Forage Rape Plots
Forage rape is the fastest brassica - big leafy tonnage in 60 days from a mid-summer planting, sweetening after frost into a classic late-season draw.
Rape is the brassica for instant gratification: broadcast it in late July, and by October you have knee-deep blue-green leaves stacking tons of forage per acre. Like all brassicas it transforms at frost - starches convert to sugar and deer that ignored it in September hammer it in November - making it the beginner's late-season plot in a single cheap bag.
Why deer love it
Post-frost sweetness (up to 20%+ sugars), high protein leaves, and huge digestible volume exactly when native food collapses.
When & how to plant
60-80 days before first frost (July-Aug north, Aug-Sep south): broadcast onto clean firm dirt, cultipack, done. Nitrogen (50-60 lb/ac) doubles the leaf tonnage.
Soil & pH
pH 5.8-6.8, moderate fertility; avoids only waterlogged ground. Famously easy on new or rough plots.
Maintenance
None after establishment - it's a 90-day sprint crop. DON'T replant brassicas in the same dirt year after year (disease builds); rotate with clover/grains.
When it draws best
First hard frost through December - the switch-flip is dramatic and camera-documented on every plot that grows it.
Common mistakes
- Planting too early (bolts, gets rank) or too late (no tonnage)
- No nitrogen = yellow, thin stands
- Brassica-on-brassica rotations building clubroot disease
- Panicking in September when deer ignore it - wait for frost
🌦️ Planting dates and varieties shift with your zone and rainfall - your county extension office gives free localized advice and cheap soil tests. Also note: rules on hunting over planted plots vs 'baiting' differ by state - plots are legal most places, bait often isn't; confirm your regulations. We don't give legal advice.