Blend Planted: Whitetail Institute's Forage Oats Plus and BioLogic's Deer Radish

Growth Results

This plot was formerly an overgrown field that we tilled and planted just this past August using our new Cabelas Precision Seeder by Woods unit. We used the precision seeder to plant a combination of Forage Oats and Radishes using two different seed boxes and depth settings. Due to a missed delivery during our only planting window, we did not fertilize or lime this particular field. It did not seem to matter, Both the Oats and the Radishes came up spectacularly and maintained strong, lush growth throughout the season.

Activity Results

The oats came up first and deer were on them immediately. I have a photo of them appearing to eat bare dirt, upon closer inspection they are eating the emerging oats within a few days of germination. This utilization remained high throughput September and October. By early November the deer had wiped out the Oats but continued to consume the radishes. It should be noted that this field is within 100 yards of our camper and pole barn so we expected poor activity. The deer avoided the plot during our visits, but as soon as we left they would hammer this plot. We were impressed.

Comments

Despite the close proximity to human activity, the deer seemed determined to feed in this plot because of the quality of the oats and radish tops. We did a combo planting here to extend the growing season since I knew that the oats would not last long due to the small size of this plot. Both varieties grew exceptionally well. I will note that this was one of three plots that included brassicas and while they were heavily utilized, the radishes seemed to lag behind our other two fields - primarily rape and turnip. No conclusion can be drawn since this plot was far closer to human activity. In the future, we may swap these varieties to see if the utilization was due to the placement of the plot or the variety of the crop. Interestingly, our #1 trophy buck was caught on trail camera here twice which was very surprising given how close this plot is to our camp.