Food plot newbie, info please...

I hope this is the right forum for this. I have bitched enough to the man in charge of the club that he's put me in charge of food plots. It was too late this year to do it all right when he gave me that responsibility. I did manage to get him to double the fertilizer this year. In years past they'd used about half what was needed.

The club is Lowndes Co. 2700+/- acres. Lots of clearcuts/planted pines, very little hardwood left except in the "ditches" in the clearcuts mostly. Biologist has said we have very good natural browse. We have numerous feeders that we keep stocked with corn around the property from September through February. We have several food plots. About 25 of them. Range in size from .25 Acre to 2.3 acre. Most are .30 to .5 acres. Total acreage of food plots is @ 22 acres. Our deer seem to rarely use them. We, in the past, planted a 3 way mix Wheat/Oat/Rye. As I said, they've skimped on fertilizer in the past, and from satellite photos you can see ours are not near as lush as neighboring green fields. They've never limed as far as I know.

So, I want to do it right next year, and am looking for advice on what resources to go to, and find out what I need to do for next year.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Depending on what part of lowndes co you may not need lime. Matter of fact PH may be too high as is. Need a soil test first and foremost. Then you can plan accordingly based off that

What he said.

After soil samples ( per field ) are sent off , they should tell you what to add to the soil.

You will pay to get them right, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Plant something besides 3 way. That Alabama blend looks good. Soil test is what you need.

Yeah you could very well have a pH of 7-7.5

Buy the seed with the picture of the biggest buck on the bag.

Set up a few utilization cages so you’ll have a better idea of growth and browsing pressure.

This 2x

Unless you aren't managing for trophy buck. If you just want numbers of deer, but the bag with the most deer on it.




Like a few of the guys above said, do a soil test and start there. I'm sure someone can let you know how to go about the soil test and etc

This and i would also change what you are planting. Id for sure add clover, diakons, and a mix of greens, chicory etc.

It wouldnt be that much more to get some different things in the plots for them to eat.

iirc diakons planting rate is 5-10# per acre @ $60-75 a bag.
a 5# bag of greens mix shows to plant a full half acre and was $7 this yr. one bag of it would do quite a few plots.
Crimson clover is about 5# a acre when added to a mix.

When you ratio and mix those in with what you are already planting its not much more cost and gives more variety in the plots.

Proper fertilization is way more important than what you plant as far as attraction goes. On one of our leases, the landowner planted a 15 acre hay field in the fall to cut for hay I'm the spring and didn't fertlize at planting. I came in behind him and overseeded and fertilizer a strip in the middle of the field. Regardless of what direction deer came from, they went straight to the fertilized strip to feed. Taught me a valuable lesson

Is that similar to an exclusion cage?

I’ve heard it both ways. Not sure which is more appropriate.

I like this advice. ;-)

Soil test to be done.

Soil test #1 and get the lime, if needed, out asap. I like oats. If I could have found the BFO brand I would plant them, but I planted Coker oats this year and have some great fields. Then you can hope you get needed rain after planting.

Soil test, soil test, soil test. Throwing money at something before you know the problem, is foolish. If the ph is really low, your fertilizer is not going to help. Low ph binds up the fertilizer in the soil and won't let it release. After you get your soil amended, plant any mix you like. Next year put a few exclusion cages in a few fields to show how much the deer are eating it down.

Agree with above- spend $ on plenty of right fertilizer. Deer will find the more nutrient rich plots, regardless of what id planted there.

Thanks for all the tips

Don’t plant too thick. Follow directions on amounts. Too much is as bad as too little. Needs to be able to grow.

Got my soil test kits from the extension office, and will get samples opening weekend to send off. In touch with a super nice guy with the AES that gave me lots of good info. Some same as here and some I didn't have. Thanks again for the advice.

you can buy a soil ph tester for less than $10 one ton of lime per acre will raise ph 1 point ive not seen many plots around here ever be too high in ph unless it was over limed add enough to get it around 6.8 and remember it takes several months to a year to completely work. plant it and fertilize it dont overthink it your growing a food plot not a cash crop. if the ph aint right your wasting money on fertilizer

Actually, your soil type and lime particle size, will decide how fast lime will raise your ph. Smaller the particle size the faster it works. Sandier soils react faster, but also allow lime to leach away much faster. I've raised ph in 3 months on sandy soil.

Come up to Sumter county and Ill show you plots that have never had a single drop of lime on them and some are as high as 7.9. Cant get wheat to grow in them at all. They do love yellow sweet clover and my bees love it so I guess ill keep with that.

then put sulfur to it my point was you dont need every single nutrient perfect on every greenfield youll run yourself crazy get the PH right plant it 2 bags triple 13 to one bag seed hit it with nitrogen in november youll have good fields

2 bags of triple 13 per acre ain't much plant food. I'll just stick to more fertilizer on well maintained dirt.

guess it depends on the seed you use but most of out fields are about 1/3 -1/2 acre we use one bag seed per field and 2-3 bags triple 13 per field and they are knee high. when the acorns dry up and frost hits theyll be mowed down to the ground by the deer

Still not much plant food

On 13 total acres of food plots, we drilled 78 pounds of wheat and 78 pounds of oats per acre. Used spreader to put down 350 lbs. of triple 17 per acre.

Now that's what I'm talking about there!

Dam son. That's fertilization right there.

Before me taking it over, they'd been using half that. That recommendation came from the local Co-op as the "general rule of thumb" without having soil testing. Next year, we will be more prepared.

500 lbs/acre of 13-13-13 right here

Holding optimal levels in the soil and efficiently recycling nutrients long term is what should make you say…. “Dayum!”……Not throwing out a chit load with each planting. What I mean is…..I may have only added ¼ of that rate…..but if my K levels were already in the 180-240 lbs/ac range then I’m golden. I may not add any P because my soil levels are already 75 lbs/ac….. I’m still good to go…….I actually haven’t added any fertilizer other than some N…It's more about how well you can hold the nutrients and deliver it to the plant than how much your throw out of a spreader. There's no telling how much is just washing off into the ditch with a lot of plantings....

CNC, you know how how bad that Russell county sand is. We need to work on soil improvement big time, cause right now we can’t hold any nutrients whatsoever. Hence the 500 lbs/acre

Are you adding all of that in one application?

Depends on the spot. Some of our fields are in spots that are hard to get to, especially after a rain, so we put it all out at once in those. The fields that are easier to get to usually get a dose at planting and a dose and another dose a few weeks later before a rain.

Our fields look great every year and always hold a ton of deer. I have no complaints with them. But if you have a suggestion that can save me some money or that you think will improve them, then I am all ears. This is just the way we have always done them.

There’s a more efficient way of going about it…..but it would really require you to change your whole management approach away from heavy tillage. Applying your fert in smaller doses spread out over time would help some..... but long term you need to build up organic matter in that sand so that there’s something to hold the fert other than just sand. Sand has almost zero holding capacity.

We talking about throw n mow?

I’m just talking about the principles of soil health and proper soil function……But yes, going to a no-till method is what it will boil down to on sandy soil. You could try very light tillage but I’ve found it to be so fragile that even the lightest tillage is harsh on sand.

A lot of being more efficient with fertilizer also has to do with erosion control and water infiltration. The problem in a lot of your tilled fields is that they have poor soil structure and they form a crust on top……..thus resulting in poor water infiltration……When that happens, then you start getting a lot of runoff…..which then results in your top soil and nutrients also running off with it. A chit load of fertilizer just gets washed into the ditches and streams every year. Erosion is not hard to recognize.

The only way to really correct this issue of run-off, erosion, and nutrient loss is to keep the water from building up steam and running off in the first place……. and instead have it soak up in the ground. This comes through improving the soil structure so that the soil is porous and has air space for water to easily infiltrate through…..It comes through leaving a thatch layer of hay across the top of the soil to take away the energy of the falling rain drops before it hits the soil surface….also to help stop/slow down any surface runoff so that the water has more time to be absorbed and doesn’t cause erosion. If you control where the water goes then you keep your nutrients and topsoil in the field instead of the ditch.

Honestly, I don't think you can over do it, but I'm sure there comes a point of diminishing return too.

You are probably right. And I am all for a better way of doing things. Been talking to CNC about some things we can do to improve the soil. But until we get to that point, I’ll just keep putting out what the soil samples call for, which has been a lot unfortunately. But I’m not gonna skimp on the fields. Too much time and money goes into my place to half ass the fields

This PLUS make sure who ever in your club is in charge of planting READS them and fertilizes accordingly. Don't ask me why I say this. Wish I didn't know

Turns out, another member soil tested some of the plots last year, and, in fact, many of the one's he did say the Ph is ok, and recommended no lime.

When I planted m plots in Pike county they recommended using 250# per acre of 15 - 0 - 15 instead of the old triple 13 and my plots seem to be a lot prettier this year, but we have had ample rain.

Phosphorus (P) middle number builds up in soil and doesn’t move or leach out of fields like nitrogen and Potassium do. P build up is common in fields that have ever had manure applied. So the recommendation with no P is common. Another reason to soil test