Recommendations for Wildlife Food Plots in Gulf County – Part II

In the first part of my series on wildlife plots recommended for Gulf County, I covered recommended varieties of rye grasses, small grains and legumes for our area.  This article will be devoted to Brassica, Forage Chicary Crops and Cool-season Forage Blends.

Wildlife requires suitable, healthy living area to survive and increase population numbers.  The living areas must provide the food, cover, and space  and water needs of different animals.

Brassicas are annual crops which are highly productive and digestible and can provide forages 40 days after seeding, depending on the forage brassica crops, such as turnip, swede, rape, and kale can be planted in, fall and spring. Very little is known about adaptability of forage brassicas to Florida or the acceptability by wildlife as a food source.

Kale: Kale is very winter-hardy. Varieties include Premier, Vates and Siberian.

Rape:  Rape would also be considered to be very winter-hardy. Varieties include Rangi, Rangiora, Barnapoli, Dwarf Essex, Emerald and Winfred.

Brasicas are annual crops which are highly productive and digestible and can provide forages 40 days after seeding, depending on the forage Brassica crop, such as Turnip, Swede, Rape and Kale ca both be planted in, fall and spring.  Very little is known about adaptability of forage Brassicas to Florida or the acceptability by wildlife as a food source.

Turnip or Turnip Hybrids: These crops grow very fast, reaching near maximum production levels in 80 to 90 days. Varieties include Purple Top, White Globe and Barkant. Some varieties such All Top and Seven Top only produce tops.

Swede: Like turnip, swedes produce a large edible root. Yields are higher than those of turnip, but they grow slower and require 150 to 180 days to reach maximum production.

Forage chicory is a perennial plant (forb) that is suited to well or moderately drained soils with medium to high fertility levels and a pH of 5.5 or greater. Varieties available at this time are Puna and Forage Feast.

Recommended Cool Season Forage Blends:

Best Buy for your Buck- #1 – Per Acre

           * 50 lbs (2 bu) oats

           * 50 lbs (1 bu) wheat or triticale

           * 6 lbs red clover

           * 14 lbs crimson clover

Best Buy for your Buck - #2 – Per Acre

           * 50 lbs (2 bu) oats

           * 15 lbs crimson clover

           * 16 lbs ryegrass (may reseed)

           * 6 lbs red clover

Double Treat (for well-drained sites) – Per Acre

           * 10 lbs red clover

           * 15 lbs crimson clover

Triple Treat (for wet or poorly drained sites) – Per Acre

           * 4 lbs white clover

           * 12 lbs red clover

           * 4 lbs arrowleaf clover

For more information please contact the Gulf County Extension Service @ 639-3200 or 229-2909. Our website at .