer use my wheat great - I cant justify spending for times as much money for basically the same useage. Deer arent crazy about winter rye at my place - using it even less than the oats

Swampcat, as much as I believe in BFO, I would never advocate replacing 40 acres of wheat with 40 acres of BFO. The farmer who uses 35 acres of my property for AG production has planted for the last three years wheat, triticale, barley, Austrian Winter Peas, and rye with the majority of it being rye. Rye has been the best overall because it adds much organic matter to the soil, feeds the deer in the fall, winter and especially in early spring AND it hides fawns during their most vulnerable time of their life and still more the grain is combined(harvested) to add to a diversified menu for his dairy cows. It is a win-win for both of us and especially the deer. The rye "straw" is left in the field to help raise the organic matter in the soil. Here in the north the oats winter kill so overall oats do not compare in their value to the deer nor the farmer's dairy herd nor the rebuilding of soil. However an acre or two or three of BFO planted at just the right time so it is young and tender during peak hunting time draws the deer in or at least holds their attention from 2 pm until dark which could help them live a longer life as venturing off of this property definitely shortens their expected lifespan.

I am not saying that other oats don't work just as well on other properties but so far here they are the big hit.

Mark Darvin, I pretty much agree with you in every post you ever made except the one in this thread that there are other oats that are the same as BFO. As some of you know besides having a deer hunting passion, I also love to hybridize daylilies. Due to that I can relate to the BFO company hybridizing their oats specifically to make them more valuable to deer. Differences such as better taste, better growth, better roots system, better cold tolerance etc. can be bred into them if someone is aiming specifically at that which I believe BFO is attempting to do. If BFO is doing that as I perceive they are and if they are successful which I have reason to believe they are then no AG oats not specially hybridized for deer over last twenty years will compare. For those not familiar with hybridizing which is not rocket science, one is simply crossing plants with characteristics which meet the purpose of what is desirable(drawing and feeding deer in this instance). Three or more generations of doing this and an improved( plant that draws deer, is more cold hardy, more vigorous and tasty to the deer) oat is the result. Since BFO has been doing this for twenty years or so I do not think that there are any other oats that are the "same thing".

And further will BFO surpass all other oats on every single property? I don't believe so but they have the formula for this property for sure. In hybridizing one chooses the characteristics desired and since there is only one BFO variety that I know of it can not match up to absolutely every property's environment.

Any BFO people who might read this,please feel welcome to correct me on that.
 
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Swampcat, as much as I believe in BFO, I would never advocate replacing 40 acres of wheat with 40 acres of BFO. The farmer who uses 35 acres of my property for AG production has planted for the last three years wheat, triticale, barley, Austrian Winter Peas, and rye with the majority of it being rye. Rye has been the best overall because it adds much organic matter to the soil, feeds the deer in the fall, winter and especially in early spring AND it hides fawns during their most vulnerable time of their life and still more the grain is combined(harvested) to add to a diversified menu for his dairy cows. It is a win-win for both of us and especially the deer. The rye "straw" is left in the field to help raise the organic matter in the soil. Here in the north the oats winter kill so overall oats do not compare in their value to the deer nor the farmer's dairy herd nor the rebuilding of soil. However an acre or two or three of BFO planted at just the right time so it is young and tender during peak hunting time draws the deer in or at least holds their attention from 2 pm until dark which could help them live a longer life as venturing off of this property definitely shortens their expected lifespan.

I am not saying that other oats don't work just as well on other properties but so far here they are the big hit.

Mark Darvin, I pretty much agree with you in every post you ever made except the one in this thread that there are other oats that are the same as BFO. As some of you know besides having a deer hunting passion, I also love to hybridize daylilies. Due to that I can relate to the BFO company hybridizing their oats specifically to make them more valuable to deer. Differences such as better taste, better growth, better roots system, better cold tolerance etc. can be bred into them if someone is aiming specifically at that which I believe BFO is attempting to do. If BFO is doing that as I perceive they are and if they are successful which I have reason to believe they are then no AG oats not specially hybridized for deer over last twenty years will compare. For those not familiar with hybridizing which is not rocket science, one is simply crossing plants with characteristics which meet the purpose of what is desirable(drawing and feeding deer in this instance). Three or more generations of doing this and an improved( plant that draws deer, is more cold hardy, more vigorous and tasty to the deer) oat is the result. Since BFO has been doing this for twenty years or so I do not think that there are any other oats that are the "same thing".

And further will BFO surpass all other oats on every single property? I don't believe so but they have the formula for this property for sure. In hybridizing one chooses the characteristics desired and since there is only one BFO variety that I know of it can not match up to absolutely every property's environment.

Any BFO people who might read this,please feel welcome to correct me on that.

Rather than just believe and pull out the wallet, I think it's best to run a real world side by side trial on your property just like that legend Paul Knox aka LC did. For his property, the proof was in the puddin and Jerry Oats won the day. Plus, isn't that kind of thing half the fun?!!!
 
Rather than just believe and pull out the wallet, I think it's best to run a real world side by side trial on your property just like that legend Paul Knox aka LC did. For his property, the proof was in the puddin and Jerry Oats won the day. Plus, isn't that kind of thing half the fun?!!!
And since there seems to be so much variability across regions and properties can't hurt to see what will outperform on your own.
 
Swampcat, as much as I believe in BFO, I would never advocate replacing 40 acres of wheat with 40 acres of BFO. The farmer who uses 35 acres of my property for AG production has planted for the last three years wheat, triticale, barley, Austrian Winter Peas, and rye with the majority of it being rye. Rye has been the best overall because it adds much organic matter to the soil, feeds the deer in the fall, winter and especially in early spring AND it hides fawns during their most vulnerable time of their life and still more the grain is combined(harvested) to add to a diversified menu for his dairy cows. It is a win-win for both of us and especially the deer. The rye "straw" is left in the field to help raise the organic matter in the soil. Here in the north the oats winter kill so overall oats do not compare in their value to the deer nor the farmer's dairy herd nor the rebuilding of soil. However an acre or two or three of BFO planted at just the right time so it is young and tender during peak hunting time draws the deer in or at least holds their attention from 2 pm until dark which could help them live a longer life as venturing off of this property definitely shortens their expected lifespan.

I am not saying that other oats don't work just as well on other properties but so far here they are the big hit.

Mark Darvin, I pretty much agree with you in every post you ever made except the one in this thread that there are other oats that are the same as BFO. As some of you know besides having a deer hunting passion, I also love to hybridize daylilies. Due to that I can relate to the BFO company hybridizing their oats specifically to make them more valuable to deer. Differences such as better taste, better growth, better roots system, better cold tolerance etc. can be bred into them if someone is aiming specifically at that which I believe BFO is attempting to do. If BFO is doing that as I perceive they are and if they are successful which I have reason to believe they are then no AG oats not specially hybridized for deer over last twenty years will compare. For those not familiar with hybridizing which is not rocket science, one is simply crossing plants with characteristics which meet the purpose of what is desirable(drawing and feeding deer in this instance). Three or more generations of doing this and an improved( plant that draws deer, is more cold hardy, more vigorous and tasty to the deer) oat is the result. Since BFO has been doing this for twenty years or so I do not think that there are any other oats that are the "same thing".

And further will BFO surpass all other oats on every single property? I don't believe so but they have the formula for this property for sure. In hybridizing one chooses the characteristics desired and since there is only one BFO variety that I know of it can not match up to absolutely every property's environment.

Any BFO people who might read this,please feel welcome to correct me on that.

I in no way mean to tell someone what they "need" to do. If anyone needs to do anything, it is try various things to see what works best on their property. Most of us make decisions based not only on how well a deer eats what we plant, but how much it costs, what effort does it take to plant, what your local deer density might be, how much land you are planting, how severe your winters, how hot and dry your summers, etc. What works for me here down south may very well not work for many folks up north. On my own ground, I have split a one acre food plot and plant half with wheat and half with BFO. The BFO was not eaten as well as the wheat and yellowed during wet weather much quicker than wheat. When I worked for the Govt, we planted some BFO on some dry upland, rocky sites, where it did not do well - and neither did wheat. BFO, at its price compared to feed wheat or feed oats - would have to perform head and shoulders above the other plantings for me to pay four times as much for it. However, that said, I plant Eagle Seed beans - at twice the price of regular ag beans - but on my ground, they are the difference between having your ag beans eaten to the ground and having beans live through the growing season and make pods. BUT, that is on my ground, in my little corner of the county, in a southern state.

This site has a lot of members who have a lot of experience. A lot of us have tried a lot of things - and failed a lot of times - but we usually learn from our mistakes. I still try some new things, but for the most part, I plant so many acres - I want something that is pretty easy, inexpensive, and proven. But, I am still dabbling a little bit in the throw and mow practice - mostly unsuccessfully so far, but if I every get it down, it will have a place in my management arsenal. I keep an open mind, but I also know things that might be someone else's bread and butter may be a total failure for me.
 
It would be interesting to see, but I've already found a solution for me, and my deer eat anything. Seems most ag states have colleges that shoot out all sorts of oat varieties. Where I'm at I use a late maturity oat that also produces a wider leaf and taller plant before producing a seed head. I had gotten a chance to look over my oats this weekend, and the only reason I knew I got my oats to take this year is because I saw the browsed hollow stems 6" off the ground. Wish I knew how tall they got before the deer gobbled them up.
 
I only plant 1 ac of WI oats each year and the deer hit it hard all winter. Then the deer hit it hard with spring green up. WI oats has wintered over 5 out of 5 years and always greens up come spring here in SW Ohio.
 
I plant Wheat and Oats each year. The deer seem to like both fairly equally. These plots are getting hammered already this year
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Rather than just believe and pull out the wallet, I think it's best to run a real world side by side trial on your property just like that legend Paul Knox aka LC did. For his property, the proof was in the puddin and Jerry Oats won the day. Plus, isn't that kind of thing half the fun?!!!

I remember reading on one of LC's threads and having only done one side by side test myself with unknown oats against BFO, I'll never know if the oats Paul used would have made a difference here. AS you stated the best way for any one to know would be test different things on one's own property as all of our property's are so different.

And deer are different everywhere.Here deer have been observed leaving apples to feed on hickory nuts; In many parts of the country hickory nuts are not eaten by the deer living there. We actually release hickory trees while in other locales they are considered junk trees.
 
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Been a fan of BFO's since 1st planting them in 2012. Always include them in a small quantity somewhere on the farm. As far as grains, wheat has become our mainstay over the last 2 years. It's cheap, easy to grow and deer eat it. But, deer seem to love the BFO's more than any other grain so we always add at least a couple acres of that each fall and try to rotate from plot to plot.
 
I plant Bob oats every year, mixed with wheat and/or rye. I can't tell one from the other during the winter and now my OCD side is thinking I should try side by side plantings to gauge preference!

Of course, the lazy side of me says its all getting eaten and mixing all the seeds in the hopper of my spreader sure is easier....
 
I tried side by side BFO last year and test did not convince me to purchase any this year. I did go with seed oats instead of feed oats. And any kind of wheat is good. To me the wheat oats mixture is good along with rye that pops up wherever I mow a shooting lane
 
My experience with oats has been the deer allow it to grow tall and ignore it.

That has never happened so far with wheat.
 
Looks like I spoke too soon, as the deer are now pounding the BFO’s! Not sure if it’s the colder weather or maybe they ate most of the acorns, but they are mowing down the oats.
 
I've planted BFO, wheat, winter rye, and co-op oats side by side several times. In order of preference (according to several seasons of deer observations); wheat... and then everything else. I've seen very few signs of preference of oats or rye on my places. It doesn't matter if it's BFO or other oats, deer don't seem to like them much and will walk through those plots to get to wheat. Wheat is king on my places but I still plant mixes that include all three. I believe variety is important for the soil, shifts in weather, plant diseases, and mineral uptake of plants (to include help from fungi and bacterial colonies in the ground).
 
I agree wheat is most attractive compared to the other mentioned. And I always plant either seed or reclaimed oats. Deer haven't complained. I do prefer crop rotation into WR as WW tends to tiller moreso the following spring/summer. But that's being picky. Couldn't plant WW this year as feed store was out. Dang farmers and their cover crop management these days. Sure was easier for me when they just left ground bare.;)
 
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