You might be wondering, what is a perpetual food plot, and why should I care? The perpetual food plot system is something that I’ve adopted after 25-plus years of managing the same property. My overall goal was to create a system of food plots that provide food and nutrition to deer throughout the year, and from one year to the next. I wanted deer to visit and imprint on my plots, and find food at any time. It was a tall order, but something I’ve been able to achieve with some success with in recent years.
Like a lot of farms, this one had an abundance of closed-canopy forest and open fescue pasture ground that was keeping deer from reaching their potential based on an overall lack of nutrition. I wanted to improve that situation. In 2017, with a limited budget, I ended up with two plots comprising about an acre combined. This was accomplished by hiring a neighbor owning a bulldozer to perform the initial clearing work needed to grow the plots.
Some folks might relate to this situation, where a “poor man’s” approach is warranted. Along with a limited budget, I also didn’t have access to big machinery after the initial bulldozer work was completed. Many tasks can be accomplished by hand, or using implements pulled behind an ATV. I was able to get my hands on an old disk that I could drag behind a UTV, and I purchased an inexpensive cultipacker to round out my assortment of implements necessary to create a good seedbed. On a small scale, the only tools required following the initial establishment is a spreader for overseeding, a weed-eater to address problem plants, and a backpack sprayer to apply chemicals as needed. As plot acreage and budget allows, these manual tools can be replaced with larger equipment. Whatever seed application process you use will dictate seeding rates.
You may have heard terms like transition, kill, hidey-hole, or other names for a certain types of food plots. They all have one thing in common, and that’s what they are not. They are not a destination food source. They are designed for deer to grab a bite to eat during daylight hours as they transition from feed to bed in the morning, and vice versa in the afternoon. You don’t want to spook deer off this kind of plot when you’re trying to get in and out of your stand or blind. You want deer to filter through these plots as they travel to and from larger destination food sources.
Destination food sources are typically larger in size and frequented most often during night. Compared to destination food plots, perpetual food plots are smaller, often an acre or less in size. And they are more likely to be scattered across a property rather than in a single, central location. If this situation exists on the land you manage, these transitional sites may be ideal locations to establish a perpetual food plot.
The perpetual food plot system came into existence for me by initially selecting areas within the timber that sat on high ground, with good access, and within close proximity to bedding cover. The site selection process is an important component of any food plot. I chose high ground for these plots to increase my odds of success. Lower elevations and side slopes tend to be more difficult to hunt based on unpredictable or swirling wind and thermal patterns. Having good access goes without saying. It’s generally required for consistent hunting success on any type of food plot.
To achieve the goal of offering transitional forage during daylight hours, a food plot should be located relatively close to bedding cover. Yardage isn’t necessarily as critical as visibility in determining proximity between the bedding site and the food plot. There needs to be enough distance, and/or screening cover, for you to enter the plot without rousting deer from their beds during an afternoon sit. Ideally, the bedding area should be upwind of the food plot.
What’s different about a perpetual food plot, compared to the other types I mentioned, is it goes against conventional concepts of food plotting. It’s based on diversity. Conventional farming usually doesn’t combine annual and perennial forage species, but that’s exactly what this system entails. It’s the only way to achieve the goal of providing a year-round food source. There is no magic bean, and there is no such thing as a single plant monoculture that offers year-round production in a single location. Perpetual food plots rely on a combination of many different plant species to achieve this core purpose.
There has been a lot of focus recently on regenerative agriculture, and a lot of folks are considering a similar approach for their food plots. If this describes your situation, a perpetual food plot system might be right for you. In a nutshell, regenerative food plots have a limited emphasis on the use of chemicals and mechanical tillage. That’s not to say we can avoid those things altogether. In most cases a minor amount of tillage, and chemical fertilizer applications, are needed to get a food plot off to a good start. More than likely you’ll need to manage the plot periodically with chemical herbicides to address problem plants. We’ll get into that in more detail shortly.
The Perpetual Food Plot Base
To get a perpetual food plot established I would suggest first conducting a soil test, and then applying amendments per the soil test recommendations. After the initial application of lime and fertilizer, you won’t necessarily need to continue repeating this process. The same principle applies with tillage. Initially I would recommend preparing a well-prepared seedbed. Repetitive tillage, and/or the use of chemical fertilizers, are a detriment to the regenerative process. Please allow me to explain.
Regenerative agriculture promotes the idea that there is a web of life in the air, soil, plants, and animals that are intertwined. I’m wholeheartedly on board with this concept. I’m willing to bet that Aldo Leopold, and the Osage Nation that used to roam the land I now occupy, would tend to agree. This is a huge part of this system. It relies on food plot crops working harmoniously with other plants, the air, and soil, to function properly.
The foundation is perennial white/ladino clover, such as Biologic Non-Typical Clover. White clover offers high nutrition, and more specifically excellent protein content, compared to other forages. It really shines in the springtime, before soybeans and other warm-season crops offer the same level of nutrition. It’s also very palatable and attractive to deer during the hunting season. Since ladino clover is a perennial species it can last for several seasons. Ladino clover handles grazing pressure and persists well on its own, but it does even better paired with other plants. Clover is great for a lot of things, but it doesn’t generate great nutrition all year long, and it requires key components to stay healthy. Being a legume, it generates its own nitrogen, and because of that it feeds nitrogen-loving plants like grasses and forbs. This is both a problem and a solution.
Kevin Mertz
The problem with offering space for companion plants is that some of the space ends up being taken by weeds, if that’s what’s in the seed bank. Food plots require lots of attention, and management action, to prevent noxious weeds from taking over. First, you have to be able to determine the difference between good weeds and bad weeds. Ragweed and pokeweed are examples of good weeds that are palatable, attractive to deer, provide nutrition, and serve as companion plants that provide benefits to clover. Bad weeds are those that can take over the entire field, and that provide no real benefits to deer or other wildlife, such as Johnson grass. Each site is unique, so it’s impossible to predict which problem weeds will pop up on any given site. It’s a balancing act to promote good weeds while keeping the bad ones at bay.
If you’re not able to make the distinction between good and bad weeds you may need assistance from a real, or virtual, botanist. Apps such at iNaturalist, Picture This, PlantSnap, and others can be used as a virtual option. An on-site visit from a consultant could be another option. Agencies like the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) or Farm Service Agency (FSA) are a good place to start looking if you choose to utilize a taxpayer-funded service.
Even though problems with bad weeds can occur, companion planting with clover is a huge part of a functioning perpetual food plot. Clover works best with companion plants and soil microbes in a community where nutrients are shared. When the root system of clover is in close proximity to plants which mine phosphorus or potassium, there can be an exchange of these nutrients, with clover offering nitrogen back to these other plants in exchange for the P and K. This is what precludes the need for ongoing fertilizer applications that are required when clover is sown as a monoculture.
Besides white or ladino clover, the base layer of a perpetual food may include other perennials for added nutritional diversity. I’m an advocate of combining white clover, red clover, and chicory as my perennial base layer. Biologic Clover Plus can serve as this base layer, provided it is supplemented with other crops specified below.
Since clover is a legume it produces its own nitrogen, which chicory can benefit from. Chicory has a deep taproot that has the ability to withstand drought and other harsh conditions. It does this by mining nutrients and moisture from deep within the soil. When these nutrients and moisture are brought to the surface, clover can benefit both immediately and over the long haul. Not only does chicory pull moisture from within the soil, it also collects dew that provides moisture from the air. This dew provides a supplemental source of moisture that helps clover hang on when rainfall is limited, and then explode with growth once better conditions return. Because of these traits, chicory is what I consider an underrated crop. It is so palatable and nutritious to deer that they eat it throughout summer and well into the fall. The use of an exclusion cage will prove these results.
Along with ladino clover and chicory, red clover forms the third component of frost-seeding for myself. It complements white clover with a later maturity that lasts well into the summer as a prime food source. Red clover is mostly considered a biennial, meaning it typically lasts wo years, although it can persist longer.
Arrowleaf is an annual clover that has the ability to perform the same function as red clover. It is also highly attractive into the late summer period. Trail camera pictures have shown that bucks chow down on both red and arrowleaf clover varieties in mid to late summer, especially when there’s no close crop of soybeans around. Don’t overlook the nutritional needs of antler development in bucks, and lactation in does, during this time period.
Incorporating Warm-Season Annuals
Once the base layers of clover and chicory are in place, incorporating warm-season annual species is an optional practice if you’re not planning to mow, or apply chemicals, during the growing season. If I don’t need to spray clethodim for grasses, I like to top-sow milo/grain sorghum directly into the existing stand of clover in late spring or early summer. The grain sorghum is typically hammered during the dough stage of seed production, which coincides with the start of archery season here in Missouri (mid-September). The milo plant seems to be essentially drought-proof. It can be a good forage option if and when other later-planted crops don’t survive. The stalks of milo eventually melt back into the soil and provide a slow-release fertilizer available to future crops of clover and other species. This breakdown of plant material is another part of regenerative agricultural practices.
Since clover generates nitrogen, you can always be assured of grass growing in a clover food plot, and I would rather have a type of grass that can benefit deer, like grain sorghum, instead of some invasives like Johnson grass, crabgrass, and others. If I need to apply clethodim to attack these grass weeds I still have the opportunity to overseed buckwheat, sunn hemp, and/or cowpeas if I still want to add diversity to the forage base.
Although clethodim or another grass-specific herbicide is commonly required for a perpetual food plot, I would almost never recommend use of a broadleaf herbicide like 2-4DB. This will almost always harm or kill beneficial chicory and other plants. If broadleaves are posing a problem I would instead suggest mowing or weed-eating those plants just prior to them going to seed.
Kevin Mertz
Layering Cool-Season Annuals
In addition to warm-season crop planting, I also like to deploy multiple applications of cool-season annuals by overseeding from late summer all the way into fall if necessary, to generate incremental fall and winter forage. You can usually start with brassicas in late summer, followed by oats, wheat, and annual clovers as summer transitions into fall, and finish it off with cereal rye if you need to. The reason for multiple applications of overseeding is to beat the odds of losing any of the individual plantings to heat and drought stress. Invariably we’ll hit a dry spell at some point between July and November in my neck of the woods. I don’t use a seed drill, so for me there always have, and always will be, failures of individual plantings. But when you apply your seed application in layers, typically at least one of the layered applications will succeed.
As mentioned previously, brassicas are the first phase of annual cool-season planting for me. I like radishes for an early hunting season attraction, and turnips as a delicacy later in fall when deer consume the bulbs. I like to overseed brassicas in late summer, around the first of August, or whenever significant rainfall is forecasted.
Providing excellent forage from late fall, into winter, and coming out with a bang in early spring are the annual clovers. Crimson is one of the most common. It’s very easy to grow and starts greening up very early in spring. It’s a short-lived plant that germinates, goes to seed, and dies quickly. It has the ability to reseed itself, so it can persist. I like to replenish crimson with annual applications in late-summer or fall. Typically, some of the seed will germinate, depending on conditions, right away in the fall. In my experience, in my area, most of the crop seed sits dormant until around March and April the following spring. Crimson clover is one of the first green forages deer have available coming out of winter dormancy. This is an important time when they need to regain weight lost during the rigors of rut and winter.
Besides crimson clover, some other common varieties include balansa and berseem. Much like crimson, the other annual clover species are also short-lived. I like to plant a variety of them because they have slightly different maturity dates. In my experience the crimson blooms first, then balansa, and lastly berseem. If arrowleaf clover is selected it flowers even later. Contrast in the blooming period is important. It’s good for pollinators and other insects, which in turn attract turkeys and other wildlife over an extended period of time. This contrast also impacts timing of palatability, as clovers seem to be most preferred prior to blooming. When clover blooms it seems as if the nutrition transitions out of the leaves and into the flowers, and they just don’t seem as attractive to deer during that time.
Cereal grains are the only type of grasses deer like to eat. When you have a stand of oats, wheat, rye, triticale, or combination, it is highly attractive to deer from late summer all the way into the following spring. When these plants mature and go to seed they’re typically useless to deer at that point, but they’ve helped the clover survive being over-browsed and winter-killed by serving as a nurse crop. When spring rolls around these annual cereal grains produce seed, die, and melt back into the soil, which adds nutrients to the soil to feed the next crop. This process is part of a regenerative food plot system, and it also reduces the need for ongoing chemical fertilizer supplementation.
When one or more of these layered plantings do invariably fail, the soil is generally full of native weed seeds which deer and other wildlife have been thriving on for eons. These weeds may help to provide nutrition that whitetails need at any given time. It’s important to embrace these “good” weeds as part of the perpetual food plot system, and that’s something else you won’t hear recommended with conventional food plot thinking.
Measuring Success
Perpetual food plots work, but they’re not always pretty. When you see a plot full of weeds and overgrazed plants, it’s not very impressive from an aesthetic standpoint. You won’t find pictures of perpetual food plots showcased in hunting videos or magazine covers. But they are as effective as the most beautiful plots you’ve ever seen.
To gauge the true effectiveness and beauty of a perpetual food plot you must utilize an exclusion cage. It will tell you all you need to know about what’s being consumed by deer and other wildlife species. What you may notice inside the exclusion cage is a whole multitude of plants working together to form a vast array of forage that deer crave. It’s easy to visualize when you compare what’s inside the cage versus outside. When I’ve made this comparison on a regular basis over time, it has trained my eye to see what browse pressure looks like, and what deer are keying in on at any point in time. You are likely to notice that deer are selecting and removing lots of forage from perpetual food plots throughout the year. That means you’ve accomplished the goal and found success using this approach.
Perpetual food plots provide food and cover for many different types of wildlife besides deer. I’ve been fortunate enough to harvest multiple long-beards hunting over perpetual food plots. I’ve also observed many other creatures using them. I would venture to say that the perpetual food plot system has helped me become a better gamekeeper, and I sincerely hope it will help you achieve the same goal.
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