HELP: 1000 acres and I want to plant several perennial food plots

Right now we pant 7 to 8 one acre food plots in wheat and oats every September.

I want to plant 2 to 3 three/four acre perennial food plots. I have access to several tractors and about any attachment you could want to complete this task. I know this will be expensive. The desired goal is 1) Keep deer on this property and 2) Provide protein to deer year round.

Several questions:

1. What seed mix should I plant?

2. Can I plant this in the spring and it make it through the summer? Or should I wait until fall?

3. Is 10-12 acres (10% of land area) of perennial plots enough to reach my desired goal?

1. If you haven't, get a soil test done and work on getting your soil ph up to 6.5

2. If you are in the Macon area, depending on your soil type, perennial clovers may act more like an annual. I have several Durana plots (I am between Macon and Columbus) and they do ok, assuming we get enough rainfall. In hot dry summers, they go dormant and there isn't much for the deer to eat.

3. The simplest thing to plant will be a clover mix, in the fall, to keep weeds down. Clover will give you the protein you desire.

4. Spraying for grasses and bush hogging will be necessary.

5. 10% of your land in plots is good, assuming you have good deer density. 10% of 1000 acres is 100 acres. 10 acres will be 1%

Just for reference, I had greater success (fall 2015 planting) with a mix of oats, radish, crimson, arrowleaf and medium red clover. The medium red was still producing and the deer were still in it, till I worked the ground up in September of this year. I should've left some, since medium red clover will produce of a 2 year period. The medium red has performed the best of the clovers I have planted so far.

You might consider Durana, Patriot and/or Imperial Whitetail Institute clovers, for your perennial clover. Start them in a nurse crop of wheat, oats or cereal rye next fall.

I'd try 1 or 2 acres of perennial clover next fall and get a feel for usage and make sure it fits your goals. Putting them in more shady areas is a good idea, where other crops struggle, clover can do well. Maybe put them around the perimeter of some of your plots, if you are surrounded by trees. Maybe do strips?

Chicory is another good perennial to try too

Canuck5 said:

5. 10% of your land in perennial plots is good, assuming you have good deer density. 10% of 1000 acres is 100 acres. 10 acres will be 1%

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Wow math fail. I promise im not that big of a DA.

Thank y'all for all of the information. I like the idea of testing out several acres next year and see how it responds. I just want something asap and I'm being impatient. I know i'd have to spray it every summer a couple of times.

Again, thank y'all.

Thanatos said:

Wow math fail. I promise im not that big of a DA.

Thank y'all for all of the information. I like the idea of testing out several acres next year and see how it responds. I just want something asap and I'm being impatient. I know i'd have to spray it every summer a couple of times.

Again, thank y'all.

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You're just as anxious as the rest of us!!! You can consider a 1/2 strip of chicory ..... 1/2 acre strip of Imperial Whitetail ..... 1/2 acre strip of Durana and do some comparison's on your own property and see what performs the best for you. All this is trial and error and it might take a couple of seasons till it's all figured out.

I will also add that planting a few Keiffer Pear tree's, reasonably close together and maybe with another type of pear, is something to consider too. I know it might not be "your" property, but mine started to produce and produce well in the 4th season.

I think they cost me $20 each and they are truly low maintenance, at least for me.

It's a marathon not a sprint. Good luck!

Fix your pH & get good weed control before you start getting too much in perennials. Annuals are more forgiving & much less expensive, & generally more productive in terms of tonnage. If you have space enough to do 3-4 ac plots, in those I would do summer annual legumes & cereals, brassicas & annual clover in cool season. Plots an acre or smaller are better suited to perennials because their small size precludes the productivity to overcome the browsing pressure they will be subjected to if planted in annuals. Even 3-4 ac plots will likely need protection from early damage until they get some growth (fencing).

For maximum gain, especially if you get closer to 3-5% of your total acreage in supplemental food plots, you want 10% of the plot acreage in clover, the rest in annuals. When you can only plant small spots or low acreage, perennial clover/chicory plots are the best option.

Tree plots are a great solution for a Fall attractant where space is limited. Value as a food source for fruit trees is over a very narrow window, & deer can damage the trees severely, especially when they are young, but they begin to produce at an early age compared to nut trees.

All I can add is perennial clovers are tough to get established but once you do they are the gift that keeps on giving provided you maintain them and are aggressive with weed control.

elfiii said:

All I can add is perennial clovers are tough to get established but once you do they are the gift that keeps on giving provided you maintain them and are aggressive with weed control.

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Agreed! Like the Energizer Bunny...They keep going and going and going!

My opinion and experience is you can do the same thing with reseeding annual clovers on rotational basis as well as using peas and beans and in a rotational basis. Arrowleaf and crimson clovers are two good annuals that grow at different rates and mature differently but both will reseed to an extent. Peas and beans in the summer. Perennials are lot of work with sometimes moderate return. Annuals can be just as much work but all things being equal can have a more satisfactory return.

I planted my perennial clover plot 10 years ago.I have sprayed, limed/fert each year since then. I always add some more perennial clover seed each year after year 3 to keep new clover sprouting each year.No plowing since I planted.Canuck5 has seen the results.

Crakajak said:

I planted my perennial clover plot 10 years ago.I have sprayed, limed/fert each year since then. I always add some more perennial clover seed each year after year 3 to keep new clover sprouting each year.No plowing since I planted.Canuck5 has seen the results.

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You mean Shangri-La???????? The deer want for nothing there!!!

Test soil for Alfalfa, add items required from test, and get Bulldog 805 Alfalfa. Very good for them and deer love it. Strip of it, clover, chicory as mention. I have mixed 5# of chicory with 50# Alfalfa with good results. Just prepare soil and seed bed, spray to rid as many weeds as possible prior to planting. Recommend planting in fall, seed heavy to control weeds, and should be good for 3 to 5 years with proper care for a year round food patch.

I would think about some chicory. You will be glad to have it in the dry years.