Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Quality Deer Management Throw n Mow Q&A

I went with a simple mix of wheat, oats, and cereal rye at a rate of 100 ish lbs/ac…I should have some yuchi and crimson clover reseeding itself....curious to see how much comes back…

I actually think you may be better off with a mix of cereal grains once you get your fields really rocking and rolling and producing lots of biomass....versus say just having wheat or just having cereal rye as a grain component. Cereal rye is outstanding in poor conditions…..but I do concur with others that wheat and oats are probably more preferred by the deer if grown side by side in fertile conditions. Oats also seem to be hit harder earlier in the season and are the most preferred of the three. Regular oats can freeze out on you though if we ever have a really hard prolonged cold snap. From a biomass perspective….wheat isn’t gonna get nearly as tall and produce near the amount of biomass in the spring compared to rye……so a mix of it is gonna thin things out a little without having to mow if you have clover mixed in. A solid stand of tall cereal rye is THICK in the spring. If your soil is still in poor shape I’d stick with cereal rye all day. It doesn’t matter how attractive wheat may be if what’s in your plot is yellow and/or struggling to produce any yield……However, if you have a good fertile situation you're dealing with then a mix of the three may be the better all around choice.


Just something to ponder over…Eventually this is likely to just become a matter of biomass management for everyone once we get past this initial “getting started” stage….…As I’m typing this the rain from Michael has just really started falling with some intensity….....Let it rain….let it rain…..