The question of “What will sprout and grow?”...will change over time as you improve the soil conditions. Oats are not the best choice in the beginning. Cereal rye is much more suited for getting new T&M plots started if you're converting over from a tillage system or working with new ground. However, once you have a nice layer of topsoil going…..then you’ll have much more success with larger seeds like oats.

Oats are the most attractive early season draw of the three main cereal grains….wheat, oat, rye……One thing to consider about planting only oats though is that with the regular variety….there’s a slight risk that your plots could be killed by cold weather. We don’t see it very often here but it happened a few years ago and a buddy of mine had all of his fields zapped during the best hunting times due to planting pure oats.

Whether or not the deer will choose the wheat or the rye will depend on your soil conditions and if you let the field start running nutrient deficient. Deer prefer to feed on a thriving plant and not one that’s struggling and turning colors. The rye is much more tolerant of poor conditions and will remain palatable to the deer under worse conditions than what the wheat will. Wheat will run N deficient on you and once it starts turning yellow, really loses a lot of its attractiveness. Under ideal conditions though, the wheat is probably slightly preferred over the rye. The rye however, is the best soil builder of the three with the best growth potential in poor conditions. It also puts on growth at much lower temps than the other grains. Balance your needs and approach to your situation……..A mix of all three would be good if you plan on feeding it the proper amount of nutrients that the field needs to stay lush. If not though….I’d rather have green rye than rank wheat.


On the question of mowing and spraying………

It depends on when you’re talking about mowing. If you mow an annual plant right now during the middle of its life cycle….then it’ll most likely recover and put back on new growth. Those plants will out compete any new seedlings due to them already having an established root system. If you wait until the plant is at the end of its life cycle, after it has set seed and mow it then……you’ll most likely terminate it. I don’t spray my field because all my summer vegetation you see growing now will be at the end of its life when I mow in October…..it’ll just terminate. I may have a little regrowth from some scattered grass and things, but they’ll die off within a few weeks when the first frost hits. I’d recommend spraying your first time around and moving to a no spray method once you get things going. It'll just keep things simpler on the first try and eliminate possible reasons for failure. Using cereal rye your first go around will also greatly reduce risk for failure.