Steps for Planting a Food Plot

Original Article Steps for Planting a Food Plot published by Whitetail Unlimited

Why is it a good practice to use a cultipacker after I plant the seeds in my food plot?"

What do you mean when you talk about a well-prepared' seedbed?

A new generation of deer hunters are now discovering the year-round fun of managing habitat, which includes creating and planting food plots with crops that will attract and nourish deer. Many of these new hunters are leasing land they can manage for hunting, or have inherited a farm or have family land to manage, or are joining hunting clubs which lease land that they can manage. However, based on questions like the ones above that we receive from our readers, it seems that very few of the new generation of hunters/deer managers have a farming background. There is a lot of confusion among non-agrarian readers regarding the steps to take in developing and planting a successful food plot.

For those readers, the following is a brief guide with the steps necessary to develop and successfully plant a food plot.

#1. Select Good Plot Placement

Many deer management plans call for at least 1% of the total acreage to be planted in managed food plots. It is important that the plots not all be in one block or in just one section of the property. In fact, the food plots should be as equally distributed throughout the property as possible. This offers food to a higher percentage of the animals found on the property.

Locating and making food plot sites a part of your wildlife management plan is the first step toward a good food plot system.

In the eastern portion of the U.S., each plot should be from one to five acres in size, with many biologists recommending two acres as ideal. In the west, the plots generally are larger five acres or larger.

The best way to locate food plot sites is to walk and view the property throughout, looking for natural openings such as old fields, utility right-of ways, log loading areas, small clear cuts, and so on. The more isolated the location, the better. Give a high priority to locations where the soil is rich and the moisture is good, but not wetland. Ideal food plot sites have an irregular tree line and no trees in the field. Using a GPS unit, mark the locations on a topographic map, and record the sites in your wildlife management plan.

#2. Prepare to Till the Plot

Once the food plot sites are selected, cleaning them up and preparing to till the soil is the next chore. The first rule of tilling is to clean the food plot site whether new or existing as much as possible so you can better evaluate what type of machinery will be required to break and prepare the seedbed. This needs to be done a couple of months before the planting season. Using your ATV with a trailer is a convenient way to remove ground litter by hand. The trailer can be kept close by as you work, reducing clean-up time to a minimum. Pick up everything you can that is in the plot site rocks, limbs, logs, and other debris. You want to see the bare ground.

If weeds and other vegetation cover the plot, the ATV with an herbicide sprayer attached makes it quick and easy to kill the competing plants. Once dead, they can be removed by hand, burning, or plowing under. Be sure to check with your county agent before spraying; he or she will be current on herbicide regulations and can make recommendations.

Once the food plot is cleared, it should be easy to see what you are dealing with to get the plot tilled and seedbed prepared. To find out if it should be done with an ATV or tractor, you need to answer these questions:

• Is the food plot site new?
• Is it on an old logging road bed or log landing?
• Is it an old overgrown field?
• Are there lots of stumps and roots in the plot?
• Are there rocks larger than grapefruit present in the plot site?
• Is the soil a tight soil such as red clay?
• Is the plot more than three acres in size?

resulting in a less-than-desirable crop. It's simply more than an ATV was designed to do.

However, if the plot is an established food plot that has been broken regularly and planted in annual crops, or is in an area free of roots, stumps, and large rocks, and the ground is a loose soil, such as a sandy loam, that has not been compacted by heavy truck traffic, then you can probably use your ATV as long as it meets the requirements to pull a heavy set of ATV-designed discs to break the ground and a harrow to prepare the seedbed. These requirements include a 450cc or larger engine, 4-wheel drive, and a strong equipment hitch.

#3. Till the Seedbed

I have written many times that one of the most common mistakes made by those who plant wildlife food plots is not preparing a good seedbed for the seed they are planting. I consider poor seedbed preparation second only to not following a soil test as the reason food plot crops fail. Tilling a food plot should not be rushed. It will take several passes with a cutting disc to establish a good seedbed, but with patience it can be done properly. Remember to break the field when the soil is dry, and take your time. Good seed-to-soil contact is essential for a productive food plot, so a fine-textured, level seedbed is what you want.

Once the soil is broken up, the next step is to level and smooth out the seedbed.

#4. Smooth the Seedbed

Using a drag-type harrow, sometimes called a chain harrow, attached to a farm tractor or an ATV (450cc or larger with four-wheel-drive), drag the food plot several times with the longer tines down to break up small clods, and to remove weeds, rocks, and other natural debris. This dragging will also help level the plot, aerate the soil, and help dry a damp plot.

Using a harrow takes time in a new food plot because the tines will need to be cleaned of weeds, grass, rocks, and sticks from time to time. However, when you have completed the seedbed preparation, you can look at a clean, level, fine-textured field and know your seed will have the best bed possible to begin life.

If you do not have access to a drag harrow, a section of chain link fence attached to a heavy wooden timber can make a homemade harrow, sometimes called a drag.

#5. Always, Always, Always Soil Test

The final step in planting a food plot can be the step where the greatest errors occur. During the many years I have spent working with landowners and hunting clubs, I have seen many food plots where the seedbed was properly prepared, but when it came time to fertilize and plant seeds, shortcuts were taken that led to a poor crop. The results were low utilization by deer.

The best seeds in the world and the best seedbed preparation will not result in a quality food plot if you don't lime and fertilize according to soil tests. Three months before you are ready to plant your food plots, visit your cooperative extension service agent and get soil test kits for your food plots. These are available free in most states. Then take your ATV and visit each food plot and take a soil sample following the instructions with the kit. Send the samples to the designated soil lab for analysis. There is a small fee for this service, but the report you receive will tell you exactly how much and what kind of fertilizer, and possibly lime, you will need on each food plot for the crop you intend to plant.

#6. Lime and Fertilize

Once your seedbed is prepared, equip your tractor or ATV with a seeder mounted on the unit, or use a pull-behind seeder. These seeders can be used to not only spread seed, but also fertilize the field. Lime, if necessary, and fertilize the plot following the soil test results exactly.

#7. Plant the Right Amount of Seeds

Once a plot has been fertilized, wash out the seeder thoroughly because lime and fertilizer residue will rust out a seeder quickly. Then calibrate the seeder following the manufacturer's instructions so it will distribute the seed at the recommended rate. Too few or too many seeds per acre will result in a poor quality food plot. Take your time and do it right.

#8. Cover Seed Carefully

Using a cultipacker, short tooth harrow, or drag pulled behind your tractor or ATV, cover the seed according to the seed company's recommendation. Seed covered too deeply will not come up; seed not covered enough will be eaten by crows, wild turkey, and other wildlife. Good seed to soil contact is essential for a high germination rate.

Remember that you do not have to be a farmer to have good food plot crops, and much of the work can be done with an ATV and some basic equipment.