Have you started your seed search?

[growalot]

First not trying to step on toes here... but I'm always searching and looking at deals, free shipping, new types of plants ect....

So Have you guys started searching yet? I have...and an example would be : Durana clover..very expensive and I have found, lets start 5#'s with a price range of 59.99 to 42.50  with free shipping

What types of seeds are you looking at and what are some of the best prices or specials...there are specials going on right now are you finding?

[landtracdeerhunter]

I picked up a 60 pound bag of medium red clover locally for $100 yesterday. Climax timothy was more however. Weather stays like this, frost seeding will be easy this year. I have seen some of last years fancy mixes reduced, like 50%.

[growalot]

There are many seeds I can't get locally, so.I'm always.looking for that free shipping. The great thing about buying small seed now and on sale is small seed germination remains fairly stable . So last year's seed isn't a problem...That being last year's seed is actually 2 years old now. But I have stored Burnett, WW,WR,OATS,SORGHUM ,turnips,rape seed for a few years in my basement and had very very good germination.

[SplitG2]

we always have free shipping! 

[turkeyfeathers]

Just ordered purple kush from Amsterdam 

 

[DirtTime]

1 hour ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Just ordered purple kush from Amsterdam 

 

LOL! 

 

Hmmmm.....Your name is Jay................. 

[wolc123]

I have enough RR corn seed in my basement now for about 5 acres. That is a bit more than enough to get me thru this spring.   I will scrounge up some more, by cleaning out some friends and relatives big planters, around the end of June, to get me thru the next few years. Finding plenty of free "left-over" corn, soybeans and wheat is never a problem, with much of my wife's and my own family in the dairy business.  I don't buy much seed, but will probably get a little white clover and turnips towards the end of summer.  I always find turnips the cheapest, in central VA, as we are driving across the state to visit family in VA beach.  White clover always seems the cheapest at Rineharts in Middleport NY.  That is where I spend most of my food plot allowance, on fertilizer.  Off-brand gly is always cheapest there also.   Hopefully, diesel and gas will be fairly cheap again this year. It should be, if Trump follows thru on his "Energy Independence" plans.   We will have to do pretty good this year to beat what we did last year, when the cost of boneless venison came in at well under $1.00 per pound after subtracting all foodplot input costs.         

[growalot]

I recently found turnips for 1+ change...free shipping...I have enough turnip seed to last quite a while now...Dang those Hercules got so big ...you need a lot less seed for them. But this year I am really trying to get most spots into perennials Though due to weed growth in mixed bean plots I have to spend my $$ on buckwheat this spring...depending on how that does in those fields I will either go with a late summer/fall clover/alfalfa mix with a late winter grain walk over ...As Dr. Woods pointed out,and it makes sense. The WW walk over will take up the excess nitrogen in the legume plot. This in turn helps to keep the nitrogen loving weeds down a bit...plus it has suppression chemicals in it.

Due to the high winds from the west/north down where I'm working that wood lot near Rivers blind...I am thinking about laying down a combo of Italian rye,orchard grasses,Durana  Arrow leaf and Mammoth white clovers.  These all handle some shade and lower acid...require little disturbance and the act of racking off just the top layer of rocks should be all I need. I will do that in the late summer as well... The leaf fall should  be manageable with just one late clearing  and there will definitely be far less trees in there.

I worked the area today and already the deer are using it much more...droppings all along the east side of brush fencing...The winds have been brutal and that fence makes for a great wind break....add some comfy ground to bed in and it should fill up nicely. My Orchard grass does now and always has tons of droppings for the small area it's in...Whether they are feeding on it or just using the very thick clumping nature of it to bed in I do not know..I imagine both for It has to have wonderful ground thermal properties for bedding

[BizCT]

Whitetail Institute No Plow this year


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[LET EM GROW]

For brassicas ill be sticking with the DeerAg, but im trying to figure out what clover species are best to frost seed my existing clover plots. hear lots of dif opinions. but it seems aslike ladino berseem and even med red clovers. 

 

Any opinions?? As of last year instead of growing and disking in, and im trying to grow and maintain 3 seperate clover plots. I suppose i can try a little different in each. As of Right now one plot is Whitetail institute clover, other 2 are DeerAg trophy Clovers. Im not really into buying bags off commercial shelfs anymore. 

[chas0218]

Well at my local seed and feed I think they wanted about $10/lbs. for alfalfa and similar clovers. My plan right now is to frost seed clover and cereal rye on one plot and on the other clover and wheat.

 

I should add that these are going to be in hardwoods with minimal sun so I'm not expecting a whole lot from them.

Edited January 13, 2017 by chas0218

[LET EM GROW]

I started keeping a log 2 years ago of what happens with each food plot and when. As well as saw work within the woods.

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[growalot]

There are great seeds for much less than  that..do your research and you can get a great low light plot growing and thriving . Low light isn't they only challenge to a woodland or logging trail type plot. Water...woodland plot are usually challenged for water..between timber and brush roots ,tree canopy causing evaporation before rain and dew  ever reach the ground.Alfalfa needs Sun and near neutral ph that is difficult to do in woodland plots .

Edited January 13, 2017 by growalot

[phade]

Frost seeding med red and going over with cleth is a pretty easy plot when you only have some grasses to compete with.

Hancock tends to be pretty cheap online.

[chas0218]

55 minutes ago, growalot said:

There are great seeds for much less than  that..do your research and you can get a great low light plot growing and thriving . Low light isn't they only challenge to a woodland or logging trail type plot. Water...woodland plot are usually challenged for water..between timber and brush roots ,tree canopy causing evaporation before rain and dew  ever reach the ground.Alfalfa needs Sun and near neutral ph that is difficult to do in woodland plots .

My plan was durana clover and wheat. I might go through and do a little trimming so I have a little firewood but I'm only looking to do a couple 1/2 acre plots on my 40 acres. The closest ag fields are a mile away and the only forage they have right now are some sparse oaks on the neighbors and a few on mine. I'm just looking to draw in a few deer for the freezer and doubt anything of real size is wandering the area, but I could be surprised come bow season. There are already some nice pines the deer use for bedding and was a planning on throwing a couple plots on the other side of the property away from the bedding area to catch them going back and forth.

Anyone know a good place to source Durana clover? Amazon seems to sell it but wondering if there was somewhere else in the Rochester, Corning, Watkins Glen, Elmira area. I saw some mixes on DeerAG but not really looking for mixes.

[Adkhunter1590]

Have some gift cards to cabelas I might use up on some seed just for the heck of it. Last year I bought almost everything from Deer Creek Seeds. I was very happy with everything I got from them. Their clover especially was awesome. Even through the drought it grew like crazy and the deer hammered it. I'll be planting a lot more clover this year for sure.

Once the deer figured out what the turnips were they hammered those too so another round of those are in order.

I have a new bigger field I'll be breaking ground on this spring that I'm not quite sure what I want to plant there. Still have some time to decide.

I have access to tons and tons of wheat from work. I don't know what specific strain or anything like that but I do know which ones are summer or winter wheat. Anyone looking for some wheat let me know. Be glad to grab you some.

[growalot]

Google  where to buy Durana clover seed ,look for the free shipping and compare prices..order this type of seed early. These and some others are used heavily in mixes and supplies run out early. Especially on the good pricing. I have an area that failed last year. In that the only thing that grew great was the 4 year old Small Burnett seed and weeds grew...a local bought (last year)clover failed completely.I Will spray for the grasses and top seed. Burnett is very expensive but grows great and the deer and Turkey love it..I'd have a pure stand if it didn't cost so much.

Edited January 14, 2017 by growalot

[wolc123]

9 hours ago, Adkhunter1590 said:

I have access to tons and tons of wheat from work. I don't know what specific strain or anything like that but I do know which ones are summer or winter wheat. Anyone looking for some wheat let me know. Be glad to grab you some.

I like to do late summer plantings (after august 15th) with a mix of wheat, soybeans, and white clover.  That gives you a great 1-2-3 punch of getting the deer on the plots and keeping them there thru several years.    You can get the ground tilled up over the summer (I don't use any spray on these, but that would be an option if you lack primary tillage equipment).   Broadcast the wheat and soybeans, then cultipack.   These larger seeds like to be buried a bit deeper and cultipacking them in to the "fluffy" soil puts them at just about the right depth.  After that, broadcast the white clover and cultipack again at 90 degrees to the first direction.  The clover seed does not like to be buried as deep and the prior and after cultipaction again puts them at at just the right depth.

There is not much that you can plant that  is more attractive to deer than soybeans when they start to sprout.  They will draw the deer to the spot quickly. The soybeans are a "sacrificial" addition, used only to draw the deer to the spots, and the sprouts will be eaten and long gone by the time archery season begins (the first frost would wipe them out if they remained anyhow).  Austrian winter peas (AWP) would survive the frost and are nearly as attractive but cost me money.  I can always score free soybeans at the end of planting season.  I would strongly recommend against spring plantings of soybeans as a foodplot.  I did that a couple years ago and it backfired on me.  It brought in a lot of does prior to fawning season.  When the fawns came along, the coyotes followed, actually building dens at the edge of the soybean field.  NY state does not let us hunt them over the summer, so all I could do was look on as they picked off all the fawns, leaving a little pile of sculls at the entrance to the dens.  I was amazed at the boldness of the "she-wolfs" over the summer that year.  They would come out in the broad daylight, pretend to be injured, and try and draw my attention away from the dens.  It is best to let the does have their fawns someplace else and wait for the fawns to grow up a bit before attracting them to your ground.

The winter wheat will kick in next and hold them there thru the end of ML season.   Deer like wheat better than rye and it is also cheaper, and easier to get.  It provides a great "nurse crop" for the clover, keeping down the weed growth.  It should be mowed off the following spring before it goes to seed (if the deer don't keep it fully under control).  Cerial rye would take less nitrogen out of the plots but that is no advantage on these because the soybeans and clover fix their own nitrogen anyhow.  The white clover should then give you 3-5 more years from the plots with just a mowing or two per season as maintenance. Feeding deer is not the primary objective of the white clover that I plant, because it only really does that at night.

These plots are great for the deer but a little hunting pressure will send them off them during the daylight hours.  If you want a plot to hold the deer on your ground during daylight, the only option I know of is corn.   That is why I always spend at least 3/4 of my foodplot budget on corn.  Planting it on old clover plots improves yields, and save me a lot of cash on nitrogen.  That is the main reason that I keep most of my plot acreage in white clover.  By using a row planter with the corn and minimizing gly usage, the white clover usually comes back good without reseeding the following year.  Most of my budget goes towards fuel and fertilizer for the corn.         

[stubborn1VT]

Wolc.  Corn may work for you, but I'd rather put in soybeans.  They are cheaper, easier on the soil, easier to plant, and are attractive for more months out of the year.  Three acres of beans will provide more food than 3 acres of corn.  The only downside of beans, is that you can't do small plantings.  The upside to corn is that it provides cover.

 

Grow, I had to laugh.  I looked into small burnett to put in a mix.  I found it for just over $4/lb.  The only drawback--- was they wanted $15 to ship it!  I still want to try it, so I will keep looking.  By the way, how many lbs per acre would you plant in a mix?

[wolc123]

18 minutes ago, stubborn1VT said:

Wolc.  Corn may work for you, but I'd rather put in soybeans.  They are cheaper, easier on the soil, easier to plant, and are attractive for more months out of the year.  Three acres of beans will provide more food than 3 acres of corn.  The only downside of beans, is that you can't do small plantings.  The upside to corn is that it provides cover.

 

Grow, I had to laugh.  I looked into small burnett to put in a mix.  I found it for just over $4/lb.  The only drawback--- was they wanted $15 to ship it!  I still want to try it, so I will keep looking.  By the way, how many lbs per acre would you plant in a mix?

Do you have many coyotes there?   Do you plant your soybeans in the spring?  Do the deer still like them during archery season when they turn yellow and brown?   The year I planted a lot of them in the spring, I never saw a deer on them after the leaves turned yellow and they started to dry up.   There was lots of night time usage over the winter however,  as the deer were eating the ripened, dried up beans.  RR corn seed has always been free for me thanks to my contacts in the dairy business.   Corn is only tough on the soil if you plant it consecutive years without rotation.   Rotating it every 4-5 years on clover plots helps both do better.   The clover builds up excessive nitrogen in the soil over the years (if you keep it mowed), leading to grass infestation.   The corn consumes that nitrogen, making the environment better for the clover the following year and tougher for the grass.   

[growalot]

Stubborn...when I do my mix it is 3 clovers, trifoil, 2 chicory ,and the Burnett.

20% each wht. Clover, 10% on the red, Tripoli and each chicory.Then 20% Burnett.

Thanks for the heads up on Burnett..that's way lower then past years and deals can be made on shipping ,sometimes..Now that I'm out, I'll look into it. BTW I agree with you on soybeans,well a lot of beans with one exception...small plots can be done and last...I've been showing pics for years. My problem is they brought in a slew of buck all summer pushing off my doe...then left in fall to go find those doe...also where, unlike the corn,beans you can over seed in the late summer for double cropping..corn left standing is some food and cover but not the best for herd,nor ground. As I mentioned earlier clovers and legume mixes can be lightly over seeded in winter grains and even a few turnips to take up excessive nitrogen,adding more variety to the plot just in time for hunting

[wolc123]

48 minutes ago, growalot said:

As I mentioned earlier clovers and legume mixes can be lightly over seeded in winter grains and even a few turnips to take up excessive nitrogen,adding more variety to the plot just in time for hunting

I like the overseeding idea with turnips.  They practically give that seed away in central VA.  I will have to pick up a little more this summer and try that.   There is some beautiful clover up close to a few of my stands but it looses most of it's attraction by late ML season.    That is when turnips seem to have the best draw.    

[growalot]

That was trefoil ...I retyped that 5 times on the Kindle...apparently I still got beat...on computer now...

 Best to use a smaller bulb variety...They tend to cause less damage pulling them out verses pawing them out.

[stubborn1VT]

4 hours ago, wolc123 said:

Do you have many coyotes there?   Do you plant your soybeans in the spring?  Do the deer still like them during archery season when they turn yellow and brown?   The year I planted a lot of them in the spring, I never saw a deer on them after the leaves turned yellow and they started to dry up.   There was lots of night time usage over the winter however,  as the deer were eating the ripened, dried up beans.  RR corn seed has always been free for me thanks to my contacts in the dairy business.   Corn is only tough on the soil if you plant it consecutive years without rotation.   Rotating it every 4-5 years on clover plots helps both do better.   The clover builds up excessive nitrogen in the soil over the years (if you keep it mowed), leading to grass infestation.   The corn consumes that nitrogen, making the environment better for the clover the following year and tougher for the grass.   

Wolc,

We have quite a few coyotes.  I understand it was your experience that the beans brought the coyotes.  In my case, the coyotes were here before the beans.  I planted beans in early summer, and didn't hunt over them during archery season.  The deer did enjoy them before and after they dried down.  I don't worry if they don't eat them for a couple weeks.  The other 4 months of use made it worth it.  Besides, I plant other things they can eat during that time.

I also get seed corn and soybeans for free, same as you.  I farmed for 20 years, and have friends and family that still do.  I will rotate in corn after another year or two of beans.  They are also a legume, and will provide N as well.  Corn is harder on the soil than any other crop I can think of.  In my mind that's fact, not opinion.  I also find that there are more challenges to growing corn, such as birds and coons.  I think beans are about the easiest thing to grow.  The deer love them, and they fix N.  As I said I will be growing corn again.  I just don't believe they are the #1 plot for most people.  I am well aware nobody is going to change your mind, but I would recommend soybeans over corn any day.

[stubborn1VT]

Grow,

That sounds like a sweet mix.  I was thinking along the same lines for one plot.  I have to similar sized plots cleared in the woods, but one is dry and the other could be a bit wet.  One is on a hilltop, the other is at the bottom of a hill.  I was thinking of planting a clover/chickory/burnett mix in the drier plot.  Any suggestions for a damper plot with heavier soil?  I know clover can handle it, but not sure about anything else.  It may not be as wet as it was, since it gets lots more sunlight now.

I had never heard of small burnett.  How tall did yours get?  I really need to build a couple exclusion cages this year.  I blamed my lousy brassica plot on the dry weather last year.  It may have just been the does and fawns mowing it down earlier than usual.  

Thanks for the info.  I will let you know if I find a good source for seed.