Anybody ever broadcast sorghum?

G

GSP

New member
Last year I drilled some sorghum in next to an established NWSG plot. The results were awesome. The birds flocked to it come Dec.

One thing I noticed though was that the birds ran it like they would rows of corn. It would seem to me that broadcasting the seed would not only create a more effective opportunity to get a rooster pointed in it, but it might also create more "tangles" and better cover.

This year I ordered some PF Blizzard Buster (which is primarily sorghum). Does anyone have any experience with broadcasting this as opposed to drilling it?

Thoughts?
 
I broadcasted that stuff last year with good results. The down falls.....birds eating the seed before it can take root and seed head growth is not as good due to weeds crowding the seed out a bit.

If your looking for a rough food plot though this is the way to go.:) --1pheas4
 
1pheas4 said:
I broadcasted that stuff last year with good results. The down falls.....birds eating the seed before it can take root and seed head growth is not as good due to weeds crowding the seed out a bit.

If your looking for a rough food plot though this is the way to go.:) --1pheas4
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Thanks 1pheas. Would you mind giving me the nitty gritty? Did you round up first? How many pounds per acre? Cultipack or drag it after broadcasting?
 
GSP said:
Thanks 1pheas. Would you mind giving me the nitty gritty? Did you round up first? How many pounds per acre? Cultipack or drag it after broadcasting?
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I worked two sections next to one another. One side I used round up to kill off what was there. The other I mowed. The side that round up was used on had a much better crop for obvious reasons. The mowed side had better cover with limited light food sources here and there. I recommend Roundup.

After broadcasting each side I dragged each side. I would like to think this saved much of the seed from song birds. They find the seed fast and you'll have hundreds of birds pecking around for seed left in the open.

As far as how much seed I used I recall using one bag of blizzard buster. I believe one bag is good for 5 acres but broadcasting cuts that down a few acres because you must lay it on a bit heavy to make up for song birds eating the seed prior to taking root. :) --1pheas4

One other thing I should mention. I thatched the soil prior to broadcasting. Twice (during the growing season) I went through with Roundup to kill of giant ragweed. I personally had a hell of a time keeping the ragweed from snuffing out the crop.
 
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I would suggest the light dragging of some sort and maybe a trip with the roller or packer to help with the seed to soil contact without burying it too deep, and as mentioned to help protect it from becoming food. No need to get over zealous with either on though.
 
A few years ago I mixed milo and white proso millet with 11-52-0 fertilizerand spread it with a fertilizer spreader. I had worked the ground first so I had a good seedbed. I then disked it lightly and planted it thick. It rained just right and all the stars must have lined up because it was the best food plot I have ever had, the birds held wonderfully.
 
I planted some late last summer, By broadcasting it, and it actually came up pretty well. I mowed the area down as short at I could spread the seed and drove over it with my truck and four wheeler several times to pack it down. Came up a lot better than I ever expected. Some areas that didn't come up real well I think can be attributed to how late I planted the seed. It was definately an experiental deal.

On another note, the seed was a 50 pound bag of livestock feed. Go to the local farm store look at the tags on the feed bags and see what the seed mixes are. Mine was basically a 50 pound bag of milo, when it is sold as feed it sure does cost a lot less than PF charges for their mixes. You can also plant sunflowers and other grains the same way, look for whole seed in the bird feed isles. They have sunflower, milllet, milo etc. and it's often a lot cheaper than buying the seed mixes and grows just fine.
 
We broadcast oats which has a smilar planting depth. After broadcasting we lightly disk and cultipack the field.
 
Tallgrass said:
On another note, the seed was a 50 pound bag of livestock feed. Go to the local farm store look at the tags on the feed bags and see what the seed mixes are. Mine was basically a 50 pound bag of milo, when it is sold as feed it sure does cost a lot less than PF charges for their mixes. You can also plant sunflowers and other grains the same way, look for whole seed in the bird feed isles. They have sunflower, milllet, milo etc. and it's often a lot cheaper than buying the seed mixes and grows just fine.
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I might give feed a try for the heck of it. That's great how it worked out for you.:cheers:

Also, if your serious about putting food plots in many PF chapters will donate food plot seed for you. You just have to give an account as to how many acers your putting in:thumbsup: --1pheas4
 
I'd like to make a recommendation if I could. I wish I had the pics I took a few years back but what I did was plant milo at the recommended rate and then planted some quail haven reseeding soybeans along with it. The QH beans are a vining bean with some runners reaching 10 to 15 feet in length. The trick to using the QH beans is planting them with some type of companion crop like milo or corn to give them something to vine up on. The cover and food that this field produced was AWESOME!!. They now have the QH beans in a RR variety as well. I think you can google quail haven soybeans and find them that way. Just a thought.
 
sorghum grain and forage

if you mix grain a forage sorghum together and broadcast you will find that the birds are more likely not to run out of the plot.they get cover and food and feel safe. the forage sorghum will tip over after frost and make a great place to hide that rooster.works well in mn
 
jaytee said:
I'd like to make a recommendation if I could. I wish I had the pics I took a few years back but what I did was plant milo at the recommended rate and then planted some quail haven reseeding soybeans along with it. The QH beans are a vining bean with some runners reaching 10 to 15 feet in length. The trick to using the QH beans is planting them with some type of companion crop like milo or corn to give them something to vine up on. The cover and food that this field produced was AWESOME!!. They now have the QH beans in a RR variety as well. I think you can google quail haven soybeans and find them that way. Just a thought.
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That sounds great. Can you still walk through it? I would hate to create a dangerous situation having hunters trip on the vegitation.
 
not bad you can walk though it.its like making a house with walkways with a full kitchen.birds hold really good and thats the name of the game if bird hold percentage goes up.
 
If you have a drill, use it! Your planting rate will be right and your stand will be more uniform, thus more able to compete with weeds. Just go to the end of the patch and do a couple of swaths at 90 degrees to the length of the plot to put the brakes on the runners. If you will also mix in a fair amount of Egyptian Wheat, it will lodge over and cause more of a maze for the birds to stall out in. It is also less attractive to deer. I like to mix seed for birds. I usually mixed Egyptian wheat, milo, German millet, African millet, Pearl millet, Atlas forage sorghum, Ellis forage sorghum together. The benefit is a diverse stand of plants with variable adaptability. No matter what conditions you end up with, you will have something that can take advantage of it.
 
haymaker said:
That sounds great. Can you still walk through it? I would hate to create a dangerous situation having hunters trip on the vegitation.
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You could walk through it but the plot that I had was pretty thick. If your wanting something thats good for hunter access, I'm not sure if I'd recommend the QH beans. If your wanting something to improve the habitat and give 'em plenty to eat and great cover, I dont think it can be beat.
 
jaytee said:
You could walk through it but the plot that I had was pretty thick. If your wanting something thats good for hunter access, I'm not sure if I'd recommend the QH beans. If your wanting something to improve the habitat and give 'em plenty to eat and great cover, I dont think it can be beat.
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Thank you. That is an excellent answer. I now think I have the picture.
 
I have limited tools available at this time so here's how I did it last year:

I used a spring harrow to break ground. Using RU first to kill off the current CSG and waiting a few weeks for the roots to start to rot will help. Ripping the ground after a heavy rain is also helpful. It's hard dragging this around, but hopefully next time will be easier!
IMG_0423.jpg


Harrowing left peaks and dips, onto which I spread seed at ~10lbs/acre using a hand spreader. I then dragged a chainlink fence section to cover the seed. Afterwards I used a lawn roller to pack it down. Yes there is still seed on top at this point, but there's also a good amount in the ground at varying depths.

I was concerned about birds at one point:
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But it turned out OK!
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At around 18"-24" high I spread Urea (46-0-0) using a hand spreader right before a good rain was coming (confirm the rain is coming via radar to insure the rain washes the urea into the soil or it will be lost to the atmosphere).

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:10sign:
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Prairie Drifter said:
If you have a drill, use it! Your planting rate will be right and your stand will be more uniform, thus more able to compete with weeds. Just go to the end of the patch and do a couple of swaths at 90 degrees to the length of the plot to put the brakes on the runners.
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Great idea. So obvious too. Now why didn't I think of that...
 
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