Need Advice of Following Wheat

Fergienewbee · May 23, 2013

As many of you know, I plant food plots mostly. I have a small stand of wheat, 1/3 acre or so, just starting to come out of the sheath. I have a few options for next years crop, which will be either cow peas or corn.

1. I can let it get ripe and try to harvest some seed, by hand, for use in other rotations. Or leave it for the birds.

2. Plow it all under in the dough stage. The ground is pretty light so I could use the green manure.

3. Run over it when it's ripe with a brush hog and gather the straw for dog bedding, then plow and plant radishes and clover; or oats and radish so it all winter kills.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Larry

Brendon-KS · May 24, 2013

If you're not going to harvest it, I'd choose option #2 but would plow it down soon before the grain even forms. If the grain matures and you don't harvest it you will have significant volunteer that might choke out anything you plant afterwards.

Option #3 (the saving straw part) sounds like a mouse magnet to me. Having straw laying around with grain still in the heads is inviting rodent problems.

Harvesting meaningful amounts of wheat by hand as you mention in option #1 would be slow work, especially the threshing part.

Fergienewbee · May 24, 2013

Thanks, Brendon. Yeah, I thought about that hand harvesting too. Lots of work for little reward, especially when I can buy a bag for around 10-12 dollars. Maybe I just need to get an old combine. LOL!! I may be small time, but I sure love seeing things grow. Learning by trial and error.

Larry

randallinMo · May 24, 2013

Food plots for what? Your decision will be based upon that. If just for general wild animals, all three options sound like good ones. Option two is probably the best choice. Only I'd plow it down NOW to get the most benefit from the green manure. You could then folow with some type of food plot concoction or simply plant oats and clover immediately after plow down. I"d personally plant oats and alfalfa if deer are your target.

Fergienewbee · May 24, 2013

Randall;

I plant for multiple species: rabbits, turkeys, deer pretty much in that order. I've also played around with releasing young quail for dog training. Success has been mixed but none have ever over wintered. May try pheasant chicks at some point. I try to rotate crops between corn, cowpeas--they hold up to grazing better than soy beans--grain sorghum and a mix of crimson clover, Austrian winter peas, and wheat. This is the first year I've planted straight wheat and oats.

Larry

Need Advice of Following Wheat

Fergienewbee

Well-known Member

Brendon-KS

Well-known Member

Fergienewbee

Well-known Member

randallinMo

Member

Fergienewbee

Well-known Member

Similar threads