What is growing in my food plot?

[N80]

I had a little area left over to plant a food plot after planting my other larger plots in cow peas and sunflowers. Just for the heck of it I planted a bag of Rack Master (or something like that.) All I did was disk the turf, fertilize and broadcast the stuff. I don't even remember what was in it. There have been a few sunflowers, a few soy beans, a few cow peas, but mostly its the stuff in the following two pictures and they have come up like gangbusters. i mean they are dense, thick and green! They deer haven't touched any of it. Both of these plants have 'corn-like' leaves and stalks. They look nearly identical until they seed up. This type is nearly seven feet tall:

I was thinking it might be sorghum.

These are about 4-5 feet tall and have broader leaves:

I was thinking it might be millet.

Anyone know for sure? I sure hope the doves and quail like whatever it is because the deer do not seem interested. Thanks for any help

 

[sarti]

Looks like Milo, but around here it only gets about 3ft tall,,The birds will eat it
The quail clubs around my area plant it

 

[N80]

After a little more research it looks like the bottom one is definitely sorghum. I have no idea what the top one is. Doesn't look like millet to me, but it could be.

And after a little more research it seems like the tall stuff is dove proso millet,

 

[3RRL]

Don't know what the top one is but I suspect your right.
I have to agree the bottom one is definitely sorghum. Around here the plants are about 4' tall or so.

 

[N80]

I also just found out that 'milo' and sorghum are the same thing. I like this sorghum. It is very hearty and very easy to grow. I did not even plow this patch, I just disked a bare field of weeds and grass and the sorghum literally took over the weeds!

The deer do not touch the plant and apparently only eat the seeds when they ripen in late summer/early fall. And as mentioned, the dove and quail like the seeds to. I think I will plant a lot more of this next year.

 

[charlz]

Sweet sorghum can also be used to make a syrup.... one of my neighbors does a small patch each year. One of these years I want to go provide manual labor so I can learn how to make it.

 

[Chuck52]

Saw somewhere recently that sorghum is now being considered as a replacement for corn for making ethanol....supposed to give six times the yield, but they didn't specify if that was on a per acre basis or what. Doesn't it grow pretty much everywhere that corn will grow? It might even actually make sense, as opposed to using corn that is.

Chuck

 

[WTA]

Do you all think it's too late to plant something like this now in West Texas?
I never have planted a food plot for the quail, pheasant and turkey but I'd like to this year. My two dry pastures don't have anything better to do right now.
I've seen a few deer through here too and would love to see them stick around whether it's legal to hunt them in this county or not.

 

[charlz]

Saw somewhere recently that sorghum is now being considered as a replacement for corn for making ethanol....supposed to give six times the yield, but they didn't specify if that was on a per acre basis or what. Doesn't it grow pretty much everywhere that corn will grow? It might even actually make sense, as opposed to using corn that is.

I've wondered about that myself since I knew you could make syrup from it. Anything with high sugar content would be ideal for ethanol. Sugar beets are real popular crop here as well, not sure if they grow everywhere.

Of course you still would be likely to take some corn acres out of production to grow the other crop so the anti-biofuels groups would still complain.

Number one problem for biofuels is irrigation water... you can have all the acres-based stats in the world but if you don't have irrigation water how many acres it would take to fuel the nation really doesn't matter.

 

[N80]

Apparently it has much lower fertilizer requirements than corn as well so that would be a plus for ethanol production too. But I agree, if it takes food put of production I'm not sure its a net gain.

I'd also have to say that the soil prep is much easier. Disk and spread and boom its up and choking out the weeds.

 

[charlz]

BTW, I think the top one is 'Broom Corn' which is a low-sugar sorghum.

 

[Redbug]

Hi George,

I'm not sure if I ever sent this to you about food plots. Lots of good info which I think you will like...

P2111 Wildlife Food Planting Guide -- For The Southeast

A few good illustrations of a few of the millet types...

http://cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A-414.pdf

 

[N80]

I have an older copy of the Planting Guide. Same text but also has lots of pictures, but the pics are old B&W ones and don't really show you much. I like the version you linked to better.

Thanks for the millet link. That is helpful and based on that picture I'm sure the tall stuff is dove proso millet.

 

[JRobyn]

Sorghum. We have a little "sorghum festival and old-timer's day" every fall when we mill the stalks and cook down the juice to make sorghum molasses.

- Jay

 

[N80]

That's cool. I guess its processed a lot like sugar cane.

 

[ihookem]

Sorgum yields 4 times more than corn from what I hear, takes less to plant, less weed control and ferterlizer, and you can use the stalks for sileage too. The best part is if you live far enough south you can cut it and it will grow back for another harvest. It grows almost anywhere too, even in dry areas of the west. I think if we keep ethonal this will be the plant. No doubt easier on the land and water runoff problems of corn. I wish it would take off if it takes the cost off of corn. I priced 24% protien chicken feed today and it came to 26.30 $ a hundred. Two years ago it 12 bucks a hundred.

 

[gcp]

George, this is George from northern Alabama, aka gcp. Do you think it's too late to plant sorghum now? My soil is sandy, dry, and difficult to grow things on, except for what's indigenous which has no problems whatsoever growing but I sure do like the sound of chocking the weeds out. And if the deer love the seed, well then, let them propagate a crop for next year

Disking is all I can do (have no tiller but I do use a plow now and then) so as a test I planted wheat last year and it did quite well. So, I'm hoping it'll reseed it self for this year as well but I'll probably add more to new plots August time frame....

What do you usually plant for you deer plots and when?

 

[schmism]

its not quite a sweet as surgar cane, but try some... same was as you would surgar cane, strip the woody outer shell off with a pocket knife and knaw on the inner stalk.

 

[N80]

I didn't think of that. I remember chewing sugar cane as a child. At what point in the growth cycle can you do this?

 

[N80]

George, this is George from northern Alabama, aka gcp. Do you think it's too late to plant sorghum now?

I think that puts us in about the same 'zone' as me and the sources that I have say you can plant sorghum through August.

I usually plant oats in late summer/early fall and sunflowers and cow peas in the spring. I may give up on the sunflowers though. They really attract the deer but they eat them to the ground and they're done. They do not grow back after browsing.

And since I've got two small fields of munched sunflowers I think I am going to disk them up and plant some more sorghum. If anything it is encouraging because it really grows fast and lush. It will also be good for turkey, quail and doves. Seems like a great plot plant to me.

But remember, the sorghum is apparently not a food source for the deer during the spring and early summer. They don't touch it. They start eating the seeds in the late summer, early fall. I don't know if they eat the stalk, but I'm guessing not. Seems like they would since it is sweet. We'll see I guess.

I like to plow before I disk. It really gives a good seed bed but more importantly it seems to help with weed control. I have no plans to get into spraying herbicides ($$$), which is what you need to do for best results, but I find that turning the turf over with the plow does a pretty good job. Compared to disking alone, it does a great job.