Oats or Rye??

[Satguy]

Buck forage oats run $34.50 a bag. Jerry oats are $7.85 a bag. All 50# bags. What is the difference between the two as used for a deer food plot? Welters seed has 11 different varieties of oats ranging from $6.50 a bag to $8.75 a bag. What are your opinions on varieties to use?

 

[FarmerD]

Every area of the country is a little different
I think oats, if they will survive your area of the country are a good fall attractant and provide some benefit the following year.
Rye can be a good fall attractant too and has many benefits, including helping with early weed control and adding lots of biomass.
I thought what Dr. Grant Woods found out, was similar to my experience with oats, down south. The deer eat my mature oat heads and the oats perform for me, like the wheat does for him. But, I think wheat is a good option to grow as well.
I guess it depends on what your goals are for 2018 and if you want a stand of clover.

http://www.growingdeer.tv/#/over-15-tips-for-the-best-food-plots-and-nutritious-native-browse

 

[j-bird]

normal (non-buck forage) oats here last until the first frost and are toast (which is typically November) - 2 weeks or more before our gun opener. Wheat will survive the winter here so oats/wheat carries the green from early season into gun season here. Rye will stray green and growing a little later than the wheat will, but not substantially longer. Oats don;t survive winter here. Rye will wake up first and a few weeks later then the wheat will.....those few weeks here are not a deal breaker in my area typically. I have always planted Jerry/Bin oats....they are going to die so why spend lots of $ if I am providing other cereal grains anyway.

 

[bigbluetruck]

An option for a more winter hardy oats would be Black oats, if you can get them affordably. They will also make more biomass than regular oats.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Buck forage oats run $34.50 a bag. Jerry oats are $7.85 a bag. All 50# bags. What is the difference between the two as used for a deer food plot? Welters seed has 11 different varieties of oats ranging from $6.50 a bag to $8.75 a bag. What are your opinions on varieties to use?

IMO oats is oats. Like Jbird said they all taste the same and r all going to die anyway. Go to the feed mill and get a hundred lb bag for fourteen dollars. I also get my wheat and rye that way. Take the money you save and go hunting an extra day or buy a new gun. To me one of the important principles of food plots are cheap&easy&fast, and those are the ideas I'm watching for on the forum. LC plots are cheap&easy&fast and oats are a cornerstone in them. One thing though, how many acres do you have? If I'd only have one small plot I'd be buying the expensive stuff and put on lots of fertilizer. With plenty of plot acres, go cheap and put out more acres to insure that the deer don't wipe out the plot.

 

[G3 Ranch]

Planted basic spring oats with rye & clover last fall, oats were done after the 2nd freeze... thinking of wheat and oats this year with the rye. I think I'd like to add some BFO in just to see if they are actually more cold hardy.

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[coolbrze0]

Good topic, they've got a few different kind of oats & rye at my local co-ops also, not sure what's the best but maybe I'll try them all & put out some exclusion cages & cameras...

 

[Mennoniteman]

Good topic, they've got a few different kind of oats & rye at my local co-ops also, not sure what's the best but maybe I'll try them all & put out some exclusion cages & cameras...

Rye does much better as an early fall planting, it overwinters into the next spring, with a summer crop of grain. It's not as common that people plant rye in the spring, it doesn't do as good as oats and wheat for a spring planting, so I'd recommend oats.

 

[Creek chub]

I planted Pennington’s expensive oats last August. They grew great but the deer hardly touched them. I’m planting plain bin run oats from now on. But, I prefer rye since it makes through the winter and takes off in the spring for throw and mow for buckwheat planting in late spring

 

[jsasker007]

I liked fall planted rye for the very helpful weed control it gives you in the following spring.