An easy-to-grow, warm-season annual that is useful in sandy soils, remote food plots, or in blends with other warm-season crops. Also improves food plot soils by building soil organic content. Buckwheat can be planted as a warm-season forage crop with cowpeas, grain sorghum or soybeans and also as a stand-alone crop. Because of its early competitiveness it is not useful as a companion crop while establishing cool-season legumes such as alfalfa or clover. It is easy to grow in areas with little or no seedbed preparation so it is ideal for that isolated, hard-to-reach hunting plot. It can be planted in spring, but it is also useful for deer managers who get the itch to plant a late-summer plot in July or August. Buckwheat is relatively short-lived and will provide some temporary forage benefits for deer. It offers digestible protein values ranging from 9 to 20 percent depending on soil fertility and pH. Germination: 7-10 weeks. Broadcast or drill 1 to 2" deep. If seeded in a pure stand, broadcast buckwheat at 50 to 60 lbs. per acre or 30 to 40 lbs. per acre when using a grain drill.
