How to plant a food plot step by step

Last updated 2026-07-26

what is a food plot, exactly

A food plot is a planted area, usually a fraction of an acre to a few acres, seeded with forage crops to feed and attract deer or other wildlife on land you own or lease. It is not the same as baiting. A food plot is a standing crop grown in the ground, while baiting means placing loose grain, minerals, or feed piles, which many states regulate or ban outright for deer hunting. Most plots fall into two broad categories: annual plots (brassicas, cereal grains, sorghum, buckwheat) that you replant every year, and perennial plots (clover, alfalfa, chicory blends) that can produce forage for three to five years with proper mowing and fertility maintenance. Perennials cost more per bag but spread that cost over several seasons, which usually pencils out cheaper per acre-year if you have the right soil and drainage. Before you plant anything, check your state wildlife agency's regulations on baiting and supplemental feeding, since some states classify certain food plot practices differently than others, and rules on feeding bans (often tied to chronic wasting disease zones) can restrict what you're allowed to do nearby. Wisconsin DNR, for example, prohibits baiting and feeding of deer statewide with narrow exceptions tied to its CWD and baiting rules ^[1]. Your state fish and wildlife or natural resources agency page is the authority here, not a seed bag. If you want a plan built around your specific acreage, soil test, and region instead of general guidance, that's the kind of thing a Custom Food Plot Plan is built to sort out for $99, one time.

when should you plant a food plot for deer

Timing depends entirely on what you're planting and your USDA plant hardiness zone. There is no single planting date for 'food plots' because a spring plot and a fall plot use completely different species and calendars. For fall plots (the most common type for hunting season), the general window is late July through mid-September in the northern two-thirds of the country, and into early October in the Deep South, timed so the crop matures before the first hard frost and before hunting season opens. Cooperative extension programs generally recommend planting brassicas and cereal grains 60 to 90 days before your average first frost date, since these varieties need that runway to reach a grazable stage ^[2]. For spring or summer plots (soybeans, cowpeas, spring clover establishment), the window runs from April through June once soil temperatures warm past roughly 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, which most cool-season legumes need to germinate reliably. Check your local frost dates through your state's cooperative extension office rather than a national calendar, since a 'September 1' target in Minnesota and a 'September 1' target in Alabama produce very different results. Your county extension office can pull average first and last frost dates specific to your location, and NOAA maintains 30-year climate normals data that local offices draw from ^[3].

step 1: pull a soil test before you do anything else

Skipping the soil test is the single most common mistake in food plot planning, and it wastes more money than any other shortcut. Lime and fertilizer bought without a test are a guess, and a bad guess can mean a plot that barely grows. Most land-grant universities run soil testing labs for $10 to $20 per sample, and results typically come back with pH, phosphorus, potassium, and lime recommendations in pounds per acre. Pull samples from six to eight spots per plot at a 4 to 6 inch depth, mix them in a bucket, and send one composite sample rather than testing each spot separately unless the plot is unusually large or has visibly different soil types across it. Most forage crops, including clover and brassicas, grow best in a soil pH range of 6.0 to 7.0. Below that, phosphorus and potassium become less available to the plant no matter how much fertilizer you add, which is why lime often matters more than fertilizer in year one. Your soil test lab is the authority on how much lime and fertilizer your specific plot needs. Treat any general planting guide, including this one, as a starting framework, not a substitute for that report.

step 2: kill or clear existing vegetation

You have three real options here: spray, till, or a combination of both (often called 'spray and till' or 'spray, wait, till'). For a chemical burndown, glyphosate applied 2 to 3 weeks before planting, at a rate matched to label directions for the target weeds, kills existing grass and broadleaf competition without disturbing soil structure. This works well on no-till plots and slopes where tillage risks erosion. For tillage, disking or tilling breaks up sod and incorporates lime, but it also brings buried weed seeds to the surface where they'll germinate right alongside your new crop. If you till, plan on a second light pass or a pre-emergent herbicide to knock down that first flush of weeds before you seed. A lot of experienced plotters do both: spray to kill the sod, wait 10 to 14 days, then run a light disking pass just before planting. It costs more time but gives cleaner establishment, especially on ground that's been fallow or in pasture grass.

step 3: apply lime and fertilizer based on your soil test

Lime takes months to fully react with soil, so if your test calls for a big correction (anything over 1 to 2 tons per acre), apply it as early as possible, ideally the season before you plant, not the week of. Agricultural lime raises pH by neutralizing soil acidity, and university extension guidance generally notes that a full lime application can take 6 to 12 months to completely adjust pH, though you'll see partial benefit sooner ^[4]. If your test shows you're already close to 6.0-7.0, you can skip or reduce the lime and focus fertilizer dollars on phosphorus and potassium instead. Fertilizer rates vary by crop. A general clover plot often uses something in the range of 0-20-20 or similar phosphorus/potassium blends at establishment, since clover fixes its own nitrogen through root nodules and doesn't need heavy nitrogen inputs once established. Brassicas and cereal grains, by contrast, are nitrogen hungry and often benefit from a nitrogen application at planting plus a topdress 4 to 6 weeks in. Again, your soil test report will give you actual numbers. Don't buy a bag of 'food plot fertilizer' off a shelf without checking it against your results first.

step 4: pick your seed and check the seeding rate

White/ladino clover	6-8 lbs/acre	1/4 inch or less	Early spring or late summer
Red clover	10-12 lbs/acre	1/4 inch or less	Early spring
Brassicas (turnip/rape blend)	4-6 lbs/acre	1/4 to 1/2 inch	Late July to early Sept
Winter wheat/oats	100-120 lbs/acre	1 to 1.5 inches	Aug to Sept (north), Sept-Oct (south)
Soybeans (forage type)	50-60 lbs/acre drilled	1 to 1.5 inches	May to June
Grain sorghum	6-10 lbs/acre	1 to 1.5 inches	Late May to June	Small seeds like clover and brassica need to sit almost on the soil surface. Bury them an inch deep and most will never emerge, since they don't carry enough stored energy to push through that much soil. Larger seeds like oats, wheat, and soybeans need actual soil contact and coverage, which usually means a drill or a light disking/cultipacking pass after broadcasting. If you're deciding between species for your specific plot, food plot seed selection and deer food plot seed blends are worth comparing before you buy, since regional blends often outperform generic mixes.

This is where 'what do deer actually eat' matters more than marketing on a seed bag. Below is a quick reference on seeding depth and rate for common food plot species, drawn from university extension forage guides ^{[5] [2]}. | Species | Seeding rate (broadcast) | Seeding depth | Typical planting window |

do deer eat clover, and do deer like it

Yes. Clover is one of the most consistently used food plot forages across whitetail range, and it's a reasonable default recommendation from most extension wildlife programs because it's high in protein (often 25-30% crude protein in vegetative growth) and tolerates repeated grazing better than most annuals . White clover (including ladino types) and red clover are the two most common choices. White clover spreads low and handles heavy grazing pressure well, which matters because a small plot under constant deer pressure can get grazed down fast. Red clover grows more upright, produces more total tonnage, but doesn't handle continuous close grazing quite as well over multiple years. Clover's real advantage is season length. Once established, a good clover stand provides forage from spring green-up through fall, and can persist 3 to 5 years with annual mowing and a maintenance fertilizer application. That's a big reason it shows up in almost every food plot whitetail plan built around season-long attraction rather than a single hunting window.

do deer eat sorghum

Yes, deer will eat grain sorghum, both the leaves and the seed heads once they mature, but it's rarely planted as a primary deer forage on its own. Sorghum shows up more often as a cover crop or a component in a summer blend alongside cowpeas and soybeans, valued as much for its structure (tall stalks that create screening and hold up other plants) as for direct forage value. Where sorghum gets real use in deer management is as standing grain left through winter, similar to how corn is used, giving a high-energy food source late in the season when browse quality drops. If your goal is summer attraction and soil-building rather than a hunting-season food source, sorghum blended with cowpeas and sunn hemp is a reasonable, inexpensive option that also helps build organic matter for the next planting.

when to plant oats for deer

Oats are a fall annual in most of whitetail range, planted late July through September depending on your zone, the same general window as brassicas and other cereal grains. Oats germinate fast (often within 5 to 7 days in warm soil) and produce quick, palatable green growth that deer hit hard in September and October, which makes them popular for early-season plots. The tradeoff is winter hardiness. Oats are less cold-tolerant than winter wheat or winter rye, and a hard freeze can kill the plant outright in northern zones, while wheat and rye will often survive and regrow in spring. If you're in a zone with mild winters (much of the South), oats can provide forage well into winter. In harder-winter zones, oats are best thought of as an early-fall food source, not a plant-once-graze-all-winter solution. Pairing oats with a small percentage of wheat or clover in the same blend is a common way to extend the plot's usefulness past the first freeze.

when to plant turnips for deer

Turnips and other brassicas go in the ground 80 to 90 days before your first expected fall frost, which lands most of the country somewhere between late July and early September ^[2]. Brassicas need that long runway because the plant has to build a root bulb and enough leaf mass before cold weather hits, and deer typically don't hit the bulbs hard until after a frost sweetens the starches into sugars. That frost-triggered sweetening is the reason so many hunters see turnips sit almost untouched in September, then get hammered in November and December. It's not that the plot 'isn't working,' it's that the plant hasn't been triggered yet. If you're planting turnips specifically to have a late-season food source standing through hunting season, that patience is the whole point of the plant. Seed turnips shallow, 1/4 to 1/2 inch, and don't plant them too thick. A dense stand competes for light and produces smaller bulbs than a properly thinned one.

step 5: plant at the right depth with the right equipment

Broadcasting works fine for small seed (clover, brassica) as long as you get decent seed-to-soil contact afterward, usually with a cultipacker, drag, or even driving an ATV over the plot with a chain harness behind it. Broadcasting large seed like beans or corn without covering it properly is a waste of seed, since birds and rain runoff take a big chunk before it ever germinates. A no-till drill is the more reliable tool for cereal grains, soybeans, and sorghum because it places seed at a consistent depth and closes the furrow behind it. If you don't own one, many farm co-ops and conservation districts rent drills by the day, which is often cheaper than buying one for a handful of small plots. Whatever method you use, don't plant into dry dust hoping for rain later that week. Check a 7 to 10 day forecast before you commit seed to the ground. Germination that starts and then stalls from drought stress produces a weaker stand than waiting an extra week for a real rain window.

what are deer's favorite foods, and does that change what you plant

There's no single 'favorite food' that holds true everywhere, because deer preference shifts by season, region, and what's already available on the landscape. That said, several patterns show up consistently in browse studies and extension wildlife literature. Acorns are often the top natural preference in fall wherever oaks are present, and deer will frequently pass on a food plot to hit a good acorn drop. Clover ranks high nearly everywhere it's grown due to its protein content and season-long availability. Soybeans and cowpeas are heavily used in summer when protein demand is highest, especially for lactating does and antler-growing bucks. Brassicas and other high-sugar crops become more attractive after frost, once starches convert to sugar. The honest answer for 'favorite food' is: whatever is highest quality and easiest to access at that specific time of year, which is exactly why most serious plot plans mix species and planting windows rather than betting everything on one crop. A single-species plot might get hit hard for three weeks and ignored the rest of the season.

do deer like honey

Deer don't have a meaningful dietary relationship with honey, and it's not a food plot input or attractant backed by any extension research or wildlife agency guidance. This question usually comes from confusion with 'honey hole' hunting slang, or from commercial deer attractant products that use sweet, sugary scents (including molasses or apple-based scents) to draw deer to a specific spot. If you're trying to boost palatability or sugar content in a plot, that's what frost-triggered brassicas and molasses-based mineral or attractant products are for, not honey itself. Save your money there; it's not a real food plot input.

how big should a food plot be, and where should you put it

Extension wildlife programs generally suggest food plots occupy somewhere around 1 to 5 percent of total property acreage for hunting-focused plots, though this varies widely depending on your goals, soil quality, and how much of the surrounding landscape already offers food . A quarter-acre to half-acre 'kill plot' tucked near bedding cover works completely differently from a 3 to 5 acre destination field meant to hold deer through the season. Sun exposure matters as much as size. Most food plot forages need at least 6 hours of direct sun to produce well; a plot boxed in by mature timber on all sides will underperform no matter how good the soil test looks. If you're stuck with a shaded opening, clover and some brassica varieties tolerate partial shade better than soybeans or sorghum. Access and wind matter too. A plot you can't get in and out of without blowing your scent across a bedding area will train deer to avoid it during daylight, regardless of how good the forage is.

building the full-year rotation and getting a plan for your ground

A lot of the frustration people run into with food plots comes from planting once, seeing lukewarm results, and assuming the crop failed. Usually what happened is a mismatch between species, soil condition, and calendar for that specific piece of ground. A river-bottom clay soil in Iowa and a sandy ridge in the Georgia piedmont need different lime rates, different species, and different planting windows even if both are 'planting a food plot for deer.' The soil test tells you what your dirt can support. The zone-based calendar tells you when to plant. The species selection tells you what deer will actually eat on your specific ground and timeline. Getting all three right is the difference between a plot that gets hit hard and one that just grows tall and gets ignored. If you'd rather skip the trial-and-error and get a plan built around your soil test results, acreage, and region, the Custom Food Plot Plan runs $99 as a one-time cost and gives you species picks and a planting calendar matched to your specific setup, not a generic national guide. It's a starting framework built on real agronomy, not a guarantee of deer activity, since no plot, no matter how well planted, controls what deer do on a given afternoon. For more detail on species selection once your soil and timing are locked in, deer food plots and deer for food cover blend selection in more depth, and domain food plot seed is worth a look if you're comparing seed sources before you buy.

Frequently asked questions

Do deer eat sorghum?

Yes. Deer browse sorghum leaves and eat the mature grain heads, but it's more commonly planted as a summer cover crop component or standing winter grain source than as a primary standalone forage. It's often blended with cowpeas or soybeans rather than planted alone.

Do deer eat clover, and do deer like it?

Yes, clover is one of the most reliably used food plot forages, with crude protein often in the 25-30% range during vegetative growth. Deer graze it heavily from spring through fall, and it can persist 3 to 5 years with mowing and fertility maintenance.

When should you plant food plots for deer?

Fall plots (brassicas, cereal grains) go in late July through September in most zones, timed 60-90 days before your first frost. Spring/summer plots (soybeans, cowpeas, spring clover) go in April through June once soil warms past roughly 50-55°F. Check your local extension office for exact frost dates.

When do you plant oats for deer food plots?

Plant oats in the same fall window as other cereal grains, roughly late July through September depending on zone. They germinate fast, often in 5-7 days, but have less winter hardiness than wheat or rye, so in cold zones they act as an early-fall food source rather than a plant that survives to spring.

When do you plant turnips for deer?

Plant turnips 80-90 days before your area's first fall frost, generally late July through early September across most of whitetail range. Deer often ignore turnip bulbs until after a hard frost converts starches to sugar, so don't judge the plot before that frost hits.

What is a food plot?

A food plot is a planted area of forage crops, usually a fraction of an acre to several acres, grown to feed and attract deer or other wildlife on managed land. It differs from baiting because it's a standing, growing crop rather than placed loose feed or grain, which many states regulate separately.

What are deer's favorite foods?

There's no single favorite; preference shifts by season. Acorns often top the list in fall where oaks are present, clover ranks high nearly year-round due to protein content, soybeans and cowpeas get heavy summer use, and brassicas become attractive after frost sweetens the bulbs and leaves.

Do deer like honey?

No, honey isn't a meaningful part of a deer's diet and isn't used as a real food plot input. The idea likely comes from sweet-scented commercial attractants or hunting slang like 'honey hole,' not from any actual deer feeding behavior documented in wildlife research.

How do I test my soil before planting a food plot?

Pull 6-8 samples per plot at a 4-6 inch depth, mix them into one composite sample, and send it to a university extension soil lab, typically $10-20 per test. Results give you pH, phosphorus, potassium, and lime recommendations specific to your ground, which should guide your fertilizer purchase.

How much lime does a food plot need?

It depends entirely on your soil test results; there's no universal rate. If your test calls for more than 1-2 tons per acre, apply it as early as possible since full pH correction can take 6-12 months. Most forage crops grow best in a 6.0-7.0 pH range.

Should I till or spray before planting a food plot?

Either can work. Spraying with glyphosate 2-3 weeks before planting kills competition without soil disturbance, good for no-till and slopes. Tilling incorporates lime but brings weed seeds to the surface. Many experienced planters spray first, wait 10-14 days, then do a light tillage pass.

How big should a food plot be?

Extension guidance generally suggests food plots make up roughly 1-5% of total property acreage, but this varies by goal. A quarter-acre kill plot near bedding cover works differently than a 3-5 acre destination field meant to hold deer through the season.

Can I plant a food plot without a drill, using only a broadcaster?

Yes, for small seed like clover and brassicas, broadcasting followed by a cultipacker or drag for seed-to-soil contact works well. Larger seed like soybeans, corn, or sorghum germinates far better with proper coverage from a drill or a disking pass after broadcasting.

Is a food plot the same as baiting deer?

No. A food plot is a standing planted crop, while baiting typically means placing loose grain, minerals, or feed piles. Many states regulate or ban baiting for deer hunting but treat planted food plots differently. Check your state wildlife agency's specific regulations before assuming either practice is legal where you hunt.

Sources

1. Wisconsin DNR, Baiting and Feeding Regulations: States regulate baiting and supplemental feeding differently, often tied to chronic wasting disease management zones
2. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020: Average first and last frost dates vary by location and are published in NOAA climate normal data
3. University of Missouri Extension, Soil Acidity and Liming, Publication G9101: Full lime reaction and pH adjustment in soil can take 6 to 12 months
4. University of Tennessee Extension, Establishing Wildlife Food Plots, Publication PB1769: Seeding rates and depths for clover, brassica, cereal grain, and soybean food plot species
5. USDA NRCS Plant Guide, White Clover: White clover forage has high crude protein content and tolerates repeated grazing