Sugar beets are at a 20 year high for price right now. Any suggestions for a good annual forage and root crop other than turnips? G1J

Is this a joke? The reason that I ask is we have been developing a new blend that we’ll have out this year called "Winter Bulbs and Sugar Beets." For a crop that provides both a root crop and a green leaf forage there is nothing else other than brassicas and beets. Carrots provide a root, but the tops aren’t that attractive to whitetail. Some brassicas other than turnips will produce a root bulb, and we haven’t finalized the recipe for the blend, but it will likely contain some of those. This is a cool blend! In testing I could not believe how well it performed. I still need to plant it for a couple more seasons to see for sure, but it may perform better than Maximum.

No, I wasn't joking I have planted sugar beets for years and was really surprised at how expensive that they are this year. I am really happy to hear of the new product though. I look forward to trying it out.G1J

"Winter Bulbs and Sugar Beets." Keep us posted this could add another leg of nutrition to our traditional fall to early winter fall crops.

Deer our still digging in my brassicas plots.

I can’t tell you enough good about this blend. In the 1990s I was fortunate to spend a couple months each year hunting Manitoba when the farmers along the Red River got all the sugar contracts from Crystal Sugar. That’s when I first learned of the attraction power of sugar beets. I consider myself lucky to have been involved in the creation and testing of these cultivars and I can tell you this is a well thought out blend. I planted most of these cultivars singly and some blended with other brassicas or beets and each cultivar was selected carefully for a specific palatability/attraction timeframe. I typically don’t get them (deer) to hit the brassicas or beets hard here in Minnesota until mid November. I don’t know if it was a fluke, but they mowed one of the sugar beet varieties to the ground in late September and early October and then came back to hit the rest later. In fact they’re still digging through the snow. Maximum is such a great blend I hate to even think this, and it will take a couple more years for me to know for sure, but I might like this blend better specifically relating to attraction power.