Chufa

[Sam16]

Well to say I'm a bit disappointed is an understatement, but I want to hear about Chufa before I get too upset. I just had a talk with my cousin who bought a 50 lb bag of Chufa to put in our 1-1.5 acre plot. Now I already had planned on making this our clover/chicory summer and early season plot solely for whitetails, and bought that seed. Nevertheless, we may be compromising, so i have a few questions for your experts.

1) I always thought Chufa was more for turkeys, not deer, is this true?

2) I thought Chufa was only a summer plant, is this true?

3) Is Chufa a perennial or annual?

4) How much will 50 lbs of seed cover? My cousin suggested doing half Chufa and half clover/chicory... but that sounds like at least an acre's worth of seed.

5) Will it be of much use come october?

6) Do you recommend any different planting techniques or tips for Chufa?

Thank you guys very much, hopefully you guys give me the news I want to hear.

[dogdoc]

check this link out:

http://www.wildlifeseeds.com/info/chufa.html

[wtnhunt]

Have heard good things about chufas for deer and turkeys, but never planted it myself. Have read the information on the link dogdoc posted before too, very good information there.

[Leo]

Definitely read Dogdoc's link.

Turkeys got nuts over Chufas (literally). Deer will browse it and scratch some up as well. Deer do like chufas as well. The nice thing about Chufas is the animals have to work a little to get at the nuts. This gives the plants a little extra chance to get going.

Though they are classified as perennials they will often come up in decreasing numbers for a couple years after the first planting. Three years in a row seems to be max you can put them on the same plot.

Chufas are a popular Carp bait in europe. They call them "Tigernuts".

[RangerClay]

Link is not working for me?

[wtnhunt]

Link is not working for me?

How about I just copy the info here for you Joe.

Chufas are a bunch grass with a peanut like underground nut - used for food plots of deer, turkey, hogs and wild hogs. This legume is very similar to peanuts, if you have ever seen hogs rooting peanuts, they go after chufas the same way. Plant in spring through summer. Wildlife digs up the chufas once they mature.

Planting: Plant 40 lbs per acre; Food Plots: 2-3 lbs per 1000 sq. ft. Planting Depth of 1½ inches. Plot sizes should be at least 1/4 acre for best results. Maturity takes 100-125 days. Plant spring through summer. (April - August depending on location). Chufas mature in approximately 110-120 days after emergence.

Chufas are perennial sedges that are one of the most popular foods for wild turkeys. Chufa plants have underground tubers, which are

part of the plant that turkeys eat. One chufas tuber will produce a plant that can grow to 15-75 tubers when mature. Turkeys find the tubers by scratching them from just under the surface of the ground. The tubers are high in protein and fat, which makes them especially nutritious for wild turkeys. Chufa can also make an excellent food source for other wildlife including deer and ducks.

Chufa plants grow well in the southern half of the US from Northern California across to Southern Iowa and even Southern Pennsylvania. Chufa plants grow in a variety of soil, but perform best on well-drained, sandy or loamy soils. Clay soils can support chufa. When growing in clay soils, lightly turn the soil in the fall to expose the tubers. This practice can be done periodically to extend the food supply into winter and early spring. Simply plow several strips twice a month until the entire field has been plowed. Generally, chufa will grow anywhere that corn can be successfully grown.

Chufas are best planted in rotational plots to cut down on disease possibility relating to tuberous growths that are grown in the same ground yearly. Chufas are easily introduced to a population of wildlife that may not be familiar with the tubers by scratching a few to the surface at maturity and leaving them to be found. These are especially a good food source to plant near trees that produce acorns. Chufa is sold in wildlife seed mixes for small divided food plots for the attraction of turkeys and provide a longer lasting food source when some of the other crops have disappeared. Plant at the rate of 25-50 lb. to the acre in divided ¼- ½ acre sections with the addition of fertilizer with the 10-10-10 ratio.

You will often need to assist wildlife in knowing where to find the chufas by digging so as to expose some of the chufas tubers to the birds, etc. Once they find the tubers they will scratch to locate additional tubers. You will know they have been active when you see all the digging activity at your food plot. We recommend replanting Chufas every year as volunteer crop chufas generally grow too much of a root mass to produce the desired chufa tubers. A newly seed crop will produce the correct plant density desired for tuber production. Chufas grow best in more sandy soils

Turkeys especially are attracted

to Chufas, with this probably being the single most preferred food plant that attracts wild turkeys. Planting and growing Chufas is a fairly simple process, involving broadcasting the seed and disking them into the soil. Good soil moisture and temperature is important for germination success. Germination can be anywhere from 10 days to over 30 days depending on condition. Chufa is an old plant of the south that has been grown for years for wild hogs, turkey and deer. Chufa has a peanut like tuber and is easily broadcast planted onto a full cultivated or lightly disked food plot area. Although chufa can re-grow yearly the stand will be lesser in quantity and smaller tuber output will be the result.

The Chufas we sell are different from those sold by organizations such as the National Wild Turkey Federation. The Chufas we sell are produced in the US and are not imported from Europe / Spain. They produce smaller size (seeds) and typically you plant less lbs. per acre because of the tuber size.

See our wildlife zone map for planting information.

Type: warm season annual sedge

Uses: This annual nut sedge will mature in about 100 days, producing underground nuts or tubers that turkey, deer, ducks and hogs cannot resist. Chufa will make an excellent plot by itself or mixes well with other plants. Turkey will visit chufa fields time and time again searching for buried tubers.

Planting

Date: April - May

Rate: 50 lbs./acre or 1 ¼ lbs./1000 sq. ft.

Depth: 1-2" deep

More Planting Instructions:

Seed should be broadcast at a rate of 10-12 lbs. per 1/4 acre on a well-prepared seed bed. After broadcasting cover the seeds with a harrow, disk or drag so that you achieve a planting depth of 1 to 2 inches (soil cover). Establishment of 3 to 4 plants per sq. ft of coverage is an adequate stand. Apply lime if needed to bright the pH to between 5.5 and 7.0. A application of a balanced fertilizer such as the Pennington Wild Game Fertilizer or a 10-10-10 at rate of 400 lbs. per acre (100 lbs. per 1/4 acre) will also help with growth and establishment..

Best For: Deer, Turkey, and Duck

[Sam16]

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like chufa is exactly what I was thinking. I dont know why my cousin would pick this over a more logical plot seed, but we'll deal with it. Since it sounds like more of an annual realistically, I'm thinking about mixing the remainder of the Turnip/Brassica seed in there to add a little for the deer. We only have enough for about 1/3 of an acre anyways. If anyone thinks thats a bad idea, please let me know. Otherwise, we'll see how the Chufa goes.

[Guest tdm69]

Check out productsforwildlifemanagement.com and speak with Daniel (lead biologist), he will gladly tell you everything you want to know. Tell him Terry sent ya.