Roy,

Winter wheat works well as a cool season forage crop. It does a fine job of transferring nutrients from the soil (if they are available) to deer. It’s also a relatively easy crop to grow. Existing alfalfa crops don’t like competition. I wouldn’t try to add wheat to an existing alfalfa stand unless you plan to eliminate the alfalfa and plant another crop the following spring.

Forage seeds need to make contact with the soil to become established. Hence, if the clover is lush or has a thick duff layer, only a small portion of the wheat will reach the soil and be able to sprout. If it’s a dry year and the clover is dormant, or the clover is mowed very close to the ground at least 45 days before the first average frost date, wheat can be drilled directly into the clover. This is a fine technique and many counties or farm coops rent no-till drills.

Like you, I really like Eagle Seed forage beans!! However, unless the deer have removed much of the bean’s canopy, they usually don’t drop their leaves in time for wheat seed that has been broadcast over the beans to germinate and grow before the first frost. I usually have to mow some of my Eagle Seed forage beans so I can plant winter wheat. If the plot is small and the local deer herd has browsed a significant portion of the beans at least 45 days before the first frost, it’s a great technique to simply broadcast wheat and fertilize directly over the beans. In this situation, plant the wheat at a heavier rate than normal as some of the wheat seed won’t have good seed to soil contact.

Growing Deer together,

Grant