What is best to plant for a deer food plot

Last updated 2026-07-26

what is a food plot

A food plot is a planted area on hunting land, usually a half acre to a few acres, seeded with forage crops that deer prefer over what's naturally available on the landscape. It's not a garden and it's not corn for corn's sake. It's a managed patch of clover, brassicas, cereal grains, or legumes meant to concentrate deer activity, improve herd nutrition, or both. Most food plots fall into two buckets: perennial plots (clover, alfalfa, chicory) that you plant once and maintain for 3 to 5 years, and annual plots (brassicas, cereal grains, soybeans) that you replant every season. Some hunters run both, a perennial clover field for spring and summer nutrition, and an annual brassica or cereal grain plot timed to peak right before gun season. State wildlife agencies and universities generally treat food plots as a habitat management tool, not a baiting technique, but the line matters legally. Standing, growing crops planted and left in place are typically legal everywhere. Piling up corn, minerals, or cut vegetation is baiting in many states and illegal in others. Rules vary a lot by state, so check your state wildlife agency's regulations before you plant or hunt over anything unusual ^[1].

what are deer's favorite foods

White oak acorns	Fall	High fat, high preference, but unpredictable mast years
Clover (white/red)	Spring, summer, fall	High protein, regrows after grazing
Soybeans	Summer, early fall	High protein while green, then pods/beans later
Brassicas (turnips, radish)	Late fall, winter	Sugars increase after frost

Deer are opportunistic browsers, and their preferences shift with season, region, and what's locally available, but a few crops show up again and again as top choices in food plot research and extension guidance. Clover, soybeans, and cereal grains like oats and wheat consistently rank as high-preference forages, especially in spring and summer when deer need protein for antler growth and lactation ^[2]. In fall and winter, brassicas (turnips, radishes, rape) become the stars because cold weather converts their starches to sugars, making them sweeter and more attractive right when deer need energy most. Acorns, when available, often beat any planted forage outright. No food plot competes with a good white oak drop in October. Here's a rough ranking of what shows up most in extension-based plot recommendations, based on palatability and consistency of use across regions. | Forage type | Season of peak use | Why deer key on it |

do deer like clover

Yes. Clover is one of the most reliable, most heavily used food plot forages across the whitetail's range, and it's usually the first recommendation extension agronomists make for a new plot. White clover and red clover both test high in crude protein, often 25 to 30 percent in vegetative growth, which lines up with what lactating does and antler-growing bucks need ^[3]. Clover's real advantage is that it's a perennial. Plant it right and it can produce for 3 to 5 years with just annual mowing, spot herbicide, and a maintenance fertilizer application based on your soil test. That's a big deal if you're managing time across several plots or a whole property. The tradeoff is establishment. Clover needs a firm seedbed, shallow planting depth (a quarter inch or less), and decent soil pH, ideally 6.0 to 7.0, to really take off. If your soil test comes back at 5.2, you'll get a thin, weedy stand no matter how good the seed is. Lime takes months to fully react in the soil, so get your test done and lime applied well ahead of planting if you're starting from acidic ground. If you want a walkthrough on matching clover varieties to your dirt, the food plot seed guide breaks down variety differences in more depth.

do deer eat sorghum

Yes, deer eat sorghum, particularly the grain heads once they mature and dry down in fall. Grain sorghum (milo) is more commonly known as a whitetail and dove food source in the southern Great Plains and parts of the Southeast, where it tolerates heat and drought better than corn. Deer will browse the young plants some in summer, but the real draw is the seed head later in the season. Sorghum isn't a top-tier standalone food plot choice for most hunters outside of drought-prone regions. Corn and soybeans generally out-produce it in preference studies, and it's a heavier lift agronomically (needs warm soil to germinate, benefits from row spacing and weed control). Where sorghum earns its keep is as a drought-tolerant component in a wildlife blend, or as a standing cover crop that also feeds deer and upland birds through winter. If you're in sandy or low-rainfall ground where corn struggles, grain sorghum is worth a look. Otherwise, put your acres into clover, soybeans, or brassicas first.

do deer like honey

Deer don't eat honey in any meaningful, food-plot-relevant sense. This question usually comes from confusion with 'Honey Hole' branded plot mixes, or from deer occasionally nosing around damaged beehives for the wax and grubs (not really the honey itself), which is opportunistic and rare, not a food source anyone should plant for. There's no agronomic or wildlife biology basis for planting anything honey-related in a deer food plot. If a bag of seed at your local co-op or online store uses 'honey' in the product name, that's marketing language for a blend, not an indication the mix contains honey or that deer are drawn to sweetness in that literal sense. Focus your planting decision on real forage species: clover, brassicas, cereal grains, soybeans, chicory. Those have actual research behind them.

when to plant food plots for deer

Timing depends on whether you're planting a spring/summer plot or a fall plot, and both depend heavily on your last frost date and first frost date, which vary by state and even by county. As a general framework, spring plots (clover, soybeans, chicory) go in after your last frost, once soil temps hit the mid 50s Fahrenheit and stay there. Fall plots (brassicas, cereal grains, blends with brassica-cereal mixes) get planted 60 to 90 days before your first fall frost, so the plants have enough growing season to bulk up before cold weather. A useful rule extension agronomists repeat: brassicas need roughly 80 to 90 days to reach full maturity, and their sugars peak after a couple of hard frosts convert starches. Plant too late and you get small plants that never bulb out. Plant too early in a hot climate and you risk bolting or insect pressure before fall arrives ^[4]. Check your state's frost date data or your local cooperative extension office for zone-specific windows. The general planting calendar below is a starting point, not gospel, since a plot in northern Minnesota and one in central Texas are on completely different clocks. For a full breakdown by region, the deer food plots hub has more granular seasonal windows.

when to plant oats for deer

Oats are typically planted in late summer to early fall for a fall/winter deer plot, roughly 6 to 8 weeks before your first expected frost, which puts most of the country in a late August to early October window. Oats germinate fast, often within 5 to 10 days in warm soil, and put on quick, leafy growth that deer hit hard almost immediately, which makes them a favorite for hunters who want a plot producing forage fast. Oats can also be planted in early spring in northern climates as a quick cool-season option, though they'll head out and lose palatability once temperatures climb in summer. Most hunters plant oats in fall. A common and effective approach is blending oats with a brassica like turnips or with winter wheat and clover. The oats give you fast tonnage and early attraction, the brassica or clover carries the plot later into winter after the oats get grazed down or winterkill in colder zones. Winter-hardy oat varieties will survive light frosts, but a hard freeze in the teens or below will usually kill oats outright in many regions, so they're often treated as a fall-only annual rather than a plant that carries a plot through January.

when to plant turnips for deer

Turnips are a fall brassica, planted roughly 80 to 90 days before your area's first killing frost so the plants have time to bulb out and reach peak sugar content by hunting season. In most of the whitetail's range, that puts turnip planting somewhere between mid-July in northern states and late August into early September in the mid-South. Wait too long and you get leafy tops with no bulb development, which cuts your winter tonnage. Turnips need a firm, well-drained seedbed and shallow planting, about a quarter to half inch deep, plus decent fertility. They're heavy nitrogen users, so a soil test matters here more than almost any other plot crop. Extension guidance generally recommends nitrogen rates in the range of 40 to 60 pounds per acre for brassica plots, but your actual number should come from your soil test lab, since existing organic matter and prior fertilization change that number a lot. Deer often ignore turnip bulbs early in the season and hammer the leafy tops first, then switch to digging up and eating bulbs after a few hard frosts sweeten them. That's normal, not a sign your plot failed. Patience through the first cold snaps usually pays off.

how do I pick between clover, brassicas, and cereal grains

Match the crop to the season you're hunting and the amount of maintenance you want to do. If you want a low-maintenance plot that feeds deer from spring through fall and comes back for years, plant clover. If you want maximum fall and winter attraction timed for gun season, plant brassicas or a brassica-cereal blend. If you want fast establishment and don't mind replanting every year, cereal grains like oats or winter wheat are the easy button. Many experienced plotters run a mix of all three across different fields: perennial clover in a spot with good soil and easy mowing access, brassicas in a field you can dedicate to fall tillage, and a cereal grain overseed in transition areas or as a nurse crop. Soil matters more than species choice in a lot of cases. A mediocre crop on well-limed, properly fertilized ground will usually outperform the 'best' species planted on soil with a pH of 5.0 and no fertility program behind it. Get the soil test first, then pick the plant. If you want a structured way to match crops to your specific soil report and region, that's exactly what a Custom Food Plot Plan from PlotSeason ($99, one-time) is built to do, matching species and rates to your dirt and zone instead of guessing off a bag label. Start at /plot-plan-builder.

what soil and fertility conditions do these plants need

Clover, brassicas, and cereal grains all want soil pH in the 6.0 to 7.0 range for best nutrient uptake, according to most land-grant extension fertility guides, though brassicas and cereal grains tolerate slightly lower pH than clover does ^[3]. Below pH 5.5, phosphorus and other nutrients start locking up in the soil and become far less available to plants no matter how much fertilizer you add, which is a pattern well documented in university soil fertility guides. Lime is slow. It typically takes 3 to 6 months of soil contact time to fully adjust pH, which is why extension agronomists push soil testing well ahead of your planting date, not the week before. If your test comes back needing 2 tons of lime per acre, plan on applying that a season ahead if you can. Your soil test report, not a seed bag label, is the real authority on how much lime and fertilizer your specific field needs. Generic bag recommendations assume average soil, and average soil doesn't exist on your actual property. Send a sample to your state extension soil lab or a private ag lab, follow their lime and fertilizer recommendations, and treat any general planting guide (including this one) as a starting framework, not a substitute for that report.

how much seed and equipment do I actually need

Seeding rates vary a lot by species. Clover typically goes down at 6 to 8 pounds per acre broadcast, oats at 100 to 120 pounds per acre (drilled) or higher if broadcast, and brassicas at a light 4 to 6 pounds per acre because the seed is tiny. Always check the actual bag label for the specific blend you buy, since coated seed, blend ratios, and seed count per pound change these numbers. Equipment needs scale with plot size. A quarter-acre to half-acre plot can be worked with a hand broadcaster, a rake, and a hand roller or ATV tire drag. Anything over an acre gets a lot easier with a tow-behind broadcaster/cultipacker combo and a disc or tiller for seedbed prep. You don't need a tractor to grow a good plot, but you do need a firm, weed-suppressed seedbed, which is where most DIY plots fail, not seed selection. For species and rate specifics across different mixes, the deer food plot seed and food plot whitetail guides go deeper into blend comparisons and per-acre math.

Frequently asked questions

What is the single best food plot crop for deer?

There isn't one universal best crop. Clover is the strongest all-around perennial choice for spring through fall nutrition, while brassicas like turnips win for late-season attraction. Pick based on your soil, region, and hunting season goals, not a one-size-fits-all answer.

Do deer eat sorghum?

Yes, deer eat sorghum grain heads, especially in fall once the seed matures, and they'll browse young plants some in summer. It's most useful in hot, dry regions where corn struggles, but it's not a top standalone choice compared to clover or soybeans elsewhere.

Do deer like clover?

Yes, clover is one of the highest-preference food plot forages for whitetails, often testing 25 to 30 percent crude protein in vegetative growth. It's a perennial, so a well-established stand can keep producing for 3 to 5 years with proper maintenance.

When should I plant food plots for deer?

Spring plots (clover, soybeans) go in after your last frost when soil warms into the mid 50s Fahrenheit. Fall plots (brassicas, cereal grains) go in 60 to 90 days before your first fall frost. Exact dates vary by state, so check local extension frost data.

When should I plant oats for deer?

Plant oats 6 to 8 weeks before your area's first fall frost, typically late August to early October in most of the whitetail range. Oats germinate fast and provide quick fall forage, though a hard freeze usually kills them, so they're generally an annual fall crop.

When should I plant turnips for deer?

Plant turnips 80 to 90 days before your first killing frost so bulbs have time to develop. That's roughly mid-July in northern states and late August into early September in the mid-South. Turnips need firm, fertile, well-drained soil and shallow planting depth.

What is a food plot exactly?

A food plot is a planted area, usually a fraction of an acre to several acres, seeded with forage crops deer prefer over surrounding natural vegetation. It's used to improve herd nutrition, concentrate deer activity for hunting, and supplement natural browse, especially where habitat quality is limited.

What are deer's favorite foods overall?

Acorns generally top the list when available, followed by clover, soybeans, and cereal grains for spring and summer nutrition. In fall and winter, brassicas like turnips become high-value because cold converts their starches to sugar, making them sweeter right when deer need energy most.

Do deer like honey?

Not in any way relevant to food plots. Deer don't seek out honey as a forage, and any 'honey' branding on plot seed bags is just a product name, not an indication of ingredient or deer preference. Plant real forage crops like clover or brassicas instead.

Is planting a food plot considered baiting?

Generally no, a standing planted crop left in the ground is legal in most states as a habitat practice, unlike piling loose grain or minerals, which many states classify as baiting. Rules differ a lot by state, so check your state wildlife agency's specific regulations before hunting over any plot or supplemental feed.

How big should a first-time food plot be?

A quarter acre to half acre is a manageable, realistic size for a first plot, especially with hand tools or a small ATV setup. It's easier to properly lime, fertilize, and maintain a small plot well than to half-manage a large one and get a thin, weedy stand.

Should I test my soil before planting a food plot?

Yes, always. A soil test tells you your actual pH and nutrient levels, which determines how much lime and fertilizer you need. Planting on unlimed acidic soil is the most common reason first-time food plots fail, regardless of which seed you choose.

Sources

1. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Baiting and Feeding Order for Deer and Elk (Michigan NREPA, Act 451 of 1994, Part 401): Baiting and feeding rules for deer vary by state and piled feed is treated differently than standing food plots
2. Mississippi State University Extension Publication 2111, Establishing and Managing Wildlife Food Plots: Clover, soybeans, and cereal grains are consistently high-preference food plot forages for whitetail deer
3. Oklahoma State University Extension PSS-2596, Forages for Deer: White and red clover test high in crude protein and thrive in soil pH of 6.0 to 7.0
4. University of Georgia Extension Circular 1155, Wildlife Food Plots: Brassicas need roughly 80 to 90 days to mature and sugar content increases after frost
5. University of Georgia Extension: Soil testing and fertility guidance for establishing productive food plots.
6. Michigan State University Extension: Discussion of preferred deer forage species including clover, brassicas, and cereal grains for Michigan food plots.