Here are 3 ways to spot common, bad food plot seed trends. Make sure to avoid these doozies!
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I wanted to reveal some secrets of the Seed industry they might not think are Real scrupulous and you know being in The seed industry the last year and a Half or so we built seed and uh seed Blends for a company previously put all Our Decades of knowledge into them and Then we wanted to start our own seed Company so we uh gave that entity about A Year's notice and we we built on that We ended up uh moving to our own seed Company that's what we wanted to do I Wanted to do for many many years it's Kind of my wheelhouse that's why I've Food plot uh books in the past food plot Web classes uh couple hundred food plot Articles about 300 food plot videos it's Just what I do and so in helping clients Around the country develop their food Plot programs as a natural progression But I've been a little shocked on what I've seen in the SE seed industry and it Actually made us change our name this Year a little bit it's still owned by wh Till habitat Solutions we had whhs Wildlife Blends we Chang to Pure Wildlife Blends because I wanted to Emphasize that we're going to have the Most pure seed Blends that we can find And that we can build for you with the Highest quality and uh that kind of goes Along with all our products we use I use The products I use Not For a Check um I Use them because I think they're the
Best to the point where I've used Products for years and not with a Contract or anything just simply because I don't want to use something else um I've used Matthew B since 1992 I've been Used I've used lacrosse boots since the Late 80s this going back a really long Time I have some uh releases Carter Releases that go back to uh the end of The '90s early 2000s I love those Releases uh for Target releases for 3D And indoor Target but bottom line is I Like using quality products that last a Long time and I'm loyal to them and when It comes to the seed industry it's Pretty crazy how a lot of things and you Could you could expand this to the Hunting industry Loosely but there's a Lot of things out there designed to take Your money and uh without producing Results and that would be the seed Industry and when you look at number one I'm just going to go over three quick Ones that I see lately is coated seed And this is is a big one this is one of The reasons we want to come out with Pure Wildlife Blends there's a trend in The industry to have coated seeds and Coat every seed and I'm fearful that in 5 to 10 years we're going to have to Have coated seeds within our Blends and We'll do it at the smallest percentage Pro possible but the reason they're Doing that is simply profit coated seed
You know we talk about CH adding lime to Change your pH it takes tons of lime per Acre to change the actual soil now There's Liquid Lime out there you use Deer grow plot start there's products Out there that can change it for a limit Amount of time or allow the as in the Case of deer grow allow the plants to Take up the nutrients within the soil by Changing the uh uh biological properties Of the plants and soil so that they can Uptake the nutrients but those are all Shortterm U liquid lime whatever it is But if you're putting hard lime on the Property it takes tons per acre so when They coat your seed with lime it does Nothing for your seed at all what it Does is that allows them to sell 10 lb Of clover you'll see 30% inert matter or 3 lbs of inert matter coated seed and That inert matter anything that's inert Matter is not going to anything good in Your seed so what it does with that Clover seed or birs foot tree foil Whatever it might be those little seeds That are perennials like that they're Coated it looks like some fancy color You think wow this to grow really well It attracts your attention and you're Literally getting 7 lbs of seed instead Of 10 you paid for 10 it allows them to Cut their profit margins it allows them To cut their costs on seed their overall Volume of seed and then they still
Charge you the ever expanding rate of Food plot costs for per acre for that Same seed and they just make more money And that's the trend that you see and We've seen some where it's just high as 50 over 50% iner matter so imagine we've Seen this on seed that doesn't Germinate um with uh switchgrass for Example you'll get buy 10 lb of Switchgrass and you get 5 lbs of seed no Wonder you paid half price or got 40% Off or 30% off it's because there's half As much seed in the bag that's actually Viable are going to work and when it Comes to inert matter that's all seed That's not going to grow and we've seen That to the tune of over 50% The Big Box Store brands do that because the box Stores dictate that this seed's going to Sell for about this range of uh retail Price and uh in order for you to get Your seed in there you're going to have To cut cost in order to get that seed on That on that shelf and that's why the More seed you see in box stores and the Bigger the brand is of Seed Company the More they're going to rely on coated Seed to cut their profit margin they Might do it in one area and not the Other but overall the overall average For that Seed Company they're cutting The cost per seed which allows them to Compete in the big box stores and here's The bad trend on top of that Trend there
Starting to coat Brasa seed even which Has never been coated before not for any Need not for any need of increasing Germination or increasing volume or Growth quality of growth or making that Plant more sustainable in the soil when It gets moisture and it starts to grow They're simply doing it to increase Profit margin it's a really bad Trend Which is again why we call it pure Wildlife Blends because I want you to Know that we'll always use the most pure Seed we can and we'll be the last one Standing when it comes to actually Coating your seed in the room because we Want to actually know and sell You So When you buy 10 lb of seed you're Getting 10 lb of seed cheap Blends D Faset grape you can buy enough rape to Plant an acre for less than $5 so when You're buying a bag of Brasa and we'll say two Halfacre bags Cuz us it comes in Halfacre bags let's Say you're spending $80 that means if Half the blend was DSX rape or a third Of it was DSX rape you're getting Pennies on the dollar towards that cost Of seed and they don't call it DF for Nothing it also Reeds the next year a Lot so you have to worry about that if You don't kill it or work up the fields The following year so it's pretty bad Seed I'm not saying a little D essics Rape is not a is not a good thing but a
Lot of times companies you're using as Filler rye grass makes gives you a Carpet of low grass that deer don't eat I'm not saying they don't ever eat Ry Grass they do when there's extremely High deer numbers they do when there's Areas of no food that's all they're Going to eat is something green no Different than if you have a cabin in Those areas in some Wilderness Area the Deer might come and feed in your lawn But they don't do that if there's any Kind of high quality food around so Ry Grass is used because it'll eventually Come up it gives you look at the food Plot and say wow there's a little green Haze on it I did a good job those are Just a couple ways that people cheapen The seed Blends and improve their profit Margins per blend so they actually can Get more money and especially with Moving to these big box store brands um We see that a lot of the smaller Brands Uh smaller companies uh they're not Using that because they're not worried About getting them into the box stores Now we will'll take on dealers we have a Dealer that sold a lot of seed for us Nelson a out of voka and Prairie to Shan And we had people drive for two two Hours or more to go buy the Seed there Instead of paying shipping prices so We'd like to have couple dealers in each State for our seed but we don't see
Having 10 because our seed company is Not been built on a distribution of Dealers and retailers it's been on Online sales because we give give good Information for teaching people how to Plant and then people will buy the seed That goes along with what we recommend As opposed to going to XY Z Big Box Store and just paying something that They don't know exactly what they're Getting or something cheap and we don't Like that retail game it's a it's a High-risk game um I don't want to work With retailers on a daily basis instead We have Wes that works for the company He ships out seed we keep it pretty slim Down Jen runs that uh you know portion Of our business and we're actually Taking dealers on so we'll have a dealer Uh um basically a dealer profile that You can fill out to see if you're a good Fit for us but um that'll expand to Other products that we're going to be Offering to so but bottom line is um you Really have to watch you watch out about Those cheap Blends because again people Are just just like the coated Blends They're doing that a lot just to get Them in the big box stores and sell that Huge volume of seed number three kitchen Sink Blends this is an interesting one Because there's a lot of scientific Types out there that are selling seed Blends that quote build your soil and
They'll have 15 20 seeds in that blend And each one is supposed to do something Different they advertise they even go Through a list this is what it does to Your soil on these the problem is is a Huge portion of those get eaten down to The dirt if it's during the summertime Which a lot of those soil Builder uh food plot Blends are then You'll have weeds growing in their plate Placees that do nothing they actually Take from it then people are drilling or Planting into those going into the fall Now you have a bunch of weeds going into Your food plot you end up having a bunch Of green garbage mess and you don't Really have a good food plot program Those pieces get eaten out of the dirt So they don't contribute anything to the Soil you have some standing obviously Those are usually the ones that do the Least for your soil are the ones that Are left standing for some reason deer Can equate good nutrition and uh good Seed uh Sun hemp is one of those it Brings a lot of nutrients to the soil But deer eat it down to the dirt often In a lot of areas they might not in some Areas you know there's no scientific set Standard or rule for all of this for Example Braska does really well in a Mixed egg with normal deer population Braska sometimes I'm talking rape turnup Radish sometimes won't be eaten in other
Areas where there's not a lot of deer And there's a whole bunch of egg then You put that Brasa in a Northern setting Or in a Wilderness setting say Kentucky Where you don't have a lot of deer but You don't have a lot of quality food and They'll eat it down to the dirt and so In one area people say well this Braska Is terrible deer won't eat it in another Area say well I can't even get it to Grow past the start of hunting season And that's the reason why deer numbers Availability of local forage and food And so when when it comes to you looking At a blend and people saying this is the Latest greatest blend it's going to Improve your soil there's so many Different aspects to look at is how many Deer do you have how much food do you Already have are you getting a pure Natural stand most people aren't i' say 90% aren't 80% are so things that are Advertised to do well that have a lot of Different seed Blends and say well we're Going to do all these things then They're really doing a poor job of doing Something overall good on your property I say like buckweed wheat we sell Buckwheat we sell it as cheap as we can It's very expensive seed it's one of our Lowest margin seeds along with Rye Because we just want to offer it but the Buckwheat is a soil Builder that's been Used for decades it's not just a soil
Builder it's a smother crop so Smothers Out weeds there's no other crop like That it flattens easy we use a packr Max To flatten it uh from Lincoln Rowan in Michigan that just flattens it right Down we can spray it kill it we can put It over seeds that are already on the Ground the glyphosate's not going to Hurt the seeds at all but bottom line is There there's a lot of applications of Brass or of Buckwheat uh Farmers back in The day that's they clear a field plant Buckwheat plant tillage radish in the Fall so those are great soil Builders uh Rye annual Rye is a great soil Builder That's a fall planting into spring then You kill it you put buckwheat in you can Put till adrish in layer in the summer Those are all soil Builders it's a good Thing so we try to put those within our Blends but our Blends our Braska blend Might be five or six if I thought 10 or 12 would be better I would do that but I Found that it isn't and just because it Captures your attention to buy seed Doesn't mean I'm going to use it so These are some things to be really wary Of kitchen sink Blends and you have 15 20 different seeds it's probably doing Nothing for you the latest fat of course There's a lot of those out there but Cheap Blends learn if there's a lot of Rh there's a lot of dores EX rpe and There's a lot of other things they can
Add to it too coated seed that's a huge Terrible Trend it's why we change our Name to Pure Wildlife Blends because I Want to make sure again we'll be the Last one standing in the room to offer Coated seed and uh and we'll do that Only if we ever have to someday because We can't get seed without it which will Be very unfortunate and we'll we'll Explain that to everyone what we're Doing and why these are some Trends I Don't like seeing but at the same time You can always do the opposite of these Poor Trends and actually find pure Blends out there whether it's ours or Someone else's look for what it takes to Actually give you a good blend that you Can hang on your hat on when you go to Plant your food plots this spring summer And early fall I appreciate you guys Watching the YouTube channel but I don't Know if everyone knows everything that We have to offer whether it's on white Till habitats solutions.com our website Our whhs Wildlife Blends our Seed Company also Instagram you can check out I'm very active on Instagram putting Strategies on there photos of what we do Every day uh much more active there than Facebook but our seed web classes books Clients articles I have over 600 Articles on wh habitats solutions.com Everything whail strategy of course we Have hats on there and then make sure to
Check us out on Instagram again but lots Of stuff to offer we're always coming Out with new things and this isn't the End of it we have more things coming Soon make sure to check us out