Thinking about trying it this summer, any experiences shared will be appreciated

I planted it on a 3 acre field last year and the deer loved it and it's low maintenance. It is the only thing I am planning on planting this summer. I will plan 7-8 fields or about 20 acres.

Dont plant a small plot. If I plant less than 1 1/2-2 acres the deer wipe it out before it gets started. Also, don't let it go wild. At 60 days mow it back to 12-18". It will come right back. If you don't cut it back, the stalks get so big that you can't cut it in and it's really difficult to plant something after it
It adds a lot of nutrients to the soil and you can plant a crop after it without having to fertilize

I've planted for the last 3 years and love it, and so do the deer. It adds a lot of biomass to your soil for organic matter. OM, is what your soil needs to hold water.

This is important to keep in mind if you plant it. When we experimented with it at Auburn, the deer wouldn't touch it once it was mature. By mowing it, you ensure that there is always fresh growth, etc.

I pretty much agree with this. Our fields that were smaller than 1 acre got hammered and all that was left was 12" tall stems everywhere. We did have (2) one acre fields that were close together and one got eaten down while the other made it fine.

The thing about sunn hemp is how fast it grows. If you can keep the deer off of it for 2-3 weeks to let it get going, you may be fine. You could always try spreading milorganite around the plot if it's small. Milorganite has been shown to repel deer until the scent wears off. You could also try making a scarecrow out of one of your old sweaty T-shirts to repel them for a few weeks. You don't need to keep the deer away very long to let this stuff get going.

It does make great rattlesnake habitat however. I think we killed two out of it when harvesting it for nutritional analysis.

What does it cost per acre to plant on average? My soils have a ph of around 6.2 -7.7.

Seed will cost you about $30 per acre. It's $90 for a 50lb bag and the seed rate is 15lb per acre.

If I try it how often do I need to plan on cutting it back? I see that if left unattended it will grow to 6 foot tall. What height do you cut it and what height do you cut it back?

What I mean is do you wait for it to get to 2 foot tall then cut it back to 8-10"?

It'll get a lot taller than that. It will get that tall in 60 days, with adequate moisture. When it reaches 6', mow it back to about 18" and let it regrow again. Google "Petcher Seeds", all the info you want is on Jim's website.

Thanks Blumsden

Those sodbuster radishes might work in an old pasture\hayfield we want to plant. We were going to pay someone to run a subsoiler over it, but we might try those giant radishes first.

Has anyone on here planted them?

I haven't planted them but I was thinking about it in a few of our fields that the loggers recently used as loading docks. The bad part is that the sodbusters radish is a fall crop. This seems to suggest that if you plant them this fall, you won't see the benefit until you terminate the radishes and plant a spring crop. If you're looking for some subsoiler help for your fall food plot, they may not help you much.

I've planted them and they do well and the deer love em.

We are doing a lot of research with Sunn Hemp. Recommend planting about 5 lbs/acre of millet or Quail Haven Soy Beans with it.
We have also had good reports with people using Milorganite (pelletized human waste fertilizer applied to top of ground at planting time to repel the deer for a couple weeks to help get it established.

Do you sell seed or just a researcher? Where you located?