Matt,

For small, cool season forage crops I rely heavily on winter wheat and brassicas.  Winter wheat is a hardy cool season small grain that performs well if fertilized/limed properly.  Brassicas are good as they typically are not foraged upon until after a hard frost allowing them to grow a bunch of tonnage before the deer herd starts to eat them.  Both require being planted at least 45-50 days before the first average frost date.  Rye grain (absolutely not rye grass) is also an option as it can be planted slightly later because it is an excellent nitrogen scavenger and can grow during temperatures 12 degrees cooler than winter wheat.

Lastly, depending on the actual food plot size Eagle Seed’s forage soybeans are my first bet. I like them because they produce forage all summer while producing tons of grain forage (often tons more than typical cool season forage crops). However, their grain production depends largely on how heavily they are hit by the deer throughout the summer. If there are gads of deer in the area, a small plot of soybeans might get over browsed unless protected by a fence (I use the Hot Zone Deer Exclosure System). I’d plant Eagle Seed forage soybeans the first year and see what happens. The worst case scenario is that the beans will be totally consumed, but the plot will be prepared for the cool season planting!

Growing Deer together,

Grant