It’s September - NOW WHAT?!?
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September is here. Across most of the whitetail’s range, your food plots are either planted or about to be.
If you are farther south, shift this timeline later. Depending on your latitude, the same ideas may apply in October, November, or even December.
Hunting season is getting closer, and now is the time to look at what you have and ask how you can maximize it.
The plot may look great. Maybe it is a little behind. Maybe drought slowed it down. Maybe browse pressure is already higher than expected.
The good news is that there are still several things you can do to maximize the forage you have and carry more food deeper into the hunting season.
Feed the Plants and Biology
If your plot is established and actively growing, this can be a great time for a foliar application.
The Vitalize Foliar Stack allows us to feed both the plants and the soil biology.
For clover and perennial plots, Revive RX and BioCharge are a great combination. Revive RX supports the biology, while BioCharge provides plant nutrition.
For cereal grains and brassicas, like Carbon Load - BioCharge and Regen N can provide additional plant nutrition and amino acid nitrogen to help promote growth.
Or, mix all three for the ultimate fall stack.
Revive RX feeds and stimulates plant/soil biology; BioCharge feeds the plant; and Regen N provides amino acid-based nitrogen. Together, they give you biological support, plant nutrition, and a readily available nitrogen source designed to enhance growth without the same burn risk associated with high-salt synthetic nitrogen sources.
That can be especially valuable when plants are already stressed by drought, heavy browse, or changing fall conditions.
You can apply the foliar products before or after overseeding to give the plot a little extra push heading into deer season.
The goal is simple. Support the plants that are already established and help them make the most of the growing days we still have left.
Feed the Soil
This is also a great opportunity to feed the soil.
Applying 40 to 80 pounds of No-Till Nurture per acre can provide slower-release nutrition while supporting soil biology and nutrient cycling.
Apply it before rain whenever possible.
One of my favorite things to do, especially when a plot is thin or has been stressed, is to overseed an established Carbon Load plot with Grain Bin at 30 pounds per acre and No-Till Nurture at 40 pounds per acre.
Mix them and let them rip.
You are adding highly attractive cereal grains while also feeding the soil underneath the existing plot.
That combination can help add forage, capture available nutrients, and give the existing stand more support as hunting season approaches.
If you want to push the plot even harder, you can also go over the top with the appropriate foliar products before or after the overseeding application.
Add Grain Bin, but Only When the Plot Needs It
Grain Bin is one of the easiest tools we have for this time of year.
But I would not automatically overseed every plot with it.
Grain Bin really shines when the plot is sparse, stressed, or in need of additional forage.
Grain Bin is a ready-to-go blend of cleaned, certified rye, triticale, winter wheat, and buckwheat, combining winter-hardy grains with a buckwheat nurse crop that can help improve phosphorus availability for both the Grain Bin and the existing stand.
Heavy Browse
If deer are consuming your plot faster than it can grow, additional cereal grains can increase available forage and help spread browse pressure across more plants.
Drought or Poor Establishment
Your original planting germinated unevenly, or drought left portions of the plot thin.
You do not necessarily need to terminate everything and start over.
Overseeding Grain Bin into those openings gives you another chance to establish forage while there is still a growing season remaining.
Sparse Carbon Load
If your Carbon Load stand is thin, the 30-pound Grain Bin plus 40-pound No-Till Nurture combination really shines.
Broadcast them together over the existing stand ahead of the rain.
Then, if you want a little extra push heading into deer season, come over the top with the appropriate Foliar Stack.
If the Carbon Load is already thick and healthy, skip the Grain Bin and feed what is already there.
Clover Monocultures
Established clover can produce and cycle significant amounts of nitrogen.
Overseeding Grain Bin into a clover plot gives you cereal grains capable of capturing some of that available nitrogen as well as adding highly attractive fall and winter forage.
Instead of leaving that fertility unused, put another growing root in the system.
Why Our Cereal Grain Rates Are Modest
One thing you may notice is that our Grain Bin rate, and really our cereal grain rates in general, are fairly modest. That is intentional.
We want enough cereal grain to add forage, capture available nutrients, and increase attraction. Still, we do not want to create an excessive amount of high-carbon residue going into the following spring.
Too much cereal grain biomass can create a high carbon-to-nitrogen ratio as the residue breaks down. Soil microbes need nitrogen to process that carbon, which can temporarily tie up plant-available nitrogen and potentially slow the growth of the following crop - especially in no-till systems. The goal is balance.
Add enough cereal grain to improve the plot now, without creating a residue problem that will work against you next spring.
Why Cereal Grains Work So Well This Time of Year
One advantage of cereal grains is their ability to establish in cooler fall conditions.
As temperatures begin dropping, many warm-season plants are slowing down. Cereal grains can continue to establish and produce forage well into the season.
That gives us another opportunity to put living roots in the soil and provide additional forage for deer.
It also helps extend the food plot's productive life beyond the early hunting season.
Don’t Forget Browse Pressure
Before deciding your plot is struggling, check your exclusion cage.
If the plants inside the cage are substantially taller than everything outside of it, you may not have a fertility or establishment problem.
You may have a lot of mouths to feed on your food plot.
That distinction matters.
It can help determine whether you need more fertility, additional seed, more food-plot acreage, additional habitat work, increased doe harvest, or some combination of these.
This is often a next-year adjustment, but one worth noting.
This Is Not the Time to Give Up
Your food plot does not have to be perfect right now.
There is still a growing season left.
Feed the plants.
Feed the soil.
Fill the gaps only where needed.
If your Carbon Load stand is already thick and healthy, I would focus on feeding the soil with No-Till Nurture and, if desired, giving the plot an additional foliar application.
If the stand is thin, drought-stressed, or has been heavily browsed, Grain Bin becomes a great option. Overseed it into those sparse areas to add cereal grains, increase forage, and help carry the plot deeper into fall and winter.
The key is not to add more seed just because you can.
Look at the stand, identify what it needs, and adjust from there.
A few simple decisions now can make a major difference in how much forage your property carries through the rest of the hunting season and into winter.