A wrong oat? No sir I do not believe so, some people are partial to jerry oats but honestly I've never seen a difference. We are both hunting in northern areas, oats a great draw for early season, and they grow well but they will yellow and die off as it gets colder later in the season. It is a good idea to use a winter rye grain with it as it stays green in the later months and will be a great draw when the oats die off. Both handle browse pressure very well. You could plant some clovers thats that work well with your soil depending on your dirt, if its sandy like me some med red and alsike would be a great mix. Clip the Rye in the spring (mid may/early june) and the clover will take off.

 

I planted a 10 dollar bag of feed oats in late march for some attraction and green manure. it grew great and is now headed out and the turkeys are destroying the seed heads. Filled the gap between a spent brassica plot and a fall cereal grain/clover plot

 

One of the biggest mistakes food plotters make each year. Here is why...
Depending on when feed oats was harvested, it tends to be low test eight, harvested earlier than when effective seed set takes place and contains a high amount of weeds.
When weeds are a food plotters biggest challenge, why take a chance and bring NOT CLEANED, weedy oats into your plot? To save $5 a bag it's sooooooo not worth it.

Buy some certified seed. Here is some varieties that work well
Newberg, rockford, forage plus and falcon.

I prefer triticale over any oats though, it gives you a longer window before it gets old. It is way higher in minerals and 1-2% higher in protein.

 

We've had good luck with Buck Forage Oats and Imperial Whitetail Oats. We have planted "feed" oats before and we planted feed oats in half the plot and Buck Forage in the other half as an experiment. The BFoats are much heartier and healthier and preferred over the feed oats by deer.
Just our observation

 

Thanks all of you!

 

I had a talk on this topic with another high profile agronomist. He agrees with me. People should NEVER plant anything other than certified seed. Why bring in weeds? Feed oats are rarely cleaned and how many people have seen farmers spray their oat fields for weeds before harvesting the oats for grain? Very few. I am myself dealing with wild mustard that the neighbor brought into the area because of some cheap seed.

Cheap seed is the most expensive seed one ever plants. Besides that, if one tested the germ count on the average oats, you all would be surprised by how low it can be. At times i've had people admit to me next to no germination at times. A typical germ count would range from 50-75%. So, why would anyone spend $10 per 50 lb bag of feed oats that has 50% germ count when one can spend $12 per 32 lbs and get 90% germination? Plus very low weeds verses 2 or 3% weed seed in some cases. I'm tempted to shake out some typical feed oat seed and show you all what ends up in the bottom screen....

 

Uhh I throw grain seed that is $17 for 100# (from a coop) in a plastic bin and water it twice a day and its a complete green patch in a week for my chickens as fodder. 50% germ on grain seed is pretty bogus dude.

 

Seed Dormancy

Some plant species have seeds that delay germination for several weeks to many months. This phenomenon, known as seed dormancy, is a condition that prevents seed germination under normal environmental conditions. Seed dormancy is especially prevalent in small grain seed. Seed dormancy influencing field emergence is variable and not easily predictable. There are three major factors that affect seed dormancy.

1. Time

2. Variety

3. Environment



Due to dormancy, small grain seed may not germinate properly when planted immediately after harvest. This is especially problematic when fall planting of recent harvest. In particular the oat species requires time to overcome its dormancy period. Furthermore, different oat varieties exhibit varying potential for seed dormancy. Environmental factors such as soil moisture and soil temperature also affect seed germination. To have proper germination, oat seed grows best when planted under cooler temperatures of either spring or late summer. Planting during the Wisconsin mid-summer heat may cause slow or improper germination. To minimize the effect of seed dormancy, consideration should be given to planting dates which allow as much time as possible between seed harvest and planting while providing the probability of lower soil temperatures.

Some small grain species have seeds that delay germination for several weeks to many months. This phenomenon, known as seed dormancy, prevents seed germination under normal conditions. Seed dormancy is variable and is influenced by variety, environment, and time.
I also would love to show people the difference .1% weed seed means verses 1% weed seed.

There are huge differences in oat vareties and yield. It is like planting corn. Think open pollinated $80 a bag corn will yield 200-250 bushel per acre like some of the top hybrids? Corn isn't corn and oats aren't oats. Plus what happens when one has 2-3 varieties in a field? The answer is in one of the articles below.

http://osufacts.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-8672/PSS-2160.pdf

http://www.co.yellowstone.mt.gov/extension/ag/pubs/Oats.pdf

I could go on and on but i'd never plant any grains with less than 85% germ count. For those who still think i'm blowing smoke, here is what you do. Buy a 50 lb bag of oats from the mill and take out 100 seeds, plant them and count how many germinate....you will have your answer. I'd never plant anything tht I didn't know what was the germ count. What happens when one plants untested seed in early august in the Midwest and you discover 2-3 weeks later the seed isn't growing well or at all? By the time you replant, your margin of success is close to nill and in some cases there is no back up plan.

 

Run tests like I did. Sure feed outs will produce,no doubt and they are cheaper. However, you will get some unwanted stuff, plus you will not get the same germination rate. One thing we noticed in our comparison is that the brand oats like Buck Forage etc survive better during times of less than desirable rain etc

 

Im doing a germ test now. Ill let you know what comes up.... Either way I think I will buy some "seed" oats.

 

All I'm saying is grain seed like oats and rye will germ on cement for crying out loud with enough water, theres no reason to get that in depth with which type you plant, its for deer guys, an animal.

 

True, I'm not that in depth. I like trying different things to see what wildlife likes the most. You just get a better yield from name brand oats vs feed oats from the coop. I've tried them both

 

Ok ill bite...ive been in the seed business for 23 years. There is a reason for the 1/2-1" recommendation for oats. There is also reasons why the progressive farmers went to brillion seeders. You need to throw out 25-40% more seed to get the same level of success if you throw and go. What happens if timely rains dont hit and the seeds sitting on top of the ground. Seed germs better with good seed to soil contact. Why not do things to create success?

 

I'm not saying its not a good idea to do the best job you can. What i'm saying is if someone is doing small parcels (an acre or under) and they are on limited funds (heck I'm in that category) there is nothing wrong with getting cheaper bulks seed locally harvest from say a coop, put some lime/fert down and watch it grow. Deer eat the heck out of the 'cheap' oats and rye that I plant here in NW MI.

My whole point in all of this is that you don't have to go expensive to have success.

 

For what its worth, I did 2 different germination tests on these Nutrea Feed Oats that were triple washed. On both tests I had 95-100% germ! I was pretty surprised. Im going to plant them in one of my neighbors plots.

Ive been trying to find triticale... thats been a pain. Honestly, without ordering online, buying any seed other than corn and beans is a job. You cant find seed on any street corner thats for sure!

 

there are dealers who sell triticale in Minnesota....deer creek seed supplies them. You can do a dealer search and find one in your area.

 

Have planted seed oats before and Scandinavian horse feed oats .the deer eat the feed oats better

 

We use feed oats in our plots, buy direct from farmer. 250 lb pickle barrel full us $47, germinate great and no issues.

Most of the high dollar buck on the bag blends are primarily oats, wheat or cereal rye with a smattering of peas, clover and brassicas mixed in and the price jacked way up