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.