Oats- planting population above norm

I think we planted 3 bushels per acre, or something like that, have not been under the lid of that JD drill a long time, so I don't recall.

The hypothetical question is, and its kind of far out per the norm and why you set population at a certain threshold because its a grain crop, what would happen if you doubled up on the passes you made with the drill, went perpendicular to the first pass to increase the number of plants ?

Not for grain, not for hay or harvest, likely just forage for deer and to shade out weeds early and likely to be cut once or twice during the season. Won't be sprayed either, field has been idle for 3 years.

I realize when you over populate, likely the plants will stunt, too many, so they won't mature or produce, any and all of that is understood, but what if you just wanted thick oat grass, foolish idea or maybe a smaller increase, 1 pass same direction. In any of the above, would extra fertilizer be effective for higher population.

Limited budget, given I'm not equipped for crops here, and after seeing the weeds that came up in this field, not seeing the bucks I have when it was planted, Oats are relatively inexpensive and the deer make great use of it late summer to late fall, was just wondering if it was a foolish idea.

Also thought of it as a cover crop, usual population, something like pasture or hay grasses mixed in, another alternative, its about 7 acres worth, and a low budget, really need to get something in there somehow, as the last tillage, it was left kind of rough, the weeds, etc, what are your thoughts on something like this ?

Have you considered annual rye grass? It'll choke out weeds better than oats, gives good, quick cover, good for the land. You can plant something else right into its mulch.

We did 4 Bu/ acre, split 2 NS & 2 EW, when planting for winter grazing. Worked alright & kind of 'covered' for worn out drill that might or might not feed correctly. Seems a little wasteful, fuel & time wise, since have to cover ground twice, though.

Generally when overpopulated, the stalks will grow on most plants, but the fruit of the crop will be low. On the other hand, when I drilled with an old mechanical Oliver drill, I would drill continuious around and around. When I finished, I would always drill out the corners with at least 2 passes. Seemed to help more than anything else.

Yes, 3 bu. is the norm for oat production here in NY. If what you want is a ground cover/sod kind of thing, then lots more seed would be fine. As you know- look at how much more "grass seed" is called for in a lawn, as compared to a hay field.

Won't the oats mature, then you'll end up with a field of straw????gobble

Here in Ohio the norm for grain is 2 bushels per acre and one year miss set the drill and got 4 bushels on and that was the best yield we ever had. Fall plowed and one time over in the spring with a spring tooth harrow. Always planted for the grain for livestalk. Never baled the straw because had plenty of wheet straw and it held up better for bedding, never tried making oat hay.

Game & Fish will put you in jail and fine you if they catch you deliberatley feeding wildlife in this state; it is against AZ law!

They can't say much about it here, I had oat crops from '08, '09, '10, corn before that, deer feed on all the ag crops, especially oat grass regrowth after harvest, and as I have seen first hand, they fatten up nice from that grass, it helps immensely with their instinctive preparation for the winter months, after the harsh winter of '10-'11, I did not find any carcasses, after a tough winter in '02, there were several carcasses nearby and the results of that years hunt totally reflected the kind of winter we had. In those 3 years we had oats, there was close to 60 acres total of it connected to here, and there is no doubt the grasses are of high benefit to the deer, DEC can pound salt if I plant forage for them, or just because, we legally take what we get tags for and the rest of the herd that lingers or those that pass by, all benefit. Deer are a pain for other reasons, but its always been part of putting food on the table and good lean meat, finished on good forage, when DEC pays the taxes and deals with trespassers, then they can dictate what we do on our land, in the interim, and the local officers know, everyone does this regardless. Yes, Dicks won't sell whitetail institute or similar products, but agway does, and has for years, don't see anyone knocking their door down because of it.

Now if you want to bait them, with things that are not naturally found in their habitat, pile of corn, auto feeders, pile of apples, salt licks, ok I don't agree with it, don't practice it, but would not try and tell someone else not to.

We have apples all over the place here, we have 30 acres of corn adjacent, which they browse late season, also all kinds of cover and other browse, forage and so on, all this planting of forage does is improve their habitat, improve their health and provides high protein, only thing we are guilty of is providing food for hungry mouths, common sense don't you think ? LOL !

Well I appreciate all the comments, was just pondering something inexpensive, will have to try something or a variant of what I was thinking.

I can plow and disc myself, going to take a little time, could hire it out, I think my farmer friend still has that equipment, thinking he kept everything related to hay and being able to plant hay grasses, budget is for crap this year, still trying to get back to work and it ain't happening darn it LOL ! If that was not the case, I'd have him do it, and or maybe into hay, but they really like oat grass, would spray for weeds, then cut it to keep it green, weather dictates but in '08, a clean crop came back, not as tall or dense as the first one, no darned weeds, rain or something did it, I have photos, the oats headed out again, you could have baled this crop and we did have a window for it, boy did the deer love that year, I called in a nice 6 pt buck and have a small video of that, with all the green and everything else brown, I need to keep something in there, it makes such a nice feeding area, the bucks fight, and play, the young ones play and run around, and you definitely see more deer, and in the 2 years since its been in weeds I hardly see any mature buck.

It may just boil down to me broadasting after plowing, discing 1 pass, then a 2nd pass after its broadcast, I have done that with good results, might not even get the whole field, but something is better than nothing, and I enjoy the heck out of doing it just the same, seeing it grow, watching them feed and do what they do etc.