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Derek Jack English III Honors5-1-09

Food Plots

Hunting wildlife in America has become a huge industry. The viewer ship of hunting andfishing programs increase every year. With so much exposure on television, hunting is turningout to be a huge industry. Watch any deer hunting show you are sure to see some hunter bag atrophy sized deer most of us who have hunted most of our lives have never seen. The reason for this is because all of these hunters find their trophies on well managed farms. The sole purposeof these farms is to attract hunters willing to shell out seven to ten thousand dollars to bag one of these trophies. One of the secrets to well managed lands producing trophy sized games are food plots. Most farmers already have the equipment and resources necessary to grow effective food plots for wild game. With a little knowledge of food plots, the crops to grow and the proper stepsneeded to grow a good food source any farmer can produce trophy sized animal. The first thingone needs to know is what makes a perfect food plot.Many people wonder what food plots are. A food plot is a piece of land that is plantedwith high quality forage for the purpose of improving wildlife nutrition or attracting wildlife for hunting or viewing. Food plots are used all over the world, but not all for the same reason. Mostfood plots are planted for hunting purposes only. However, some people just enjoy viewing thewildlife. Farmers that plant food plots for hunting have in mind of growing trophy game.Growing food plots will help with the wildlife nutrition and produce these trophies. For a lot of food plot managers their goals are to make a profit. People come from all over the world to huntwell managed pieces of land. This will result in a huge profit for you. The first place to start

when trying to plant the best possible food plot is the type of crops you decide to plant.(whitetailstewards.com par. 1-3)The first step to planting a successful food plot is planting the right crops. There isa wide variety of crops you can choose from. Also, there are many advantages and disadvantagesto different crops. Corn is the most popular and it’s the most commonly used crop. Corn is thecheapest to plant and you can get left over corn from conservation agencies and seed stores for free. This is good for managers that are planning on renting out their land for hunting use because it’s easier to get a profit. Corn is very attractive to deer especially in the cold times of theyear when energy is needed to keep warm. If corn is the only food source during the summer time for deer this isn’t a good thing. First of all you have to plant the corn in the summer time.When deer see the sprouts of the corn start to shoot up they begin to eat it. This causes thegrowth of the corn to become stunted. A good idea would be to have other crops planted in thevicinity so the deer won’t eat just the corn. Everyone seems to think that corn would make agood food source for deer in the summer time. Corn in the summer time is equivalent to what it’slike for a human to eat junk food. Corn is a junk food for deer in the summer time. It is low in protein and high in sweets. However, corn is very beneficial in the fall and winter time andimproves your hunting in areas that are usually very low in deer numbers. (Food Plots.COM par.8-10)Grain sorghum, which is often called Milo, is used in the northern states to attractupland birds, and can effectively be used for deer. According to Food Plots.Com, “On the property I’ve managed we’ve planted a lot of Milo over the years. It has two positive points andtwo negative points.” (par. 10) The first positive aspect about Milo is that the crop isn’t touchedin the summer, even in areas of dense deer populations, and the whole plant is there for the fall

when it comes time for deer season. Also, Milo is a very resilient plant that fights off weeds.However, Milo has a few negative aspects to it. Milo is a less desirable crop during the winter time than corn and winter wheat. Also, once deer get use to eating the Milo they will begin to eatthe heads and this will stunt its growth. You do not want in your food plot these two negatives.(Food Plots.COM par. 11-13)The next crop that is a possibility to grow is alfalfa. Alfalfa is an extremely goodsource of protein. There is no other crop that produces more protein than alfalfa. Alfalfa has along life cycle. A life cycle of alfalfa can be up to seven years. According to my grandpa, he hasgrown a crop of alfalfa that lasted him nine years without having to replant it. (Wilkerson)Alfalfa is able to live for long amounts of years because of their long roots. Alfalfa is able togrow in dry areas because its roots can get water from deep down in the soil. However, whenthere is a positive there is usually a negative. One of the reasons why farmers do not like to plantalfalfa is the cost of planting it. To have a good yield of alfalfa you will need to plan on liming,fertilizer, and high dollar alfalfa seed. This will come out to be around one hundred dollars per acre. This is not including diesel or if you hire some one to do your planting for you. Also, sincealfalfa comes back every year for a number of years, fertilizer will be needed and that will beanother thirty dollars per acre. (Alfalfa.org par. 1-4 and 7) With times like these farmers, have totake all of these considerations and come up with a good plan. They have to consider the cost torun their equipment to plant their food plot.The first step to a successful food plot is preparing the area where you will be planting your plot. A well prepared plot consists of very rich soil. To see how good your soilreally is you will need to gather soil samples. Take your samples to your counties Soil and Water Conservation District office and have them test your soil. The results should be back to you in no