How To Drought Proof Food Plots

[@chrisbgarrett]

Love your videos. We are hour from Del Rio Texas. You need to make a video that’s relevant to dry climates. We are in high heat and drought. I noticed you mentioned to treat feeders as food plots. Feeders a huge part of success in harvesting deer and essential to feed deer. Thanks for your videos. I’m binge watching

[@eddiefortmann02]

Can you speak on things to plant and when to plant them.in the southern states? I'm in north east texas and would like to hear your thoughts

[@HabitatDave]

No rain central MN, have abandoned trying to do sorghum grain for pheasants and deer. Also concerned Sorghum Sudan is not going to germinate, so no screen cover...any option to screen this late?

[@dish797]

Buckwheat question. Last season was my first with buckwheat. It worked great. Almost waist high. This year, the deer have hammered it. Maybe ankle high. The only difference that I see is the surrounding ag rotation this year is corn, beans last year. Have ever seen this situation? Were the beans the difference or have the deer just figured out the buckwheat?

[@justincox8527]

I live/hunt in northern U.P. of Michigan. I planted 1acre of buckwheat this year to try the no till. it came up great, was almost a foot tall but now since they started logging around my property we have drastic increased deer population. well all the buckwheat is about 6" tall now, they completely ate everything down!! I was hoping to start my overseed/kill off next week (as you know due to first frost date) well with it now getting chewed down by the deer I do not think I will be able to roll it! what should I do? I was thinking about just over seeding with clover and winter rye to make up for it instead???

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Hi Justin! As long as there is a lot of soil exposed you can seed brassica into 1/2 of it, very easy. Then spray Glyphosate at the same time. You can layer eye on the other 1/2...100#s per acre mid August, another 100 around Labor Day and a final 100 around the 3rd to 4th week of Sept.

[@justincox8527]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 thank you so much! Weird how much the deer love the buckwheat up here! Thank you for all the work you do to share with us. Nice to see someone who has hunted the u.p. as well giving adivce!

[@justincox8527]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 one more question, should I still roll it? or no because its so short?

[@robertboston9778]

Thank you sir. Did the EZ no till last year on 50% of my plots, doing Ultimate no till on them this year and EZ on another 25% of my plots - Buckwheat is doing nicely, I just ordered the seed, peas/beans/oats and brassica / tillage radish for the Aug planting cycle. Your guidance has made my neighbor and I the herd influencer in a 5 square mile heavily forested OH area. Others are just corn bait piles and rough legume plots.

[@rossrogalski6813]

OK for Northern and "central" midwestern states and locale. Can you give some perspective on strategies for dealing with drought in an area like South Central Kansas? There have been summers where the last rain was in June, and there was no appreciable percipitation greater than 0.1" for about 100 days. In between, there were 90+ days of 100F temperatures. Thinking here about strategies such as windbreaks and areas in a band along a North-South shelter-belt of cottonwoods where the food plot get morning sun where it is cooler, but protection from direct drying sun exposure when temperatures can climb well up over 110F. Is there a planting strategy for when cracks open in the ground over an inch wide, and when you probe it with a yard stick, you don't find bottom, and risk loosing the yard stick down in the crack? IMHO: There are years when places like Kansas are simply ... NOT ... a "fantacy land" for whitetails! What gets whitetails through a severe Kansas summer drought and into the fall / winter with some measure of health?

[@trnewnam1232]

I planted buckwheat a few weeks ago because it was supposed to rain the following day. It did but not nearly as much as forecasted. Since then it has been totally dry and VERY few of my seeds germinated. Would I be able to spread rye grain in the same area in a month or so and try to save it? What do you recommend?

[@brettbeato4774]

I’m nursing a Durana Clover plot that was started in March after a February frost seeding was killed by a late frost. Clethodim & 24DB plus a lot of mower time and unusually wet summer has kept the Durana relevant so far!

[@mike81399]

Thanks Jeff! All the rain we had the last couple weeks 😁 Got some videos to catch up on after a couple good weeks of camp. Have a great day all!

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thanks Mike!

[@tylerjohnson5647]

If I overseed the clover plot I planted last year to fill in the bare spots with rye this fall, will it stunt or kill the clover plot? Also what are you doing to control thistle in your clover plots

[@stevegermain1222]

Planted a little over half an acre buckwheat last week can't wait to get down and check on it

[@kristopherswaffer4001]

Jeff if I missed the first spray for weeds should I get the weed debris off my food plots before I plant in a few weeks. Love your videos!

[@jasong9880]

My buckwheat is only an inch or two high. It doesn't have much time to grow before needing to plant the brassica. The drought in Northern Ontario has been bad this year. Just across the river from the UP.

[@whitetailhabitatandhunting]

Thanks Jeff! I'm really late so I dont know if you'll see this! God bless!

[@boilerjm]

Hi Jeff, thank you for sharing all your knowledge. Any thoughts on driving on a growing food plots to water with a sprayer?

[@johnschreier8150]

I spread buckwheat on bare soil on 5/29 (after Round-up + 2-4D kill). ~3 weeks later it received maybe a half inch of rain and that's been about it. I was out there yesterday and needless-to-say, it looks pretty sick. I don't think there will be much of anything to roll and spray come Labor Day weekend when I'm targeting my fall plot plantings. It's got to eventually rain, right?!! I'm optimistic that things will only get better.....

[@eeldarb]

Ive got the same issue. Planted the same weekend anf it germinated fast. Its reached about 6-8" now but now it kind of stalled out.

[@johnschreier8150]

@@eeldarb Not quite the same if you've got a good cover with plants 6-8" high. My ground is mostly bare still. I'll trade ya!

[@NeedsMoreToys]

Drought is a perpetual late spring, summer problem where I am in Michigan, compounded by poor soils. Fall planting has helped. It annoys me that conservation districts have their tree sales in the spring. I have a 20-30% summer kill on spring planted trees. My frost seeded switch grass appears to be a complete fail from lack of rain this year. Frost killed the apples. Gypsy moths have stripped the trees. Not a good year. But established clover is doing ok so not a complete loss. Hoping to reset in August.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

The Fall plots helps so much!! Also...DO NOT GIVE up on the switch...just take care of the weeds and it will come

[@jjhoran1273]

Great Info as always Jeff, I salvaged plots last year with rye, it was dry most of August last year. Rye to the rescue 👍👍

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Rye to the rescue for sure JJ!! Thanks a lot 👍

[@williamlasure6301]

I did the same and the deer loved it. Ate my Maximum and radish down and it never came back cause the drought

[@PAKraig]

@@williamlasure6301 radish and turnips for me here in PA, but yes, late seeded rye salvaged some forage 👍🏼

[@williamlasure6301]

@@PAKraig that's what I plant but they ate it down then the droughts killed it

[@jeremysilcox9362]

Down here in Alabama, you would have gotten on top of a diamondback or timber rattler in those buckwheat fields.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Hi Jeremy you can keep those things 😁

[@mikehamm4987]

Hey Jeff Weeds we’re taking over my buckwheat because of drought. I cut the weeds down with a weed wacker to the top of the buckwheat. Hopefully that works. If not any ideas

[@butt562]

I'm in the same boat with crab grass. any help with information would be appreciated.

[@RushOutdoors]

Great info as expected Guys much appreciated. Had the exodus guys at the house to film for Whitetail cribs talked with them about how much great info you put out. Thanks for all of the info you have been putting out to help people get the job done right!

[@jdwishowski692]

I planted clover this year in a 1/4 acre plot could I spray it off and use as a seed bed for a brassica, winter rye blend? Thanks for the great content. Have a nice day.

[@Mike-nt1to]

Jeff, any thoughts on what to do when the deer eat the buckwheat as fast as it comes up. At this point the weeds are winning. Should I spray the grasses and weeds until it’s time to plant a fall crop? It is sad to think that the buckwheat is the best food in town.

[@williamlasure6301]

Crazy how much they love it. They eat the tops right off it

[@scottchamberlain8073]

Jeff, I have a failed plotscreen. I used Northwoods Plotscreen Sorghum. Planted from scratch with proper weed control and used plotstart. It's just real thin and spotty. Is there anything I can still plant in it to provide some cover? I'm in mid Michigan. Thanks

[@michaelrugar4117]

When you say spread winter rye right over a failed food plot in the fall, do you still spray Glyphosate spread seed then pack it in ?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

No...I just broadcast it and it works great Michael!

[@jwalker1322]

Can’t wait for deer season 2021

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Amen to that brother!

[@garysuter2580]

Jeff I accidentally overlapped planting Some John Comps screening blend and Buckwheat near a stand on edge of plot. Will the buckwheat choke out screening blend? Maybe I'll have to hand weed some of the buckwheat out to get sun on sorghum

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Hi Gary! It really may choke it out? The screening is a slow start...the buckwheat a bit faster and smothering too. Hope all is great with the lands Gary!!

[@PAKraig]

Great info as always. You can't give Lincoln a hand with cultipacker production now, can you? 🤪

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thank you and boy...that is really so tough in the outdoor industry!! I take it he is behind on getting them out?

[@PAKraig]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 yeah, I called and talked to him for a bit 2 weeks ago, and unfortunately, it sounds like what can go wrong, has. None of which is his fault though, just bad luck... He's trying like crazy to get it figured out though 👍🏼

[@jodywilliford4048]

Hi Jeff, first thank you for all the hunting tips in your videos. I decided to try your no till method but made the mistake of planting too early (few weeks back) just before the drought. So now I have more weeds than buckwheat. What are your recommendations from here? Stay with the no till method or just kill (spray) all and use the typical disc technique?

[@jodywilliford4048]

Hey Jeff, looking back on one of your previous no till videos you recommend just spraying the entire plot because the grass & weeds will provide too many stem counts for brassica seeds to make contact with ground. Correct?

[@shawnb789]

2 years in a row now, sprayed my buckwheat plot twice . Water hemp still won't die. Takes over the buckwheat fast. Can't beat the water hemp. You ever experience that jeff?

[@kidfisher1511]

I'm in the same boat. This process will not work if you have waterhemp. Round up is like fertilizer to that stuff.

[@shawnb789]

@@kidfisher1511 that is for sure. Lol. Aggravating.

[@jamesgillies3710]

Where hoping for some more rain soon.

[@beauschumacher]

Jeff, is there any rule of thumb to know how far apart food plots or food sources should be? Thanks

[@williamlasure6301]

Rye oats and pea together? Going to be next to barasicca mix

[@brianmrozinski5672]

I live in mid Michigan . My buckwheat filled was doing great it was about a foot high then I got a mid-june frost. Now it's all dead. I have poor sandy soil. Where do I go from here?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

I would just use my EZ No Till food plot plantings...I will use that for 25% of my plots this year 👍 kzbin.info/www/bejne/maWbiJdsZ5eHZ8k

[@brianmrozinski5672]

Thanks Jeff I'll give it a try. Good luck this season!

[@ameri_cancountry6936]

I've heard you mention switch grass in your videos as cover and that deer won't bed in it because of the lack of food in it. But will deer travel through it, I have an area that the power company just came through and cut down a strip of old Christmas tress and I'm thinking about cleaning it up a making it a food area but about 50 yards of it is over the hill and out of sight from my stand. So my question is would switch grass be a good choice to plant in the area that I cant see or if not what is something that I can plant that the deer will travel through but not eat

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

They definitely travel thru it! Great for screening...

[@ameri_cancountry6936]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 I was thinking of planting the area I can see in clover since its going to be a sort of half shade and half sun area and it comes down and meets my existing foof plot right about halfway of the length of it. Is clover a good choice, if not what would you recommend

[@tfrost33elkhunter]

My first food plot on my new farm. I just planted 1/2 acre of buckwheat yesterday. Am I too late? Scratch that... just got the part of the video where you waited for buckwheat due to our hot summer. I’m just a couple hours straight west of you.

[@connorklevesahl7846]

Don’t get why u never really talked about souybeans which are definitely the best all season long forage

[@jasong9880]

He mentions soybeans often and doesn't use them because they get eaten or are dead by late deer seasons.

[@connorklevesahl7846]

@@jasong9880 that’s bs he hardly ever talks about them and if you manage soybeans correctly they will have plenty of forage in the form of bean pods during late season

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

For most...including myself...they're inappropriate for food plot programs and also carry the greatest failure rate. For example on my land here they used beans in the past, the beans were eaten by October down to the dirt and they lacked the ability to create a quality herd or hunt. There option was to sell the land...mine was to create a quality food plot program that carried the power to be the neighborhood influencer and provide a great hunt. Which we accomplished in just one season. I have 15 acres of plots here on my home farm in MN. I get beans for free...if I wanted them. Trust me if they were a good fit...I would use them. After analyzing and prescribing 1100 food plot programs in 26 states for my career...I only do or recommend which my level of experience dictates is best. I would guesstimate that over 90% of all food plotters should not be using early planted soybeans. For many, many reasons...like I said, including myself and I could literally plant as much as I want for free. I do really hope my neighbors plant a lot tho 😁

[@robertboston9778]

@@connorklevesahl7846 OKAY keyboard cowboy - start you own channel and do the soybean thing! We just might subscribe to your vast knowledge of that single forage item. ... or not. Jeff speaks to SB's and in many videos - it's dependent on many factors. His reply ^ is SPOT ON, per usual.

[@connorklevesahl7846]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 Like I said IF you manage soybeans correctly they will not get eaten to the damn dirt. Look at a stupid farm field here in Wisconsin, all the beans don’t get eaten to the dirt. if you really have that many deer around put up a fence or scare them away for summer. Just cause you brag up how much expierence you have dosnt make me believe you anymore

[@patrickfarris8048]

Jeff. What info do you know about gypsie moths? We have land in newaygo County( mid Michigan) and the moths have literally eaten every leaf on 90% of all the trees we have. Not good!

[@pz1269]

Can I still plant corn in Buffalo now?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

I just had Brandin from 1st Choice Food Plots plant 1/2 my corn yesterday...75/85 day corn...definitely!

[@ZJanciste_1]

Jeff...have you ever planted Buckwheat in Aug to just get some extra nitrogen in the soil....

[@jesserolli7711]

Plant in the mud, your crop we be a dud, plant in the dust your bins will bust!