Don't sweat it. You will be fine with oats and wheat. Rye is the most important to keep small. Your green food source has a few weeks to go before it's very attractive. There's still loads of food around. I always put those small green food sources close to oaks to really take advantage of deer movement. The oak shift happens in my area late Sept.

 

Last year my oats got up to 10 inches before the deer really started in on it. With the weather I'm having now, deer are still eating browse because we have so much of it due to a wet summer. I won't plant until oct. Because they won't want it while they have so much in the woods to eat. I've never seen deer in my area so fat for this time of year. Same for the hogs.

 

Ripeness will affect palatability for deer.
I'm no expert but it seems to me that deer have little interest in those kinds of cereal grains as grain.

They like to eat the young green shoots but I've never seen them show very much interest after they head out, (form grain/seed heads), let alone after they ripen to the golden colors.

The mature plant height will be determined more by the variety and summer growing conditions. When I farmed and we raised some oats mostly as a nurse crop for alfalfa seed (and then combined it when ripe to supplement dairy cattle rations), we always got nervous if the oats plants got too tall as they approached maturity. When that occurs the crop is susceptible to "lodging" or falling flat to the ground in wind or a heavy rain.
Even if you've raised a good crop, it becomes almost impossible to harvest when all the heads are lying flat on the ground.

It always seemed to happen the day before the custom harvester was due to arrive with his half-million dollar John Deere combine!

 

I'm thinking about re-tilling this week and planting radishes while I still have time. How does that sound?

 

what will happen if you mow it?

 

That I have no experience with.
Sorry.

Edited to add: I was referring to planting radishes.
To answer Franklin 7x57, mowing now will probably kill the wheat and oat plants depending on how mature they actually are.
But it would help some new growth of other plants and weeds which may or may not attract deer.

 

the guy who sells the food plot mix that I use recommended not planting my oats and wheat mix until the last weekend in august or first weekend in sept so they only grow to about 6 inches in height otherwise the deer wont use them as much. I think if you want to re till and replant you would be fine planting turnips/radishes/beets as long as you test you soils PH or they will be bitter and the deer wont eat them. also, you could always till and replant oats and peas. Just my 2 cents

 

Oats are most attractive to deer in the juvenile state. That is the reason Buck Forage Oats are supposed to be more attractive to deer. They stay that way for longer.

I would replant either oats or wheat but I would wait 3-4 weeks. Having them 2 weeks old about the time the rut kicks off would be great. Oats/wheat are carbs and deer utilize them more as the weather gets colder. Right now they will still be more attracted to legumes. If you have a clover plot you should be seeing more activity there.

If your ph is very low, the plots will not be as attractive as they could be and will not see as much deer activity.

 

PH is good. I soil tested and used the correct amount of lime and fertilizer when I planted the Oats.

 

Don't re till your plot. That would be a waste of time, seed and energy. If you have a remotely decent deer pop they will eat it. Trust me. You want decent height on it. If anything over seed it with more Oats and wheat or rye if your that worried about it. I plant cereal grains in two waves. Early for more tonnage, and again sept. 1 for new growth. They eat it ALL. A pure raddish plot is a bad idea. I would do more
Research for next year. There are other things to worry about more.

 

I try to plant Oats/Wheat before an early Sept. rain, here in Missouri. Much earlier than that and they lose their attractiveness to deer.

 

Mow it!!! North Central Mo here and I planted on Labor day last year and had a wet fall. Luckily the plot was with in Riding mower distance so i just put it on high and mowed it..twice.. and two deer were taken in that 1/8th acre plot last year

 

I am interested in this as well. I have heard people saying they like them short/young but then heard others say as soon as the woods food slowed in production (acorns..etc) they hit the oats/rye/wheat hard even if it was tall (just not gone to seed yet)

 

I wait until Labor Day before I spread cereal grains this year. I tried something a little different this year and planted oats and peas two weeks ago from today. Next week I'll broadcast winter rye into it.

 

I am also going to be broadcasting some rye over the top of my oats and wheat plots this weekend (labor day) and then maybe one more time a week after that to create a layered approach.