Food Plots
Planting wildlife food plots is a common practice, especially for white-tailed deer. Many landowners or club members believe that a properly managed habitat and deer herd includes planted food plots. While the contribution of supplemental plantings to deer management should not be overlooked, more benefit can be realized through manipulation of native habitat. Practices such as well-timed prescribed burning of pine forests or proper timber harvesting techniques will provide abundant, high-quality forage and cover for deer at little or no cost to the landowner.
Consistently productive food plots require careful thought and planning before they are implemented. Factors to consider include the following.
- Location:
Plots should be located on fertile soils with adequate drainage. Cover should be located nearby or scattered across the plot. Food plots should not be established near a public road or waterway due to the increased possibility of poaching.
- Size:
Plot size and shape may vary with local conditions, but to provide adequate sunlight to meet forage production requirements generally should not be less than one acre.
- Spacing:
Plots should be scattered over the entire property if possible. It is more beneficial to establish 10 plots 2 acres in size than to have a single 20acre field. Cost may dictate total acreage planted.
- Soil Testing:
To ensure productive food plots conduct soil tests for fertilization and lime requirements. The local county agent (MSU-Extension Service office) can provide information on soil sample collection and where to send them for analysis. Be sure list the potential crops to be grown when sending in soil samples for testing.
- Planting:
Be sure to select a plant species or combination of species that will grow on the particular soil type and site that you have. If unsure, ask the county agent, wildlife biologist, or local seed supplier. Proper seedbed preparation will increase germination and yield more productive food plots. Plant crops at the prescribed seeding rate and during the proper planting season. It is critical that legume seeds (clovers, peas, beans) be inoculated with nitrogen fixing bacteria before planting.
Food Plots Publications
Publications
News
“Rockin’ robin, tweet-tweedle-lee-dee!” You sang that sentence as you read it, didn’t you?
Shortly after Emily Duggar bought property in Madison County to build a house near Canton, she realized there were beavers on a creek that ran through the back of the property.
“We saw evidence that beavers were taking down trees and gnawing on trees,” Duggar said. “We could see they were building a dam, and they’ve since built two more dams. The water is rising,” she said. “We haven’t had any flooding yet, but we’ve heard that some people who live in the neighborhoods behind our property have flooding from the creek.”
If you hear a bird call that sounds like a fast, high pitched “chick-a-dee-dee-dee,” you can confidently say it’s coming from a Carolina chickadee– they get their name from this distinctive call.
Every Mississippian is familiar with the northern mockingbird. In 1944, it became the official bird of Mississippi.
While scientists know bats eat mosquitoes, the insect makes up only part of their diet. So the question is: Do bats significantly lower mosquito numbers?
Success Stories
Mississippi State University and partners have been awarded a grant of nearly $6.6 million from the National Fish and Wildlife Federation for shoreline restoration work on the Gulf Coast.
Popular post
Hummingbird migration information reached more than 400,000 on Facebook, thanks to this post highlighting the featured Extension for Real Life blog post.
Extension connects landowner experts to identify fossils
The kids who dig in the dirt and rifle through the gravel do grow up, and many of them still keep their eyes on the ground whenever they’re outside. And, if they find an old bone or even a shell from an extinct oyster, they know they’ve found something special.
Four Extension experts named fellows in their disciplines
Four well-respected Mississippi State University Extension Service experts were recently named fellows in prestigious academic and service organizations.
Mississippi became the 25th state with a confirmed case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in February 2018. Since then, state agencies have been working together to protect the state’s deer population.
