Horse manure......

[X-farmerdan]

I have just come in off the street on this one. When it comes time to plant I always grab some turnips even though deer here don't seem to need or want them. I turned a trail camera around on the tops for a couple weeks. While they do get browsed it's only lightly - like someone trying a cheese sample at the grocery store. I wonder if it doesn't get cold enough here for the turnip to develop the sugars that would make it more tasty? The relative warmth leads to another issue with regard to turnips. If they ain't good, there's ALWAYS something around here to eat.

Buck Forage Oats. I think there probably is merit to the claims. I want to believe they were selected based on certain characteristics that would make them dandy for food plotting and the deer we hope to attract....just like the selection and development of any other seed. But, oats just don't get any respect. For corn and soybeans we have zones and zones within zones and seeds that do well here but not there bringing a whole science and art to picking varieties for planting. Oats, not so much.

Feed oats, seed oats, or Buck Forage Oats? I admit I'm the first one to grab a bag of feed oats to throw down on the ground, but, for the price difference and if it was convenient I think I would prefer seed oats. They tend to be vigorous and hardy compared to feed oats. There are a few varieties that might have some advantage, but I don't have a clue which. Having said what I said about Buck Forage Oats, I just can't bring myself to find enough advantage to pay the price. If YOU do, I think you have made a good choice.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I have just come in off the street on this one. When it comes time to plant I always grab some turnips even though deer here don't seem to need or want them. I turned a trail camera around on the tops for a couple weeks. While they do get browsed it's only lightly - like someone trying a cheese sample at the grocery store. I wonder if it doesn't get cold enough here for the turnip to develop the sugars that would make it more tasty? The relative warmth leads to another issue with regard to turnips. If they ain't good, there's ALWAYS something around here to eat.

Buck Forage Oats. I think there probably is merit to the claims. I want to believe they were selected based on certain characteristics that would make them dandy for food plotting and the deer we hope to attract....just like the selection and development of any other seed. But, oats just don't get any respect. For corn and soybeans we have zones and zones within zones and seeds that do well here but not there bringing a whole science and art to picking varieties for planting. Oats, not so much.

Feed oats, seed oats, or Buck Forage Oats? I admit I'm the first one to grab a bag of feed oats to throw down on the ground, but, for the price difference and if it was convenient I think I would prefer seed oats. They tend to be vigorous and hardy compared to feed oats. There are a few varieties that might have some advantage, but I don't have a clue which. Having said what I said about Buck Forage Oats, I just can't bring myself to find enough advantage to pay the price. If YOU do, I think you have made a good choice.

Why keep planting brassicas if your deer don't care for them? Do your deer hit the oats pretty good? When do you plant them?

 

[X-farmerdan]

I plant anything and everything. I am a planter! I plant sunflowers and pumpkins, corn, soybeans, any and all kinds of clover....and it goes on. I have the space and I'm curious to see what happens to each of those plantings. I think one day, the turnips will get hit. It will be a day in February when its supernaturally cold and the snow will be a foot deep...and all the radishes are gone!

Oats, rye, radishes, and peas in the fall. Oats as a nurse crop when I (do) plant clover in the spring. When there's a good crop of oats, the deer line up in formation and methodically drive around the field mowing down the oats. They do like oats!