What Food Should I Plant?
Question:
I have cleared about 1-acre out of 80 acres of hardwoods and would like to plant food for deer. The soil is mostly sandy. Any thoughts on food to plant?
Answer:
With only one acre you have to be sensitive to deer damage. It does no good to plant something that will be gone before hunting season. With limited amounts of acreage available, we’ve found that the most effective planting is clover of some variety. Soybeans can also work well if the deer and turkeys will leave them alone until they have grown past the two-leaf stage. (Prior to that they kill the plant by nipping off the tops.) You can most easily get soybeans past wildlife during this critical growth time by planting RoundUp Ready varieties into slightly weedy ground. The weed cover will hide the young plants for a few weeks until you come back and remove them as competition later with an overspray of RoundUp.
To determine the clover variety best suited to your soil types contact a local agronomist. Most university extension offices have an agronomist who can offer very valuable suggestions. Keep in mind when talking to the agronomist that you want the highest possible protein content in your clover planting. Mow the plot twice during the summer to keep the plants young and lush.
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