Food Plots: What should I plant?

By MHS Member: MOHunter

Most anyone who is a property owner or lessee and is interested in seeing more wildlife has probably asked themselves this question at one time or another.  There is a seemingly endless array of food plot seeds and seed companies on the market.  Each of them claims to have the best product for wildlife or the so-called “magic pill” of attraction and nutrition.  While it would take countless pages to evaluate every seed and plant variety that is available, we can break down the most common varieties into groups and list the pros and cons associated with each group.
 
There are a number of considerations one must make prior to purchasing any seed for wildlife food plots.  Some of these considerations would be:  What type of soil do I have?  What kind of soil amendments will I have to make to have successful food plots? How much rainfall will these plants require?  What kind of equipment do I have available to work up the ground?  How much time and money am I willing to invest to make this happen?   
 
Obviously, folks who have access to mechanized groundbreaking equipment, such as a tractor, a plow, and a harrow will have more options available to them than someone who only has common garden tools.  Likewise, certain areas have soil that will be more suitable for growing certain plant varieties than others.  You must also evaluate where your food plots will be located.  If you want to plant an area that is too remote to access with a tractor, then you will have to use smaller equipment to prepare the seedbed.

With any plant variety, one of the most important steps will be proper lime and fertilization rates.  The only true way to find out how much lime and fertilizer you will need for a given plot will be to have a soil test performed.  The soil test should evaluate your soil for the type of plants you wish to grow.  You may need completely different lime and fertilizer rates from one plant to another in the same plot.  Fortunately, soil tests are inexpensive and available in almost any location in the United States.  Check with your County Extension Office, Soil and Water Conservation Department, or most agricultural supply stores.  These agencies and retailers can help you get a good representative soil sample to insure that you get accurate results from the soil test.  Sure, you can use the proverbial “rule of thumb”, but it may cost you extra time and money applying fertilizer and lime that was not necessary, or it could prove to be deadly to your plants.  Get a soil test!
 
There are three most common groups of plant varieties that are used for wildlife food plots at this time.  We will concentrate the rest of this article on sorting through them; what advantages and disadvantages each group has, what types of wildlife may prefer one to another, what equipment will be required for planting, and how much time and money will be required to plant and maintain them.
 

Grain Crops

 
Grain crops have probably been used as wildlife food plots longer than any other group of plants.  Grains include plants such as wheat, rice, millets, corn, sorghum (Milo), rye, oats, barley, and others.  All grain crops are annuals, meaning that they germinate, flower, and die in one year.  In some varieties, the complete life cycle may only take two or three months.  Protein levels can vary greatly amongst the grain crops with some as low as 7 – 8% and others as high as 20%.  Wheat, rye, oats, and barley are all cool-season cereal grain crops.  These are commonly used as “attracting” food plots since they are often most preferable during the fall hunting season when the plants are young and tender.  The warm-season grain crops such as millet, corn, and sorghum (Milo) prefer much warmer weather and are usually planted from late spring to early summer in most parts of the country.  The warm season varieties must reach maturity in order to be very attractive.  Grain crops will be used by numerous species of wildlife.  The warm season varieties are consumed by everything from songbirds to deer once they have reached maturity.  The cool-season plants are primarily consumed by grazing animals such as deer and elk, although it is not uncommon to see wild turkey picking insects or eating an occasional sprout from a lush field of wheat, rye, or oats in the early fall.   
 
The primary advantages to the grain crops would be the relatively inexpensive initial cost of the seed, the fact that almost every kind of wildlife will utilize at least one type, and that one variety or another can be grown successfully in almost any part of the country.  On the downside, most of these crops will require extensive seedbed preparation, most are quite hungry for nutrients in the soil which can mean a lot of added expense for fertilizer, and the fact that they will only produce for one season means that you will have to replant the following spring in order to have food available on a year round basis.  Most of these plants are better left to the individual who has access to mechanized groundbreaking equipment, although someone with a lot of perseverance and patience can successfully grow smaller sized plots of the cool-season varieties by using a garden tiller.  A person can spend a lot of time and money planting this group of plants just to get one season of production from them.  I must note, it is critical to pay close attention to the seeding rates for grain crops, especially the warm season varieties as over planting can cause reduced or non-existent yields.

 

Legumes

Legumes are probably the most widely used food plot plant variety at this time.  Legumes are most noteworthy for their ability to “fix” nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil through a symbiotic relationship with a bacterium known as rhizobia found in the root nodules of the plants.  The most common legumes are varieties such as clover, alfalfa, vetch, beans, peas, and soybeans.  Beans, peas, and soybeans are actually classified as grain legumes, but we will cover them in this group as they have similar requirements to regular legumes.  Legumes are generally very high in protein content, with some varieties having over 30% at certain times of the year.  Legumes as a group consist of both annual and perennial plants, and most can be planted in either the spring or fall.  When properly maintained, some of the perennial varieties can last as long as five or six years before they are choked out by weeds and grasses.  Legumes do best with a well-prepared seedbed, although some will do all right with less than perfect preparation.   Grazing animals primarily consume these plants, however, birds, squirrels, and rodents will utilize the grain producing legumes as well.   
 
There are a number of distinct advantages to legumes.  The fact that they actually fix nitrogen to the soil makes them ideal for crop rotation with most of the grain crops, the high levels of protein found in legumes means wildlife can greatly benefit from their consumption, and the fact that certain varieties can last for several years means lower over-all planting costs and less time involved with maintenance in the long run.  The disadvantages to legumes would include the high initial price of the seed, the need for a near neutral soil acidity, and the effects that dry conditions can have on some varieties.  Seedbed preparation can be achieved with common garden tools on a small scale, but folks with access to mechanized equipment will probably realize better results in bigger plots.

Brassicas
     
Brassicas are the final group of food plot crops we will discuss.  These are the so-called newcomers in the food plot revolution.  Turnips, rutabagas, rape, and kale make up the most commonly planted varieties in this group of annuals.  Certain species of this group have been imported from New Zealand where they are used as grazing crops on deer farms.  Brassicas are generally quite high in protein and energy, with some types having protein levels higher than 25%.  Most of these plants have the ability to produce very high forage rates per acre when properly planted.  Certain brassicas, such as turnips, will provide two types of forage.  They provide the leafy forage that we see growing above the ground and they provide the fruit - their roots - that is grown below the ground.  It has been my experience, when more desirable foods are present, deer will usually wait to key in on this group of plants until after they have been subjected to frost a couple of times.  After a frost, the sugar content of the plant increases, which sweetens the taste to deer and other grazing animals.

Brassicas require similar seedbed preparation to legumes.  A weed free and firm seedbed is best, and proper lime and fertilization rates are important.  As with legumes, folks with common garden tools can successfully plant smaller plots, but mechanized equipment will prove to be more productive to those with larger fields.  The main advantages to the brassicas would be their relatively high protein content, their ability to produce very high tonnage per acre, and their cold-tolerant nature.  The drawbacks would include high initial seed prices for most varieties, the fact that the plant is not at its most desirable stage until after a frost or two, and their susceptibility to certain root and leaf diseases.  You should try to rotate your plots so you don't have brassicas growing in the same field for more than two or three years at a time to help keep diseases at bay.   

In summary, there is no right or wrong answer to the best variety of plants for a food plot.  While we have tried to cover the most common plantings, there are a number of high-quality foods that we haven't even discussed here such as fruit trees, oak and hickory trees, honeysuckle, and some herbs.   In most cases, a combination of plants from each of the groups mentioned will prove to be the most successful, and almost any type of planting has the potential to benefit numerous species of wildlife on your property.   Offering a diverse range of plant varieties will insure high quality food is available all year.  Each landowner or lessee will have to determine what is most important to him or her.  Some plantings will be more attractive to certain species than others and obviously, availability of equipment will be a big factor as to what you are able to plant.  The costs associated with initial planting and maintenance will also need to be considered.  Make sure to do your homework and ask questions before you invest your hard earned money into seed varieties that may not be suitable for achieving your goals.  The more you know about the plants you select, the better your results will be.  Happy food plotting!
 

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