Egyptian Wheat "Shallu Sorghum" (Sorghum bicolor) Seed – Tall 10-Foot Wildlife Cover Crop, High-Protein Seed Heads, Great for Food Plots & Erosion Control

Minimum: 500+ Seeds

A Ten-Foot Wall Wildlife Loves

Plant a strip of this along a field edge and watch it disappear into a wall of cane taller than a rider on horseback. Egyptian Wheat is a sorghum type grown almost exclusively for wildlife food plots, valued for dense, towering stands offering both cover and a protein-rich seed head deer, turkey, quail, and songbirds return to all winter. Unlike grain sorghums bred for combine harvest, Shallu grows tall and leafy on purpose, doing double duty as a windbreak and erosion barrier while it feeds everything that finds it. Land managers have relied on it for exactly that reason for generations.

Who Grows Egyptian Wheat?
The food plot manager wanting a tall screening crop that feeds deer and turkey.
The landowner needing erosion control on a slope or disturbed field edge.
The upland bird hunter establishing quail cover with a food source built in.
The windbreak gardener wanting a fast, tall annual barrier along an exposed edge.
The conservation-minded grower rotating a cover crop that also supports wildlife.

What This Tall Wildlife Cover Crop Actually Is
Sorghum bicolor, known in this form as Egyptian wheat or Shallu sorghum, is a tall annual grass in the sorghum family, grown worldwide as a grain crop and, in this form, for wildlife habitat. Plants reach 8 to 10 feet at maturity, forming dense, leafy stands with broad, corn-like leaves and large, drooping seed heads packed with small, high-protein grains. Seed heads mature over a long window and often persist into winter, giving a slow-release food source when other food thins out. Its rapid, dense growth aids erosion control on bare or sloped ground, and tall stands provide screening cover and windbreak function alongside forage. Grown as a warm-season annual, not winter-hardy, replanted each year.

In the Field & Food Plot

• Wildlife food plot centerpiece: Plant in blocks or strips alone or paired with a legume.
• Screening and travel corridors: Use tall stands for cover between bedding and feeding areas.
• Erosion control planting: Sow on slopes or disturbed ground where dense roots stabilize soil.
• Windbreak strip: Plant along a field edge to reduce wind exposure for crops or livestock.
• Dove field component: Mow or disc a portion in late summer to expose seed for dove hunting.
• Winter standing forage: Leave stands unharvested through fall so seed heads feed wildlife into winter.

Growing Egyptian Wheat Seed

• Start method: Direct sow outdoors after soil warms; no transplanting.
• Timing: Plant in late spring once frost danger passes and soil is warm.
• Germination: Sprouts in 7-10 days in warm soil.
• Soil temperature: Germinates best above 65°F.
• Seeding rate: Broadcast or drill at a rate suited to plot size; denser stands screen better.
• Sunlight: Full sun.
• Soil: Tolerates a wide range of soils, including poor ground, better than most grain crops.
• Watering: Drought-tolerant once established; benefits from moisture at establishment.
• Growth rate: Fast growing, reaching full height in a single season.
• Maturity: Seed heads mature over an extended window, extending the feeding period.
• Hardiness: Killed by frost; grown fresh from seed each year.
• Weed suppression: Dense stands naturally suppress weed competition once established.

Before You Close This Page
This is the plant that turns a bare field edge into cover, food, and erosion control in one planting. Egyptian Wheat grows to 8 or 10 feet, offering a screening wall and a slow-release grain source carrying wildlife through winter. It stabilizes soil on slopes, blocks wind along exposed edges, and asks for little beyond warm soil and full sun. Deer, turkey, quail, and songbirds all use it, standing strong after other food sources are gone. Grow the sorghum food plot managers and conservationists have planted for generations.