About J. Wayne Fears

It’s is a summer food plot crop that can be very forgiving, and will do well on all but the driest or wettest sites. While it responds best to a well-prepared seedbed, it can grow in poorly prepared seedbeds on thin soil. It doesn’t require much in the way of fertilizer and is drought resistant. While deer like the leaves and flowers of the plant, game birds love the seeds. And last but not least, it will grow well in all but the driest parts of the U.S. and southern Canada. This often overlooked plant is buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), a warm season annual.

Description

Buckwheat, contrary to popular opinion, is neither a legume nor a grain crop – it is a warm season forb. It originally came from China and has been grown in the U.S. since colonial times. The buckwheat plant has a single stem with many short branches on the upper portion. It can grow from 3- to 5-feet tall. The flowers are white and the leaf blades are 2 to 4 inches long and somewhat heart shaped.

Deer will eat the leaves, flowers, and often the seed of buckwheat once they discover the food source.

The triangular shaped seeds can be used for cereal and ground into flour. The plant makes a good cover crop for idle land, and the flowers are a favorite among beekeepers. The seeds are a high quality food for doves, wild turkey, quail, pheasants, grouse, and waterfowl. Also, the plants offer good cover for game birds and rabbits. Deer eat the leaves, flowers, and often the seed, though it can take a year or so for them to adapt to the new food source. Patience should be exercised when using buckwheat as a food plot crop for deer, but I have seen first-year crops eaten to the ground in some areas. Depending upon soil fertility, crude protein levels for buckwheat range from 10% to 25%.

This is a tough plant that adapts well to various soil and climate conditions. It grows well in most any type soil: fertile, peat, clay, loam, or rocky. It will produce a crop even in poor soils with low fertility. For this reason, it is chosen to include in some scratch and sow mixes designed for remote sites where farm equipment may be difficult to utilize. Often it is planted in shallow, rocky soil where other crops would not do well. However, for best results it does best when a good seedbed is prepared.

	Buckwheat is often a choice crop for remote, hard-to-reach food plots where farm equipment cannot reach. This isolated buckwheat food plot is being planted entirely by ATV.

Versatility

The range of buckwheat covers all but the driest parts of the U.S. and southern Canada. It is a fast maturing plant – usually 10 to 12 weeks – and thrives until the first frost. With its fast growth to maturity, it is a good food plot crop to plant where the warm season is short. In areas with a long warm season, buckwheat may be a second crop to be planted late in the summer when natural deer food begins to decline in quality and availability. For this reason, in warm climates where bow season opens early, buckwheat may be a crop to consider, followed after the first frost with a cool season planting.

Buckwheat is a prolific plant, and many food plots in areas of a long growing season may get two to three crops of the plant due to its ability to naturally reseed when the mature crop is mowed.In situations where a food plot may be infested with weeds, buckwheat may be planted during the warm season to compete with weeds, and shade them out due to its dense leaf canopy. It also provides deer a food source during the summer while smothering out weeds. After a frost, buckwheat is plowed under as a soil conditioner and a cool season crop can be planted in the plot.

For early bowhunting, buckwheat can produce bucks, such as this one taken on a buckwheat plot in Alabama on October 17, several weeks before the first frost.

Planting

Buckwheat is often sold without a variety name on the seed bag, but if you have a choice, select a known variety such as Mancan, Royal, Manor, or Common Gray. The cost for a 50-pound bag will run about $55.00.

Buckwheat does not require a well-prepared seedbed, but I recommend it where possible. Also, buckwheat is not shade tolerant, so plant in food plots that have full sunlight most of the day. To get the best results, the food plot should have a soil test run. Buckwheat does best with soil that tests at a pH of 5.5 – 6.0. If the seed is to be broadcast, do so at a rate of 60 pounds per acre. If your food plot is smaller than an acre, broadcast at a rate of 3 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. If it is to be drilled-in, then plant at a rate of 35 pounds per acre. Ideally, it should be planted no deeper than 2-inches, and ½-inch is ideal. While buckwheat does not respond very well to fertilizer, it is a good idea to follow the recommendations from your soil test. Keep in mind that fertilization generally will not increase your yield significantly.

	Buckwheat seeds are triangular in shape and will germinate within six days in most circumstances.

If there is any moisture in the soil at all, you can expect germination within about 6 days.

While buckwheat is not the ideal warm season annual that legumes such as soybeans and cowpeas are, it remains a useful crop for wildlife management because it grows well in poor soils over a huge range of North America. It also provides its own weed control since it shades out its competition, has a high resistance to pests, and produces a highly nutritious food source at the end of summer.