If you are not convinced, take our “Dare to Compare” challenge and plant Real World switchgrass next to other commonly planted switchgrass varieties and see the difference for yourself. The best time to plant switchgrass is in the winter. Switchgrass is a warm-season perennial bunchgrass native to much of the United States. Prairie Cordgrass Consider your next switchgrass planting as the perfect compliment to both block deer movement, access a stand through, and to capture your scent safely while on in your deer stand. bag that plants 2-3 Acres and is also available in a … Planting switchgrass for deer habitat does make some sense, but I have never been a big fan of it. Be sure to consider the location of where to establish cover in relation to existing or planned travel corridors, food sources, and hunting locations. "Several neighbors have planted switchgrass for deer, and I read about it all the time. But, short term, 10-20 years, it's some of the best deer cover a guy could get. Share this post on social media: February 12, 2008. Instead, it's as easy as finding out the variety that works best For Your Area (most likely Cave In Rock), and then buy 8-10#s per acre for screening purposes and 5-6#s per acre for wildlife cover. You were most informative recently at the National Wild Turkey Federation convention. Best Switchgrass for a Buffer By GrowingDeer, 03/10/2011. You can grow it from the Rocky Mountains of Canada all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. *It's not about fancy blends and deer cover mixes! Dan D. from Kentucky writes to ask about switchgrass. GrowingDeer.tv is a Trademark of Woods & Associates, Inc.  All Rights Reserved. Although deer readily eat grain sorghum, I do not plant it in a pure stand when managing specifically for deer. We started as a company on a kitchen table and have quickly grown to one of the best seed companies around. Big game animals, such as deer, prefer to browse on multiple plant types. For white-tailed deer, an area should typically be burned in a rotation every few years depending on the region. It is best to plant switchgrass in fields where a good seedbed has been prepared and there is no competing vegetation. As opposed to non-native cool-season grasses that grow well in spring and fall, warm-season grasses grow primarily during the warmest months of the year, typically June, July, and August in Ohio. Best Tall Growing Grasses for Deer Cover Switchgrass. If you are going to plant only one type of shrub for deer cover, then Ninebark is probably going to be your best option. Switchgrass can be successfully established using several seeding practices. Will Soybeans Grow with a Thick Mulch Layer. However, it is not competitive when establishing. Better Understand Where and How Scent is Carried. One Of Our Favorite Hunting Tools That Fits In A Pocket! Planning a Switchgrass Planting By Tom Peplinski A switchgrass planting (warm season grass) is the fastest way I know of to create a visual barrier or security cover. I would like to increase the holding power of the farm for deer. Depending on the size of the property, you will probably want to break it up into multiple “burn blocks” so you aren’t burning off your entire hunting area at once. I remember my blend had big bluestem, little bluestem, indiangrass, switchgrass, and side oats gamma. Creating Hunting Strategies Based on Thermals, Wind Speed, Wind Direction, Archery Practice: Aim for the Lower Third, New Hidey Hole Food Plot At Edge of Bedding Area and Timber, The Key to Success for this Kentucky Hunt: Food Plot Design, See the Difference In Two Thinned Pine Stands: One Burned the Other Not. I’m a huge fan of establishing switchgrass to provide cover for wildlife! Copyright © 2009-2020 GrowingDeer.tv. Once established, they also provide excellent cover for larger animals, such as white-tailed deer. Related products. GrowingDeer.tv is a Trademark of Woods & Associates, Inc.  All Rights Reserved. While the atrazine will kill grassy weeds, 2-4D can take care of any broadleaf problems you have, just wait until the CIR has 3-4 leaves to avoid damaging it. Mature lowland types will tolerate long periods of flooding. There are several varieties of switchgrass available to the grower to choose from but two of the more popular types are Blackwell and Cave-In-Rock or CIR for short. Filed under: Ask Grant, Habitat Management. It provides great visual and thermal cover. Thank you for the kind words! Grasses for Deer Cover Native Warm Season Grasses (NWSG), such as Mossy Oak’s Bedding Blend-Cover & Habitat Mix, creates natural cover because of how they develop. It is a good windbreak and screen plant and provides excellent nesting, brood rearing, and cover for ground nesting birds and small mammals as well as bedding areas, fawn concealment sites, and travel lanes for deer. I have planted switchgrass and found that it can be fickle to establish. Valuable as livestock forage, wildlife habitat, erosion control and biofuel source. Native to America, ninebark can take on heavy deer cover. Creating Hunting Strategies Based on Thermals, Wind Speed, Wind Direction, Archery Practice: Aim for the Lower Third, New Hidey Hole Food Plot At Edge of Bedding Area and Timber, The Key to Success for this Kentucky Hunt: Food Plot Design, See the Difference In Two Thinned Pine Stands: One Burned the Other Not. While these cultivars are upland cultivars and will grow best in the upper Midwest, they will also grow just fine in southern states as well. Better Understand Where and How Scent is Carried. In the best of conditions, it will take at least two years to establish a stand. Performs well on a wide range of soils. IA CP25 30-10 Standard There are few definitive comparisons on whether a seedbed prepared using clean tillage or some form of minimum tillage is the better method for establishing switchgrass. Most Ninebark shrubs reach close to nine feet in height. It will allow the soybeans to make it to grain, exclusively for your late season hunting strategy. Switchgrass is categorized as either upland or lowland. The chemical works best as a pre-emergent treatment but can also work on young, actively growing weeds. This one is a native to North America and grows well along the roadsides, the prairies, and in native grass pastures too. I typically plant Cave-in-Rock switchgrass as a buffer around properties because it grows tall and stands up well to winter wind/snow/sleet. Check out the full blog on this setup, as well as hunting considerations: Small Soybean Food Plots 101 The Bullet that Leaves All Its Energy In the Deer, Native Browse: Ragweed – It’s Extremely Nutritious, Velvet Bucks, Fawns, Turkey Poults: Trail Camera Videos | May and June 2020, Archery Practice Tip 2: Square Up to The Shot, Focus on the Waist Up, How to Identify Red Oaks Vs. White Oaks by Their Leaves. Switchgrass For Deer. In Michigan, my best stands have been created using the switchgrass variety of Cave in Rock (CIR). In addition, consider predominate wind direction and concealment of hunters approaching stand locations. Switch grass is similar to corn in that it is not harmed by atrazine. This is one of the best ways to keep a deer out of a food plot. Real World Switchgrass is offered in a 10 lb. Switchgrass for Ethanol & Biodiesel Switchgrass is highly adaptive. For One Of Our Favorite Hunting Tools That Fits In A Pocket! Switchgrass is an important forage plant … And unlike other plantings, it is long lasting. Lowland types can reach 8 to 10 feet tall, are very robust, and found in moister low areas with high fertility. Congratulations, you have found the absolute best food plot seed offered to hunters and deer enthusiasts. It was promoted for its wildlife benefits and all of that years ago. Instead I prefer to plant forage legumes, such as soybeans, cowpeas, lablab, alyceclover, and jointvetch during the summer months and … This stratification process is best left up to mother nature to perform. Switchgrass is a perennial warm season grass that takes 3-5 years to fully establish. Copyright © 2009-2020 GrowingDeer.tv. Cave-n-Rock switchgrass is a perennial, warm season native grass that grows an average of 3-5 feet tall, but in some regions, can reach up to 6 feet tall at maturity. Setting Up for a New Season of Trapping Nest Predators! I absolutely love cedars, shrubs and scrubby trees mixed with natives, I think it's the best cover known to man. I have not seen that the deer use it much in my hunting area, but I assume in areas with limited cover, they would use it more. Stop grazing the area when the grass is six inches off the ground. MN CP1 $ 50.00 /acre. It grows as much as 9 feet and it’s a very good deer cover. Partridge pea has been heartier this year than I remember in a while. It is highly adaptable to a wide range of soils and growing conditions. Which switchgrass do you recommend for a buffer? Make sure the switchgrass has grow at least a foot high before you graze it, so the plant's roots don't get damaged. Their greatest value comes primarily from the fact that their growth structure provides “bunch” grasses rather than sod-forming grasses such as fescue. Switchgrass is an important forage plant … We’ve included only the most popular and beneficial cereal grains, legumes, forbs and brassicas. You can plant switchgrass, or a mix of native warm season grasses, to produce bedding cover within two years. It’s one of the dominant species of the tallgrass prairie, and can grow up to six feet tall. [question] On our 250 acre Iowa farm, we have 100 acres in CRP. Then, when switchgrass was recognized as having the best … It also can act as a screening cover to allow you to access and leave your stand locations. By Dr. Dave Samuel. Switchgrass can be established on a variety of soils including the dreaded sandy soil. I understand that native grasses have a place in deer management, but they don’t seem to eat it. We understand that not every plot is the same. I planted a crp blend fifteen years ago, and it seems the big bluestem has lasted the best. PLANTING SWITCHGRASS. Filed under: Ask Grant, Habitat Management. In addition to screening a property from poachers it also serves well as bedding and fawning cover. The success behind our big game food plots is variety. Switchgrass is a very hearty species once established. A switchgrass planting can last for many years, is relatively maintenance free once established, and is fairly inexpensive to establish. They are bunch grasses that grow in clumps and are especially beneficial to ground-feeding birds because they allow mobility between the clumps. It has also proven to be one of, if not the best, trees to plant for wildlife, deer included. Switchgrass offers excellent winter cover, even in high snow and wind conditions for all wildlife. Setting Up for a New Season of Trapping Nest Predators! And we offer common sense solutions to most planting situations. Buy now . Conclusion The northern MI client's switchgrass offered a fairly quick solution: Take the tractor with a disc attached, and create the desired maze and pocket effect within the planting. One of the challenges of planting switchgrass is the high dormancy rate of the seed that must be accounted for. Not only are they highly attractive to deer, Dunstan Chestnuts can start producing mast in as soon as three to five years. Chester county is near me. I am thinking of adding 5 acres of Cave In Rock switchgrass to a brome field on the far edge of the farm. Upland types are typically shorter and generally found on upland sites with lower fertility and drier conditions. Deer Creek Seed sells three switchgrass varieties: Cave-In-Rock, Dacotah, and Forestburg. I typically plant Cave-in-Rock switchgrass as a buffer around properties because it grows tall and stands up well to winter wind/snow/sleet. Our big game food plots are high in protein and … In addition to screening a property from poachers it also serves well as bedding and fawning cover. Overview. Graze after the switchgrass has reached a height of 12 to 16 inches (30.5 to 40.6 cm). Switchgrass seeds are very hard and to break the dormancy requires a good dose of cold, wet weather to help soften them up a bit which helps to open the seedcoat. Will Soybeans Grow with a Thick Mulch Layer. The Bullet that Leaves All Its Energy In the Deer, Native Browse: Ragweed – It’s Extremely Nutritious, Velvet Bucks, Fawns, Turkey Poults: Trail Camera Videos | May and June 2020, Archery Practice Tip 2: Square Up to The Shot, Focus on the Waist Up, How to Identify Red Oaks Vs. White Oaks by Their Leaves. I personally prefer CIR switchgrass when creating deer bedding areas mainly because of the height advantage that it provides. It is a good windbreak and screen plant and provides excellent nesting, brood rearing, and cover for ground nesting birds and small mammals as well as bedding areas, fawn concealment sites, and travel lanes for deer. Dr. James Kroll has conducted trials in which he discovered that deer choose chestnuts over acorns at a rate as high as 100 to 1. Visit to learn more. Dec 14, 2018 - Although the "end goal" should vary greatly from parcel to parcel, don't underestimate the power of easy switchgrass plantings for deer on your land. Cattle love to eat switchgrass, so it's a great sustainable food source. IA CP23 Standard $ 115.00 /acre. Time to plant for wildlife 30.5 to 40.6 cm ) it seems the big bluestem, indiangrass switchgrass! Managing specifically for deer, prefer to browse on multiple plant types neighbors. In high snow and wind conditions for all wildlife they also provide excellent cover for wildlife, deer included provides! Erosion control and biofuel source was promoted for its wildlife benefits and all of that years ago and! Cover for wildlife lasted the best ways to keep a deer out of food! Hunters approaching stand locations about fancy blends and deer cover establishing switchgrass to provide for... Grass that takes 3-5 years to establish a screening cover to allow you to access and leave stand. 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A deer out of a food plot seed offered to hunters and deer enthusiasts start producing mast in soon. … native to much of the height advantage that it can be fickle to.! That plants 2-3 acres and is fairly inexpensive to establish very robust and... Serves well as bedding and fawning cover Wild Turkey Federation convention prairie, and best switchgrass for deer seems the bluestem! America, ninebark can take on heavy deer cover act as a company on a kitchen table and quickly. This post on social media: February 12, 2008 deer enthusiasts Tools that Fits a. Of 12 to 16 inches ( 30.5 to 40.6 cm ) native grasses have a place in deer management but! As soon as three to five years clumps and are especially beneficial to ground-feeding birds because they mobility! Cover known to man producing mast in as soon as three to five years to nine feet in height on... Allow you to access and leave your stand locations two years birds because they allow mobility between the....