Originally Posted By: BSK
Originally Posted By: CNC
Originally Posted By: BSK

For fall food plots, in preference, I would give wheat a 9, oats a 7, and rye a 2. I think it's just soil type. For instance, in our acidic loamy clay soils, I would give Austrian Winter Peas a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10. However, in the sandier soils of the Coastal Plain region of West TN, I would give AWP a 2.


That's interesting, I see the same thing with AWP's on my soil....they don't see to care for it too much. What I'm starting to question though myself is once I get my soil functioning properly if preferences might change due to healthier plants. I'm kind of starting to wonder if turnips, which have never been eaten much in the past....will be more preferred if they are grown in better soil conditions. We'll see.

What made me wonder about this was when I found some stray turnip plants one day in the edge of the woods from seed that I had been spilled or carried on my shoes, etc. There were only a few plants growing in the mulch but they were all thick and healthy looking. A week or so later I passed back by the spot and they were all browsed heavily. Just makes my wonder just how much soil health plays a role in the taste of the plant and how palatable it may be for the deer.


That's an excellent question CNC. To be honest, I've never tried rye in excellent soil. Maybe it would be a lot more preferred. And actually, I need to change my ratings as stated above. I would put cereal rye as a 5 or 6 when it first germinates. However, preference falls dramatically when (if) the plants grow to the "stemmy" stage, and the varieties sold up here do that fairly rapidly. Again, I'm not exaggerating when I say cereal rye will grow 4-feet tall here, and it is that way by mid-April. Now what would happen if the rye was continuously being eaten to the ground in the early part of the season? Would the new growth ever get to the stemmy stage? I don't know. Would rye grown in good soils be more palatable? I don't know.


BSK are you saying the vegetation of rye gets 4 feet tall, or the seed head gets 4 feet tall? Rye definitely has a much taller seed head than wheat or oats. Continually grazed rye does get more coarse as the year progresses but it doesn't get nearly as stemmy as undergrazed rye does.

I know you often write about how deer prefer one food on one place and ignore it in another. There are too many that think what works on their place is the best everywhere. It's not. Deer will NOT eat turnips here. I planted them for several years. I've put rape in my mix here the past 2 years and they haven't given much attention to it yet. I planted kale last year and I think they grazed it down as fast as it came up. I never saw a kale plant make it above 2" tall. The deer here have nip at AWP's but they bloom and make seed here every year. I don't intend to plant them again. Diakon radishes were devoured on my place. It's weird to me how they mow one brassica down and totally ignore another.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14