Are Blends the Best Choice
Food plot blends have become a rage in recent years and in some cases it is justified. By offering a variety of crops in the same field, you can maximize your opportunity. When it comes to blends you can hardly go wrong.
The type of blends is as important as the blend. In other words, don’t just choose a blend, make sure the blend has the mixture you are looking for. Some blends will be heavy with grains, others will be heavy on brassicas, and others on clover. Get the mixture you are looking for to achieve your desired result.
If you are looking for a lower maintenance then one heavy with clovers and beans is better. For land owners who are absent from their property much of the year, blends that offer lower maintenance are often times a better choice than those that may require some spraying, mowing or other maintenance. Whereas blends that have more of a grain mixture will also allow for heavier browse during different times of the season.
It may seem that blends can be complicated and in some areas it can. But by reading the ingredients you can easily determine which blend suits your needs better. One well know hunter actually goes to a seed distributor and has them mix his seed for him. Many seed stores will do this for their customers. I recently tried this myself to test the results. I elected a fifty pound bag (planting ten acres) and added ten pounds of oats, ten pound of milo, ten pounds of clover and twenty pounds of soybeans. On another plot, I mixed in sweet peas, field peas, white clover and turnips.
Another method of creating blends is to use a drill and drill beans into clover patches, or drill oats and beans, turnips etc. By using a drill the deer can continue to feed on the clover while the new plants are germinating. This allows for a simple blend that is very cost effective.
Under most situations, it is my opinion that you cannot go wrong with blends. Choosing one that suits your need will defiantly bring in rewards later.
