Dwarf Essex Rape late spring?

[Warner32]

Alright guys I remember reading a bit about this before but just want to hear what people think

I recently watched a Facebook video from Steve Porters trophy whitetail page.. they are a deer farm based in MN I believe and I saw that they love to plant cycles of DER in the late spring and summer for their trophy bucks and does to eat... it is said the rape has about 20%protein and as stated in the video the guy said the deer will eat it up until it starts to reseed

So I got to thinking that I got about an acre that last year I planted in beans and got absolutely wiped out in a matter of a couple weeks. Granted I know from planting the Rape with radish and turnip before that the deer don't care half as much about it compared to beans and I know it's not as high in protein but they do eat it and it holds up against browse better so was thinking
Could this be a much cheaper/easier little plot to plant in the late spring than till it under before I plant my fall plot?
Anyone ever plant Rape in late Spring before? Thoughts?


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[dogdoc]

If you want it for green manure then it would work fine. I tried a sprinf planting of rape once. The deer never touched it but the grasshoppers and blister beetles loved them. Maybe be different for penned deer but my free roaming deer didn't touch them.

 

[Warner32]

Very interesting. Yes it could be different for high fence deer that may not have as big of a selection of browse... I have planted Rape in with my turnip and raddish fall patch in the past and my deer eat it all to the ground before it even has time to mature... but I do hunt in an area with very little field browse mostly all hardwoods so this could be why


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[Chad Hauenstein]

We planted brassica mixes in mid June two years ago and deer use was heavy. We used short season brassicas though and what was left of the plots were no good by hunting season.

Usage will probably depend on what other options the deer have.

There are brassicas with long growing seasons that can be planted earlier but i have not tried them.