Food Plot 101:
So you want to plant a food plot huh? Good idea! What a fantastic way to encourage deer use of an area and what a fantastic way to provide whitetails with vital nutrition when they need. And need I tell you this: food plots can be fantastic places to hunt deer too! Of course, not all food plots attract whitetails during the hunting season. Some provide better fall attraction than do others. But we'll get to that later.
What is the first step in planting a successful plot? Here this loud and clear: GET A SOIL TEST!
So many people skip this, thinking that, "ah the soil looks mighty good to me" or that "dirt is dirt". Not so. The chemistry of soil changes from place to place -- even within a 1/4 or 1/2 acre area -- and you need a soil test to indicate what needs to be done to the soil to grow a successful crop (food plot). To get a soil sample, simply use a shovel or spade and collect random dirt samples from about 3 inches below the soil surface. Take random samples from across each plot area and put them into a container labeled separately for each different food plot area. Take the container(s) into your county extension office or local farm coop and have it sent off to be tested. The test will cost $7-$12 and will take a few weeks to get back so plan ahead.
When you get your test result back, it will indicate your soil's PH, as well as levels of phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and nitrogen (N). It will also indicate calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), organic matter (O.M.)and neutralizable acidity (N.A.). Levels of these different elements will vary and will indicate how much lime and/or fertilizer should be added for a given crop (talk to the folks at your county extension office if you need help interpreting your test results -- they are there to help you!)
What to plant? Good question. There are LOTS of excellent food plot options these days, from cow peas, to any of the various clovers, to oats and even corn. But the two most important factors dictating what you should plant should be when you want the food plot to be most utilized and what type of soil you have to work with (this aspect includes the location of the plot, i.e., upland area, bottomland, etc.). The last aspect is by far the most critical element in establishing a food plot!
If you have good soils with PH levels above 6, corn and soybeans are viable options. These everyday ag crops like soils as close to neutral (a PH of 7 is neutral) for optimal growth and they don't do well on soils with PH levels much below 6.5. If you have the soils for it, they make good food plot choices.
For poorer soils, or if you just want something different and cheaper, an excellent fall food plot planting is winter rye. Winter wheat is good too. Deer love both and both attract animals from the time they come up soon after they are planted in September through the winter months.
Clover is an excellent food plot choice. Ladino is the one most preferred by whitetails. Red clover isn't as highly preferred but it's still a good choice in upland areas where moisture is limited. (ladino grows best in moist areas -- on north or east aspect slopes or in drainages, though it will grow in the uplands too).
I haven't tried many of the commercial seeds marketed for producing big bucks but I have read the labels. They, by and large, are the same seeds that are available at any farm coop for a fraction of the cost. You can try the commercial mixes if you like. They seem overly expensive to me. I have tried some Biologic clover mix and it grew well. I found that it didn't draw much whitetail attention in early summer but lured them in late summer and early fall. But the Biologic definitely doesn't attract them any better than does the ladino clover I get down at the feed store and the ladino pulls deer in the summer as well. So I'm still scratching my head a bit on what to think of the Biologic. Mixes with rape, I hear, really pull in the whitetails in the winter. (So does standard winter rye and winter wheat) I should try planting rape and see if this is true or not. I'll let you know what I find out.
Here this: you don't need a tractor to establish a good food plot! Sure, if you've got one -- along with a disk, fine and dandy, but you don't need one!
I plant ladino and red in March by broadcasting at 8 -10 pounds per acre in dead sod or over a prepared seedbed (kill the sod the following year by mowing first then spraying with Roundup). This is called frost seeding. The freeze and thaw cycle of the ground will work the seed into the soil for you. This is all you need to do -- your food plot is planted! You'll need to mow it 2-3 times per year to help with weed control or spray with a herbicide that doesn't kill broadleaf plants (such as POAST)
Clover yields lots of forage per acre and attracts deer (turkeys too) from spring through about mid-November in Iowa. In light snow years, deer will return to feed in some clover fields still showing green.
Talk about an easy plot to plant! Sometime from late August to late September, broadcast 3 bushels of seed per acre right into tall grass, weeds or whatever it is growing on your food plot area. (preferably do this when the soil is moist or wet and preferable do this just before a predicted rain). Next, mow down the grass, weeds and whatever else on top of your seed. It's preferable to do the mowing in the early morning after a clear night with lots of dew (this will add moisture to the mulch/seed zone immediately). That's it! You're done! The grass/weed clippings will act as a mulch/dirt layer (almost like planting the seed into dirt) and protect your seed until it germinates. And, the mulch layer will protect the young sprouts from the sun until they are big enough to peek over the top. The mulch layer will also protect and enhance soil moisture and nutrient levels. You don't need to spray any herbicide or kill the grass/weeds! They are warm season growers, which means the grasses won't compete with your rye/wheat planting (rye and wheat are cool season growers). You'll be surprised at how nice of a plot you will get by using this simple planting method!
For what it's worth, I much prefer rye over wheat since rye germinates with less moisture (a heavy dew will germinate rye!) and since rye puts on more growth faster and stays green all winter (wheat will turn brown and go dormant when snow levels are sparse and temps plummet much below 10 degrees). Still, lots of folks like wheat and it attracts deer too! Rye is the best option for real dry areas; while they both will grow in damp/wet areas (so long as the soil drains and it is not always standing water!). Either will grow in poor soils of 5.5-6.5 or so PH.
Rye and wheat attract deer and turkey from the time they come up in September through the winter months. These fields make excellent turkey strut fields the following spring as long as they are kept mowed short enough after about May 01. These fields also make excellent turkey nesting areas, and turkeys as well as quail, pheasant and song birds love the seed heads from mid-summer on.
Both are spring planted. Both can be broadcasted at 2-3 bushels per acre with great success. The seed needs to be covered, either with soil or a good mulch (such as mowed down winter rye). If you have planted a winter rye plot on a clean seed bed the year before, you can simply broadcast beans into the standing rye then mow the rye down on top (Kill the rye with 1/2 quart per acre of Roundup after you've mowed but before the beans have germinated unless, of course, you are using Roundup Ready beans) Or, seed and mow down rye after rye has started to shed pollen to kill the rye without spaying.
When planting corn, you need to broadcast the seed and drag soil until 95% of seed is covered with dirt. Planting corn in a rye field will not work since corn growth is inhibited by the alleopathic chemical given off by the rye plant (the alleopath is present in the soil for 2-3 months after the rye plant is dead as well). The alleopath does not affect legume growth (clovers or beans, for example). But the alleopath does inhibit weed growth! Ah -- that is nice!
Deer love both corn and beans! The trouble is the seed is expensive and they can be tricky to grow if you don't have great soil (also small plantings of beans -- particularly in areas of low ag farm density and high deer density -- are often ravaged by deer as soon as they sprout in May -- meaning they never get to the pod producing stage! A problem with corn is predation by pests: Coon's, squirrels, crows, even beaver can really damage a field! But, both crops provide lots of carbohydrates (fuel) for hungry wintertime deer and their attraction is untoppable at that time. In short, the troubles can be worth it if you are ready to deal with the potential headaches!
Hey good growing and good hunting!
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