Best clover food plot seed: how to pick the right blend

Last updated 2026-07-25

What is a food plot, and why does clover dominate them

A food plot is a planted patch, usually a fraction of an acre to a few acres, put in to give deer and other wildlife a concentrated, higher-quality forage source than what the surrounding woods or fallow ground offers. Landowners and lessees plant them for two overlapping reasons: to hold deer on the property longer and to supplement nutrition during stress periods like antler growth, lactation, and winter recovery. Clover shows up in more plots than any other single forage because it does two jobs at once. It is a legume, so it fixes its own nitrogen with the help of rhizobium bacteria in the soil, which cuts your fertilizer bill after establishment. And it is a perennial (in the case of ladino and white types) that can produce for three to five years off one planting, versus an annual you replant every year. The USDA NRCS Plant Materials Program lists white clover (Trifolium repens) as a widely used legume forage species suited to wildlife plantings, and it shows up in nearly every commercial deer blend, sometimes cut with chicory or a small amount of brassica for fall tonnage ^[1]. If you're deciding between clover and a grain-based plot, our food plot whitetail guide breaks down the tradeoffs by season.

Do deer like clover, and is it really their favorite food

Yes, deer like clover a lot, and in most regions it ranks as high or higher than almost anything else you can plant. State wildlife agencies and university forage programs consistently rank clover among the top preferred plantings, competing mainly with soybeans and alfalfa for the top spot depending on region and season ^[2]. But 'favorite food' is a moving target. Deer are opportunistic browsers, and their preference shifts by season, by what's locally available, and by the deer herd's own local habits (yes, deer populations develop regional food preferences, something wildlife biologists call a learned or 'acquired' preference). In spring and summer, clover is often at or near the top of the list because it is high in protein and it's soft, digestible, and always there. University forage testing programs commonly report clover crude protein in the 18 to 25 percent range during vegetative growth stages ^[3]. In fall, acorns and standing corn or beans usually beat it. In winter, if it's still green under snow, deer will paw through several inches to get to it. If you're trying to pin down one single most-preferred forage across the whitetail's range, there isn't a clean answer, because it varies by state, soil type, and what's competing for the deer's attention that week. That's part of why extension agronomists recommend diversity in a plot program rather than one silver-bullet species.

Which clover is the best clover food plot seed for deer

Ladino/white	3 to 5 years	High forage quality, spreads on its own	Weaker in drought/heat
Red	2 to 3 years	Heat and drought tolerance	Shorter-lived, coarser
Crimson	1 season (annual)	Fast fall growth	Won't persist
Arrowleaf	1 season, reseeds in some zones	Handles acid, sandy soils	Regional, mainly Southeast

For most food plot ground, a ladino (large-leaf white) clover blend, often mixed 80/20 or 70/30 with red clover, is the standard recommendation from extension forage specialists and it's what most seed companies build their 'deer blend' clover products around ^[4]. Here's the practical breakdown: Ladino (white) clover. Higher quality forage, tolerates close grazing better than red clover, spreads by stolons so it fills in bare spots on its own. Weaker in extreme heat and drought than red clover. Typically the base of a perennial plot. Red clover. More heat and drought tolerant, grows a taller, more upright plant, generally shorter-lived (2 to 3 years of good production versus 3 to 5 for ladino under good management). Often blended in at 15 to 30 percent of the mix to add resilience. Crimson clover. An annual, not a perennial. Used more as a fast fall cover crop or nurse crop than as the anchor of a long-term plot, since it won't persist past one season in most climates. Arrowleaf and berseem clover. Regional options, mostly used in the Southeast (arrowleaf) or as a quick annual summer forage (berseem). Worth asking your extension office if either fits your zone before you buy a national blend that assumes a different climate. Most of the well-known commercial 'deer clover' bags on the market are ladino-based blends, sometimes with chicory added for extra tonnage and drought tolerance. Chicory isn't a clover but it plays well with one because both are perennials that like the same pH range and both handle mowing. | Clover type | Lifespan in a plot | Best trait | Weak point |

What soil and pH does clover actually need

Clover wants a soil pH between 6.0 and 6.5, and most extension soil labs will tell you that anything below 6.0 starts choking off the rhizobium bacteria's ability to fix nitrogen, which is the whole point of planting a legume ^[5]. Below pH 5.5, you can still get clover to grow, but it'll be thin, yellowish, and dependent on you supplying nitrogen it should be making for free. A soil test is not optional here; it's the cheapest insurance you'll buy all year. Most state land-grant university soil labs run a standard test for $10 to $20 and will hand you a lime and fertilizer recommendation specific to your field's current pH and nutrient levels ^[6]. Your soil test lab is the authority on how much lime and fertilizer your specific field needs. A national seed bag label can only give you a generic range. General rule of thumb if you don't have your results back yet: expect to need 1 to 3 tons of ag lime per acre to move a typical acidic wooded-ground soil (pH 5.0 to 5.5) up into clover's happy zone, and expect that lime to take 3 to 6 months to fully react in the soil. That's why fall lime applications for a spring clover planting, or spring lime for a fall planting, both work better than trying to lime and plant the same week. For phosphorus and potassium, extension clover fertility guides generally land in the range of 40 to 60 lbs/acre of P2O5 and 60 to 100 lbs/acre of K2O if your soil test shows low to medium levels, but again, follow your specific test numbers over any blanket number here ^[7].

When to plant food plots for deer, by region

Northern (zones 3-4)	Late April to late May	Mid-August to early September
Mid (zones 5-6)	Early April to mid-May	Late August to mid-September
Southern (zones 7-8)	March to mid-April	Mid-September to mid-October	These windows are generalized and your local extension office's calendar will beat any national chart, since microclimate, elevation, and soil type shift things by two or three weeks in either direction even within one state. For a full walkthrough of building a planting calendar around your specific property, see deer food plots.

Timing depends on whether you're planting a spring/summer plot or a fall plot, and both depend on your zone's last and first frost dates. There's no single national planting date; extension calendars break it out by region. For perennial clover specifically, most guides recommend planting in either early spring (as soon as soil can be worked, often March to April in the Midwest and Upper South) or late summer/early fall (mid-August to mid-September in northern zones, September into early October further south), timed so seedlings get established before either summer heat stress or a hard freeze . A rough national framework, cross-referenced against USDA plant hardiness zones and several state extension planting calendars: | Region (USDA zone) | Spring clover planting window | Fall clover planting window |

When to plant oats for deer

Oats are almost always a fall planting, going in from late August through September in northern and mid-latitude states, or into October in the Deep South, timed so plants get 4 to 6 weeks of growth before a hard frost slows them down . Oats are a cool-season annual grain, cheap, fast-germinating, and deer hit them hard in the first 6 to 8 weeks after emergence while the plant is still tender. Oats don't survive a real winter in most whitetail range; a hard freeze in the teens kills the plant, though the frost-killed forage often stays somewhat attractive for a few extra weeks. That makes oats a great short-term draw and nurse crop for a clover planting (the oats come up fast and give newly seeded clover some cover and competition suppression), but a poor choice if you want green forage in January. Some hunters plant a spring oat crop too, mainly in northern zones with a short enough summer that oats won't bolt and go to seed too fast, but fall is by far the more common and more productive planting window for deer plot purposes.

When to plant turnips for deer

Turnips go in mid-summer to late summer, generally late July through August in most of the whitetail's range, so they have 80 to 90 days to bulb up before the first hard frost . Turnips are a brassica, and like most brassicas, the plant actually gets sweeter and more palatable after a couple of frosts convert starches to sugars, which is exactly why deer often ignore a turnip plot in October and then hammer it in December. If you plant turnips too early, in the heat of June for example, they'll bolt or get eaten down before they bulb. Too late (after early September in northern zones) and they won't have time to size up before frost stops growth. Most extension brassica planting guides put the ideal window 60 to 90 days ahead of your area's average first frost date, which you can look up through your state climate office or NOAA's climate normals data. Turnips work well mixed with clover but should be planted as a separate rotation or in a dedicated section, since they're an annual that needs full tillage and fertility each year, while clover wants to be left alone once established.

Do deer eat sorghum, and does it belong in a clover plot rotation

Yes, deer eat grain sorghum, particularly the seed heads once they mature, and sorghum shows up in some warm-season food plot mixes and dove/wildlife blends, especially in the South and parts of the Midwest . But sorghum isn't a clover-plot companion; it's a tall summer annual grain, more comparable to corn in how it's used, and it's planted and managed on a totally different schedule (late spring after soil warms past 60°F, harvested or standing through fall). Where sorghum fits a clover-based plot program is in crop rotation, not co-planting. Some hunters will run a summer annual like sorghum or a sorghum-sudangrass hybrid in a field one year to break up weed and disease cycles, then reestablish clover the following spring or fall once the field's cleaned up. It's also worth noting many state wildlife agencies regulate whether standing sorghum, corn, or any grain crop counts as legal hunting-over-bait versus a legitimate agricultural planting; the line between a food plot and baiting varies significantly by state, so check your state wildlife agency's regulations before hunting over any grain plot.

Do deer like honey, and does it matter for food plots

There's no real body of wildlife research suggesting deer specifically seek out honey, and it has nothing to do with food plot planning. Deer are drawn to sugar and salt in general (which is part of why frost-sweetened brassicas and mineral sites attract them), but honey itself isn't a forage, a plot ingredient, or something you'd ever plant or apply to a field. If you're seeing this question paired with food plot searches, it likely comes from confusion with mineral or attractant products, some of which use molasses or sugar-based additives as a scent draw. Those are a separate category from an actual planted food source, and most state wildlife agencies regulate or restrict scent-based attractants and mineral use the same way they regulate baiting, so check your state's rules before using any of them.

How much clover food plot seed do you need per acre

For a straight ladino/red clover blend, plan on 6 to 8 lbs of seed per acre broadcast, or 4 to 6 lbs/acre if you're drilling it with a no-till drill that places seed at the correct shallow depth (clover seed is tiny and wants to sit at 1/4 inch or shallower, so a drill uses seed more efficiently than broadcasting) . Seed costs run roughly $6 to $15 per pound depending on the blend, coating, and inoculant quality, which puts a one-acre planting somewhere between $40 and $120 in seed alone before you count lime, fertilizer, and herbicide. That's genuinely cheap compared to a corn or soybean plot on a per-acre basis, which is part of clover's appeal for smaller or budget-conscious plot programs. Make sure whatever you buy has been inoculated with the correct rhizobium strain for clover (a different bacterial strain than what soybeans use), or that you buy raw seed and inoculate it yourself before planting; pre-inoculated seed usually costs a bit more per pound but removes a step you don't want to mess up on planting day. If you'd rather not guess at blend ratios and seeding rates for your specific field, a soil test paired with a written plan takes the guesswork out. That's the whole idea behind PlotSeason's $99 one-time Custom Food Plot Plan: you send in your soil test and property details, and get back a species and seeding plan built around your actual dirt, not a generic bag label.

How do you compare clover against other plot species for your ground

Clover isn't automatically the right call for every field. It wants decent drainage, a pH you're willing to correct with lime, and at least some annual mowing to keep it from getting shaded out by weeds. If your ground is heavy clay with standing water half the spring, or deep shade under a closed canopy, clover will struggle no matter what blend you buy. Compare that to brassicas (turnips, radishes), which tolerate a wider pH range and rougher ground but only last one season and need replanting and re-fertilizing every year. Or cereal grains like oats and wheat, which are cheap, fast, and forgiving of poor soil, but don't offer the same season-long protein value that clover does through spring and summer. A lot of the best plot programs run clover as the perennial anchor in the best-drained, most accessible field, and use annuals (brassicas, cereal grains, sometimes a sorghum or soybean rotation) in secondary fields or in rotation years when a clover stand needs to be torn up and rebuilt. For more on matching species to specific plot goals, see deer food plot seed and food plot seed.

What maintenance does a clover plot need after planting

Mow it. That's the single highest-value thing you can do for an established clover plot, and most extension forage guides recommend mowing to a height of 3 to 4 inches whenever the clover and competing weeds reach 8 to 10 inches, generally 2 to 4 times per growing season depending on rainfall and weed pressure . Mowing does two things: it knocks back grasses and broadleaf weeds that would otherwise shade out the clover, and it stimulates new, tender growth that deer actually prefer over older, stemmy clover. A plot that never gets mowed will get taken over by crabgrass, foxtail, or whatever weed seed bank is sitting in that soil within two seasons. Beyond mowing, a maintenance clover plot needs a soil test every 2 to 3 years to check pH drift and nutrient depletion, and typically a light nitrogen-free maintenance fertilizer application (since the clover is fixing its own nitrogen, adding more N mostly just feeds weeds and grass competitors). Most guides suggest checking and topping off potash (K2O) annually since clover is a heavy potassium user and removes it from the soil steadily through the season.

Frequently asked questions

Do deer eat sorghum?

Yes, deer eat sorghum, especially the mature seed heads in late summer and fall. It's more commonly used as a warm-season grain crop or in dove/wildlife mixes than as a core food plot species, and it runs on a different planting schedule than clover, going in after soil warms in late spring.

Do deer eat clover?

Yes, and it's one of the most consistently preferred forages across whitetail range. Clover offers 18 to 25 percent crude protein in its vegetative stage, according to university forage testing programs, which puts it near the top of the list for spring and summer nutrition, though preference shifts seasonally toward acorns and grain crops in fall.

When to plant deer food plots?

It depends on species and region. Perennial clover typically goes in either early spring (March-May depending on zone) or late summer to early fall (mid-August through October). Annual grains like oats go in fall; brassicas like turnips go in mid to late summer. Check your local extension planting calendar for exact dates.

Do deer like clover more than other food plot options?

Clover ranks among the top preferred forages in most state wildlife agency and university studies, often competing with soybeans and alfalfa for the top spot. Preference varies by region, season, and what else is locally available, so there's no single universal 'favorite' across all of whitetail range.

When to plant oats for deer?

Plant oats in late August through September in northern and mid-latitude zones, or into October in the Deep South, giving the crop 4 to 6 weeks to establish before a hard frost. Oats are a fall annual that usually dies back in a hard winter freeze.

When to plant food plots for deer in general?

Spring/summer annual plots (like soybeans or sorghum) go in after your last frost date, usually April through June depending on zone. Fall plots (brassicas, cereal grains, clover) go in July through October, timed backward from your area's first frost date.

When to plant turnips for deer?

Plant turnips 60 to 90 days before your area's average first frost, generally late July through August in most whitetail range. Turnips need that lead time to bulb up, and they actually get sweeter and more attractive to deer after a couple of frosts.

What is a food plot?

A food plot is a planted area, from a fraction of an acre up to several acres, established to give deer and other wildlife a concentrated forage source. Landowners plant them to supplement natural browse, support deer through nutritional stress periods, and hold deer on a property.

What are deer's favorite foods?

There's no single universal answer; it depends on region and season. Acorns, soybeans, clover, and standing corn all rank high in various state agency and university forage studies. Clover often tops the list in spring and summer specifically because of its high protein content and constant availability.

Do deer like honey?

There's no real research showing deer specifically seek honey, and it has no place in food plot planning. Deer are attracted to sugar and salt generally, which is why frost-sweetened brassicas and mineral sites draw them, but honey itself isn't a plantable or applied forage product.

What's the best clover for a deer food plot?

A ladino (white) clover blend, often mixed 70/30 or 80/20 with red clover, is the standard recommendation from most extension forage programs. Ladino gives the highest forage quality and spreads on its own; red clover adds heat and drought tolerance to the blend.

How long does a clover food plot last before you need to replant?

A well-managed ladino clover stand typically produces for 3 to 5 years before it needs to be reestablished, according to university forage guides. Red clover alone runs shorter, usually 2 to 3 years. Mowing, weed control, and periodic soil testing extend the productive life of the stand.

What pH does clover need to grow well?

Clover needs a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5 for good growth and nitrogen fixation. Below pH 5.5, the rhizobium bacteria that clover depends on for nitrogen struggle, and the stand gets thin and yellow. A soil test tells you exactly how much lime your specific field needs to get there.

Sources

1. USDA NRCS Plant Materials Program, White Clover Plant Guide: White clover is a widely used legume forage species recommended in wildlife and forage plantings
2. University of Georgia Extension, Circular 860, Forage Testing: Clover in vegetative growth stages tests in the 18 to 25 percent crude protein range
3. Virginia Cooperative Extension, Publication 418-013, Fertilization of Alfalfa and Clover: Phosphorus and potassium recommendations for clover establishment based on soil test levels
4. Michigan State University Extension, Forage Establishment Dates: Perennial clover establishment windows differ by region between early spring and late summer/early fall seedings
5. University of Missouri Extension, Publication G4652, Small Grain Production: Fall-planted oats need 4 to 6 weeks of growth before a hard freeze
6. Kansas State University Extension, C-687, Grain Sorghum Production Handbook: Grain sorghum is a warm-season crop eaten by wildlife including deer once seed heads mature
7. University of Georgia Extension, Bulletin 1347, Establishing and Managing Wildlife Food Plots: Clover seeding rates run 6 to 8 lbs/acre broadcast or 4 to 6 lbs/acre when drilled