I put in one vote for the BFO. I have had good success with them and plant them in one of my three annual plots every year. In Ohio I plant about Labor Day. Those oats will not make it thru the winter here anyway, so might as well plow them up in the spring.

 

I'm in southern va and I've done the oats the last couple of years and have had great success. I didn't use that specific brand though. Just got my oats from local feed store. The deer absolutely love the stuff. They mow it down like four legged lawn mowers. Shot my best buck two years ago in the plot. I don't think u can go wrong with oats and to me they seemed to grow easier then some of the other stuff we've planted

 

I like oats. I really do! But, I would mix rye and oats. Sounds like you should have great success with oats, but if you don't and that's all you plant your work is for nothing. I think you can always county on rye....and the deer love it just like oats. It will persist, probably thru the winter in southwest Pennsylvania (my wife is from Huntingdon County!). I know you want your plot to serve you only thru the PA hunting season, but why not leave a little extra?

 

I agree. I plant winter Rye and BFO in the fall with great success.
I like the idea of variety with my food plots and this mix works great.

 

I would cultipack the oats/rye down and broadcast a little of brassicas over the top.

 

Has anyone tried plotspike forage oats from tractor supply? Someone told me they are the same "name" of oats as Buck Forage.

 

Plotspike oats, buck forage oats, bob oats etc etc...everyone has an opinion on. Buckforage oats is a variety called Bob. People can buy bob oats without a fancy picture of a deer on it at other places. Plot spike will perform the same. But that being said....i'm doing year 2 on a trial to prove something, because i am cheap and i want to help people save money.

I am a deer nutritionist and crop advisor. There is more quality on triticale. I have planted winter oats, winter rye, winter wheat, winter barley, and winter triticale as well as the spring versions of each. I am all about the triticale. It's higher protein, higher mineral and will give one a slightly longer window than the rye's and oats til maturity, so it doesn't get old as fast. There is tonnage/sward density advantages.

I'll be putting seed in the ground august 1. There will be trail cameras. There will be forage sample analysis. Stay tuned.

I'd rather spend $20 on 50 pounds of triticale than $30 on buck forage oats, bob oats, plot spike.

 

Planted BFO last year. Let's just say, I never had to mow the plot because the deer did it for me.

 

What about mixing in a little Alfalfa with Buck Forage Oats and Winter Wheat ?

 

Buck forage oats is a variety called BOB. Bob is bob, just like ogle is ogle and rockford is rockford. There is a limited variety of winter oats out there on the market. One typically pays $30-40 per 50 lbs of these oats and the result is 1-2 ton of forage per acre.

There is a forage variety that NO deer guys talk about called forage plus oats. They were developed by the Wisconsin seed association and are high protein, and high yielding. They sell for $15 per bushel. There are other varieties like Falcon, Newberg and Rockford that sell a couple bucks less a bag.

The only reason one should plant a winter oat if one is talking TONNAGE and digestible nutrients per acre is if they want them to grow through the winter in areas that they survive or in areas where they go dormant and will regrow like winter wheat, winter rye or the other winter grains grow.

I'll be demonstrating year 2 of trials i'm doing in this. I planted winter oats right next to the winter grains last year and the pics speak volumes. As posted in previous posts, people overlook triticale. There is a reason why so many of the high producing dairies and managers are turning from oats and barley toward triticale.

So, i'll also throw another product out there that is a winner. Willow Creek Winter Wheat. It's been around a while and has a huge disease/plant stress package. The past two years extreme northern winters really showed how impressive this variety was. It made winter rye look wimpy and thats saying tons.

So, if someone insists on planting a forage oat, i recommend one of the less expensive varieties and mixing it with a species that matches soil type, soil pH, and that is an agressive grower that persists really late into the season, like radish and winfred brassica.

 

And I recommend Buck Forage Oats, the bag with the Big Buck picture on it! The results speak for themselves!