I'm doing this backwards by asking advice after I have already sown the grain. Last year, I added lime and fertilizer but never planted anything. Yesterday, I harrowed and put out the oats. Will They produce enough to maybe help in late season in December? If not, at least it will help over the winter. Do I need to cover the seeded area with hay? I can imagine a lot of it being eaten by birds without it. As you can guess, I am not a farmer.
Lastly, why did hard work not leave me as a young guy with such a sore back? That tractor should be named Teddy Roosevelt, because it is a rough riding SOB!
I use an old cyclone fence gate to drag over newly planted seeds to cover them. This will help keep the birds from eating them all.
After my oats are coming up and visual bare areas, I oversees with winter wheat.
When not overseeding with winter wheat, the deer would crop the oats to the ground and I would have a dirt foodplot from March until planting a fall season plot. Now my foodplots are attractive all season.