Grain Rye for a food plot

[reynolds357]

I plant all kinds of stuff in my food plots. Oats, Wheat, Clover, sugar beets, and Turnips are what I usually plant in the Fall. I usually plant Corn, Sorghum, and Soybeans in the spring. Anyone have any experience with Rye for Whitetails. Due to crazy weather this year, I am not going to get my preparation on some of my fields completed in time for my usual stuff. How well will Rye work?

[BJE80]

Winter Rye is a great soil builder. Grows almost anywhere. Is cheap. And is a good late season attractant.

[buck460XVR]

Don't know where you are from, but around here, Rye is a great fall attractant. When everything else turns brown and dies, Winter Rye is still green and growing and it's high protein content makes it desirable for deer going into winter. It also stays green under the snow which makes it good for hunting over in early winter.

[reynolds357]

I am from Georgia. Where is "around here?" I have heard that Rye is awesome in the North and marginal in the South.

[buck460XVR]

I from Wisconsin and have heard the same thing. The part about snow cover in early winter should have been a hint. Some clovers also tend to stay green under snow, so they too work well for "around here". Most of the time, clovers are planted as a perennial food plot as opposed to a seasonal one, like rye/corn/soybeans/sunflowers. Food plots only work if the crop they offer is preferred more by the deer than what else is available. If Rye does not work in your area in the fall/winter, there must be something else occurring naturally they prefer. We plant rye on my sons property every fall. What we have found is heavily fertilized rye attracts more deer than the same rye planted without fertilizer. Boron added to the fertilizer seems to help also. We also have found that planting rye too early means it is already tall and tough when other preferred foods like acorns are gone. Thus deer will hit it, but many times won't prefer it till there is snow cover. Same with turnips around here. Deer generally won't hit them till well after hunting season when the frost pops them outta the ground. Thus they work well for feeding late winter deer, but do not work as an attractant during hunting season.

[madmo44mag]

How well will Rye work?

Rye works great mixed with some 6 row malted barley, steamed corn and a little yeast!

[BuckRub]

I live in Texas. I have planted my share of deer plots in the yard but I prefer Oats. You have to disc oats but its more productive (brings more deer in). Clover is good but real pickey about PH levels but righ is good if you have a small plot away from tractor or tiller because you just throw it on ground and it will grow. We can get soybeans to grow here in October if you got a bag saved from spring and they are the best ever but out of oats or rye give me the oats.

[shortwave]

I'm with ya BuckRub. I'd rather plant oats over rye anyday. Also, if ya get rye going real well it will tend to smother out other legumes that are palatable to deer if they are planted with the rye.

[reynolds357]

My preference is oats, but when I had time to plow, my land was a swamp. Now that the flood has receeded, I am too busy to plow. By the time I have an opportunity, it is going to be late for oats and wheat.

[shortwave]

Will it be to late for winter wheat?

[Dr. A]

Cereal rye also has an allopathic compound that inhibits weed growth. We plant it with oats or wheat along with Austrian winter peas. The peas offset the taste of the rye. Planted by itself and fertilized, it will leave a certain amount of N in the soil that the other cereal grains do not do. It grows on marginal land and is drouth resistant. We can plant it anytime from now till mid October in Kansas.

We also can broadcast clover after planting the cereal grains and cultipacking afterwards.

Even winter resistant oats don't last past mid to late November here.