Yes, oats will grow on top of the ground if given the correct set of conditions. These conditions include good seed to soil contact, soil quality, soil moisture, and keeping animals from eating the seed. For best results, broadcast the seed on the ground just before or during a rainstorm and cultipack or roll over the seed to ensure good seed to soil contact.
Broadcasting oats for food plots
If you are planning to broadcast oats, then plan on over-seeding about ¼ more seed than the seed manufacturer recommends on the bag. Even if you plant during a rain and pack the seed into the ground with a roller, you will still have some seed loss due to animals, seed not reaching the soil, or rain washing the seed away.
When broadcasting oats, I like to use an hand spreader, but an ATV spreader works well too. Most of my food plots are less than 2 acres in size so walking the plot to spread the seed is not that much work and gives me good control of how much seed is getting spread.
Planting oats into an existing crop is going to influence how much seed to spread. If my existing food plot is doing well then maybe I’ll only plant 60 lbs per acre of seed. If its doing bad then I will bump this up to 100 lbs.
When to plant oats
When planting oats, timing is important. Not just the timing before or during the rain, but the time of year. Whitetail deer are the most attracted to oats during their growing phase, which is during the first two months from when they were planted. Because of this, I recommend planting oats 6-8 week before the peak rut time period. In Illinois, I’m typically planting oats the last week of September and then I’m staying out of my food plots until after deer season is over. For a thorough overview of my food plot strategy, check out my article: Step by step no-till food plot rotation strategy.
There are some other considerations when figuring out the timing for planting oats. For example, if you are over-seeding an existing food plot of soybeans, then wait to plant oats until after the leaves on the soybeans turn yellow. If the soybeans are still green and lush there won’t be much sunlight reaching the ground to germinate the oats.
I like buying my seed on Amazon or straight from the seed company because I know i’m not getting old seed. I rarely buy seed off the shelf in a store. As always, read the seed label if you are buying something at the store.
Oats days to maturity
It takes about two months for oats to reach their maturity. Even though the deer are most attracted to oats during the growing stage, oats that reach maturity are still very attractive to deer all through the winter months. Oats are packed with carbs, which deer desperately need to survive through the tough winter months.
Oats planting guide
- Take a soil test
- Amend the PH of the soil (Lime can be applied weeks or months prior)
- Time your planting (Consider rain, time of year, existing vegetation)
- Broadcast the seed (Plant good seed and figure out how much seed you will need)
- Fertilize the soil as recommended from the soil test
- Roll over or cultipack the seed into the soil
- Monitor the growth of the oats (use a utilization cage to monitor deer use. If deer are eating the oats to the dirt then you need to protect your plot with an electric fen or some other method)
- If oats still aren’t performing well then give them a shot of 46-0-0 fertilizer
Conclusion
Oats can absolutely grow on top of the ground but there are several variables and best practices that need to be taken into account prior to broadcasting your seed. Following the planting guide will help increase your odds of success if you plan to broadcast oats on top of the ground. If you don’t follow these steps then you will most likely be throwing your money away.