Volunteer Oats?

It happened a few years ago to a distant relative where he didn’t get all of the oats off. My brothers in laws said his field had a lot of deer bedding and eating in the regrowth.

It seems like the oats went down and lodged and with heavy soil he could not get in the field.

It should work if the oats stay wet long enough to germinate and get a root to the dirt.

Do you have much deer action in oat plots?

I'd add some other seeds like brassicas in case the oat experiment didn't work too well.

I’ve thought this through some. The heap of seeds once bought for the season will keep another year stored in my climate controlled basement. I don’t need to use them all this Fall.

Here is a thought. Tell me if I’m a dipshit or not.

1. Let my oats go until The first week of August. They were planted early and already have seed. As you’ve seen in the other thread, they are very thick and healthy.

2. Broadcast brassica and some MR clover with my hand spreader.

3. Mow (this will not be fun with a walk behind rig)

4. Broadcast fertilizer per soil sample recommendation. I think doing this after I mow will let me get a better cut. I won’t be smashing half my oats with an ATV prior to mowing.

If I get a thick stand of oats, OK. If I get no oats and a good brassica stand, OK. If I get a mix of both, great. If nothing works, or it works but is thin, I double down early September with my Winter Wheat and call it a season.

OR, would you replicate what I did last year and throw, spray and roll with ATV?

I do indeed need a tow behind mower. Don't feel too bad for me though. I won't be pushing any mower. It's a self-propelled DR brush mower. Nonetheless, it's still a workout on a bumpy uneven plot. Yep, I took up my spraying water last week,and have roundup, AMS. A lot of what's under there looks like Marestail so I guess Glyphosate won't do good on it. Another area has some grasses, but they seem to be running their course so spraying now probably won't do much good. It's along the edges where the forest is ever encroaching that it's getting rough. I could spray just along the edges where I think I'm going to try and get white clover going anyway.

I can get Spring planted stuff like oats to grow pretty close to the edge, in some cases all the way. But, the late Summer planted Brassica don't do well. Winter Rye along the edges is even tough in the Fall. I assume it's got something to do with sunlight. The plot is mostly North South and gets decent Sun when it's higher in the sky. Come late Summer, the edges are shaded much more of the day. So, I'll try white clover.

Edit - Fertilization: This year's soil testing basically told me I needed K and Lime. Moving the right direction. P is at good enough levels. The guys at Fertimix in Jordan MN have brand name slow release urea of some sort, "But that's pricey for a food plot."  They guy said. But, they roll their own and sold it to me for the same price as regular urea. I'm either paying too much for urea, or he gave me a good deal on this coated urea they make themselves. It looks suspiciously like the blue stuff you see.

$20 a bag for all of it, Urea and Potash. I think a couple bucks less a bag would be a better. But, I'm not buying a lot so whatever.

I don't know what the magic sign is that an oat is ready.  Never did learn that skill.  I've also never gotten brassicas and cereals to grow together very well.  It can be done, I've just not succeeded with my machinery fleet of menards and kitty litter buckets.  

I wouldn't leave that wheat behind just yet.  MM over at the DH posted that his oats are getting gobbled up quickly on his place.  I figure that puts us 2-4 weeks behind him depending on what maturity of oats he planted, and you planted.  You might show up there in the next trip or two and find it looking like a Target store after a peaceful protest.  Might be a very good place to put a camera if you can get the intel before you go back up.  

Help me remember, does your rye come up in the spring full strength, or does it drown out like mine? 

Thanks SD.

My WR comes in patchy at best the next Spring. I’d be fired up if I went up and saw my oats being eaten, especially if it’s not bears.

I did put a couple cameras out in the middle of the plot amongst some mature trees. I see deer use this area some from the main blind.

The night time picture gives you an idea of my WR density. The tall ones are rye. The rest oats. Of course, I planted my brassica so thick last fall that the only places that the WR had a chance was along the edges and in the bare spots where I didn’t seed evenly.