Dove Management, Hunting and Agricultural Practices in Georgia

Must wheat or other small grains be sowed on prepared ground?

Yes. They must be sown on a prepared seed bed and drilled, harrowed, dragged, etc. to cover the seed. 

How thick can wheat and small grains be sown?

The UGA Cooperative Extension Service recommends 1.5 to 2.5 bushels per acre for crop production. For cover crops, small grain application rates can be as little as 1 bushel per acre but will vary according to the purpose of the planting, seed quality, seed size and environmental factors.

Can a wheat field be sown several times, for example every three days, then hunted over?

No. It is not a normal agricultural operation to sow grain several times in succession.

After harvesting a cornfield can strips be plowed and planted in summer grain before hunting doves?

Yes. “Strip-tilling” a grain such as grain sorghum or millet in early August is a recommended conservation tillage planting by the UGA Cooperative Extension Service. However, topsowing would not be recommended.  Planting wheat in plowed strips of a harvested cornfield is not a recommended practice or planting.

Who are the Extension Specialists in Georgia?

Per the federal regulations, a “normal” practice or operation is one conducted in accordance with official recommendations of State Extension Specialists of the Cooperative Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In Georgia, these are the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service Extension Agronomists. They are not the county extension agent. There are several of these specialists, each dealing with specific crops or agricultural practices such as grains, soybeans, peanuts, soil erosion, etc.

Are there situations where wheat or other small grains could be sown prior to the recommended planting dates (i.e. during the month of August)?

No. The UGA Cooperative Extension Service has established the “recommended planting dates” for small grains based on preventing unacceptable losses to disease and insects in the earliest days of the planting windows. However, a grower concerned about cover, forage production, or erosion control could plant millet and other summer grains in early August. There would be ample time in Georgia to achieve some useful purpose of such planting. Top sowing in this situation is not recommended.