What fertilizer to use on food plots (by soil test result)

Last updated 2026-07-26

What fertilizer should I actually put on a food plot?

The honest answer is: whatever your soil test tells you to use, not whatever bag is on sale at the farm store. A soil test measures your plot's current pH and nutrient levels (usually phosphorus, potassium, and sometimes calcium and magnesium) and a lab uses that to recommend pounds of actual nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P2O5), and potassium (K2O) per acre ^[1]. Guessing without a test means you're either wasting money on nutrients you don't need or underfeeding a plot that needed more. Most land-grant extension programs recommend testing every plot every 2 to 3 years, and every year for new ground you've never limed or fertilized ^[2]. A basic soil test through a university extension lab runs about $8 to $20 per sample depending on the state, and that's the cheapest insurance you can buy for a food plot budget that might run $200 to $600 an acre in seed, lime, and fertilizer combined. Once you have the report, the fertilizer choice gets simple: match a blend or straight nutrients to the recommended pounds per acre. A common food-plot fertilizer like 19-19-19 or 13-13-13 works fine as a general starter, but it's a compromise blend, not a prescription. If your test says you need 40 pounds of P2O5 and zero nitrogen because you're planting clover, dumping on 19-19-19 wastes the nitrogen (clover fixes its own once nodules form) and you'd be better off with something like 0-20-20 or straight triple super phosphate plus muriate of potash.

What is a food plot, exactly?

A food plot is a planted area, usually somewhere between a quarter acre and several acres, established specifically to grow forage that attracts and holds deer, provides nutrition through stress periods, or both. It's a wildlife management tool, not a garden and not a lawn. Plots generally fall into two functional categories. Annual plots (clover isn't annual but gets grouped loosely with these in practice) like brassicas, cereal grains, and forage soybeans get replanted or reseeded on a rotation, often every year, and tend to produce a lot of tonnage fast. Perennial plots like clover and chicory get planted once and can produce for 3 to 5 years with proper mowing, spraying, and fertility maintenance. State wildlife agencies and university extensions both treat food plots as one part of a broader habitat plan, not a replacement for cover, water, and bedding. The National Deer Association and most state agencies note that food plots typically make up a small percentage of a deer's total diet across the year compared to native browse, mast, and agriculture, but plots concentrate deer activity for observation and hunting and can meaningfully improve nutrition during specific windows like late summer stress or post-rut recovery.

How do I read a soil test report for fertilizer decisions?

A standard soil test report gives you soil pH, buffer pH (used to calculate lime rate), and levels of phosphorus and potassium, usually reported in pounds per acre or parts per million. Some labs, especially through university extension, also report cation exchange capacity, organic matter percentage, and base saturation of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. The report will typically give a direct recommendation: something like 'apply 300 lbs/acre 0-20-20' or 'apply 60 lbs N, 40 lbs P2O5, 40 lbs K2O per acre.' If your lab report gives you the recommendation directly, use that number over any generic advice, including the general guidance in this article. Your soil test lab knows your dirt. This article doesn't. Most extension guidance for food plots targets a soil pH between 6.0 and 7.0 for the majority of common plot species, since nutrient availability drops off sharply below pH 6.0 even if you've applied enough fertilizer ^[3]. If your test comes back at pH 5.4, for example, no amount of fertilizer fixes that. Lime has to go on first, sometimes a full season ahead, because agricultural lime can take 6 to 12 months to fully react with acidic soil.

Should I put down lime before or with fertilizer?

Lime first, ideally months ahead of planting, then fertilize at or near planting. Lime doesn't feed the plant directly. It corrects soil pH so the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium you apply can actually be absorbed by roots. Penn State Extension and most other land-grant programs recommend applying lime as far ahead of planting as your schedule allows, since agricultural limestone reacts slowly and can take a full season to shift pH meaningfully, especially on clay soils with high buffer capacity. If you're breaking new ground in spring for a fall plot, get lime down in early spring or even the prior fall. If you only have a few weeks before planting, use pelletized lime, which reacts faster than ag lime because of its finer particle size, though it costs more per ton of neutralizing value. A rough rule many extension guides use: it takes about 1 ton of ag lime per acre to raise pH by roughly half a point on average soils, but this swings a lot based on soil texture and buffer pH, which is exactly why the test report matters more than any rule of thumb ^[3].

What fertilizer does clover need, and do deer like clover?

Yes, deer like clover, and it's one of the most consistently preferred forages in food plot research and extension trial data, often ranking at or near the top of preference studies for perennial plantings. Clover is also a nitrogen fixer, meaning rhizobium bacteria in root nodules pull nitrogen from the air once the stand is established, so mature clover plots need very little supplemental nitrogen. What clover does need is phosphorus and potassium, plus a pH close to neutral. Purdue Extension and other clover-specific guides recommend soil pH of 6.0 to 7.0 for red and white clover and note that phosphorus and potassium deficiencies are the most common limiting factors in established stands, not nitrogen ^[4]. A light shot of nitrogen (around 20 to 30 lbs/acre) at initial seeding, before nodules form, can help seedlings establish, but after that, an annual maintenance application of something like 0-20-20 or a low-N blend based on your soil test is usually the right call. Overyapplying nitrogen to clover is a common and avoidable mistake. Excess nitrogen mostly feeds weeds and grasses that compete with clover, not the clover itself, since it's already fixing its own supply. If you're building or maintaining clover ground, check deer food plots for planting rates and mix options.

What fertilizer do brassicas and turnips need, and when do I plant turnips for deer?

Turnips, along with other brassicas like radishes and rape, are heavy nitrogen feeders and respond strongly to fertility, unlike clover. University trials generally recommend 80 to 120 lbs of actual nitrogen per acre for brassica plots split between planting and a mid-season topdress, plus phosphorus and potassium per soil test ^[5]. Timing matters as much as fertility here. Turnips for deer are typically planted in late summer, roughly mid-July through August depending on your region, so the plants have enough growing season to bulb out and sweeten before the first hard frosts of fall convert starches to sugars, which is when deer preference for brassicas often spikes. Planting too early in hot, dry conditions risks poor germination; planting too late means the plants never mature enough to produce bulbs deer will dig for. Brassicas are also sensitive to boron deficiency in some soils, which a standard N-P-K soil test won't always flag unless you request a micronutrient panel. If you've had spotty brassica performance despite good N-P-K numbers, ask your lab about boron specifically.

What fertilizer do cereal grains like oats need, and when should I plant oats for deer?

Oats need moderate nitrogen, generally in the range of 40 to 60 lbs actual N per acre for forage plots, along with phosphorus and potassium based on soil test, similar to other small grains ^[5]. Oats are fast growers and heavy feeders early, so a starter fertilizer at planting followed by a light topdress a few weeks in often produces better tonnage than a single application. Oats for deer are usually planted in late summer to early fall, roughly August through September depending on latitude, so they hit peak palatability during archery season and into the early rut. Oats are a cool-season annual, so they'll grow fast in fall, slow down or die back with hard freezes depending on variety and your zone, and won't survive a full winter in most northern climates the way winter wheat or cereal rye can. Oats also pair well in a mix with brassicas or clover, since the grain provides quick early cover and tonnage while the slower-establishing species catches up. For seed selection across grain, brassica, and clover blends, see food plot seed and deer food plot seed.

When should I plant food plots for deer overall?

Timing depends on your USDA plant hardiness zone, your goal (spring/summer plot vs fall plot), and the species you're planting, but the general framework holds across most of the whitetail's range. Spring plots (soybeans, cowpeas, spring clover frost-seeding) typically go in after your last frost date, often April through May depending on zone. Fall plots (brassicas, cereal grains, winter wheat, most clover establishment) typically go in 60 to 90 days before your area's first killing frost so plants mature before hard cold hits ^[5]. Check your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map to anchor your planting windows, since a zone 4 planter in Minnesota and a zone 7 planter in Tennessee are working with a six to eight week difference in both spring and fall windows. Local extension offices publish state-specific planting calendars that account for average frost dates far more precisely than a national rule of thumb. As a broad framework: perennial clover and chicory establish well in either early spring or late summer/early fall, brassicas and turnips go in mid to late summer, oats and other cereal grains go in late summer to early fall, and warm-season annuals like soybeans and sorghum go in late spring after soil warms past roughly 60°F. For a zone-specific breakdown, a Custom Food Plot Plan built around your location and soil test can save a season of trial and error for $99.

Do deer eat sorghum, and does it need special fertilizer?

Yes, deer eat grain sorghum, both the standing plant as browse and the seed heads once they mature, and it's commonly used in food plot mixes as a drought-tolerant alternative to corn in the Southeast and parts of the Midwest. Sorghum is also planted in some plots specifically as cover and a late-season/winter food source, since standing sorghum holds its grain reasonably well into winter compared to some other grains. Fertility-wise, grain sorghum has needs similar to corn: it's a nitrogen-hungry crop, with university agronomy guides generally recommending somewhere in the range of 80 to 120 lbs actual nitrogen per acre for grain sorghum depending on yield goals and soil organic matter, plus phosphorus and potassium per soil test ^[6]. It's more drought tolerant than corn but not more fertility tolerant, so skimping on nitrogen still caps yield hard. Sorghum gets planted like other warm-season grains, after soil temperatures warm in late spring, generally similar timing to corn or soybeans in your region.

What are deer's favorite foods, and does that change what I plant and fertilize?

Deer preference studies and long-term extension trials consistently point to a shortlist of favorites: white clover and other clovers, soybeans (especially as a forage crop before pods form), chicory, and certain brassicas after a frost sweetens them. Acorns and other hard mast are frequently cited as a top natural preference where available, often outcompeting planted forage in high-mast years. This matters for fertilizer strategy because preference doesn't override agronomy. A deer's favorite plant on paper still needs the right pH and nutrient levels to grow well enough to matter. Planting a preferred species into a 5.2 pH plot with no lime or fertilizer program produces a thin, stunted stand that deer will pass over anyway in favor of a neighbor's cornfield or the woods' natural browse. The honest planning approach is: pick species based on preference and your goals (attraction, season-long nutrition, late-season standing forage), then let the soil test dictate the fertilizer, not the other way around.

Do deer like honey, or is that just bait?

There's no meaningful biological reason deer would seek out honey, and no research or extension source treats honey as a food plot forage or deer attractant. Where this idea shows up is usually confused with honeysuckle (a browse plant deer do eat readily) or with commercial mineral/attractant products marketed with 'honey' or similarly sweet-sounding names, which is a labeling and marketing question, not a soil fertility one. More relevant for hunters: many states regulate or ban baiting and supplemental feeding for deer, and rules vary widely by state, sometimes by county within a state. Michigan, for example, has specific baiting restrictions tied to chronic wasting disease management zones ^[7], and other states like Wisconsin restrict feeding and baiting in CWD-affected counties as well ^[8]. Before you put out anything besides a planted food plot (mineral licks, feed, syrup, whatever), check your state wildlife agency's current regulations, since this changes year to year and enforcement varies by zone.

Fertilizer quick-reference by common plot species

Species	Target soil pH	Nitrogen (lbs actual N/acre)	Notes
White/red clover	6.0-7.0	0-30 (only at seeding)	Nitrogen-fixer once established; watch P and K [4]
Brassicas/turnips	6.0-6.8	80-120	Split application; check boron if performance is off [5]
Oats/cereal grains	6.0-7.0	40-60	Fast early feeder; light topdress helps tonnage [5]
Grain sorghum	6.0-6.8	80-120	Similar needs to corn; drought tolerant, not low-fertility tolerant [6]
Soybeans (forage)	6.0-6.8	0-20	Nitrogen-fixer like clover once nodulated	These are general starting ranges pulled from extension agronomy guidance, not a substitute for your specific soil test recommendation. Phosphorus and potassium rates vary too much by existing soil levels to generalize usefully here, which is exactly why the test report, not a table like this, should set your final application rate.

Common fertilizer mistakes food plotters make

The single biggest mistake is skipping the soil test and buying fertilizer based on the seed bag's suggested blend or whatever the store clerk recommends. A generic 19-19-19 might be close to right or might waste 40 percent of what you're buying on a nutrient your soil already has in excess. Second most common mistake: ignoring lime. Extension data consistently shows that uncorrected acidic soil limits nutrient uptake regardless of how much fertilizer goes down, so hunters end up doubling their fertilizer spend to compensate for a $30-a-ton problem they never fixed ^[3]. Third: treating all plot species the same. Dumping high-nitrogen fertilizer on established clover mostly feeds weeds, while under-fertilizing brassicas or cereal grains produces thin, small plants that don't hold deer through the season the way a well-fed stand does. Match the fertilizer to the species and the test, not to habit. For building out a full planting plan across species and seasons, see food plot whitetail and domain food plot seed for seed selection alongside your fertility plan.

Frequently asked questions

Do deer eat sorghum?

Yes, deer eat both the growing plant and the mature grain heads of sorghum. It's a common warm-season plot option in the Southeast and parts of the Midwest, valued for drought tolerance and its ability to hold standing grain into winter for late-season browse.

Do deer eat clover, and do deer like clover?

Yes, deer eat clover readily, and preference studies and extension trial data consistently rank white and red clover among the most preferred food plot forages available, especially in spring and summer when it's actively growing and high in protein.

When should I plant food plots for deer?

It depends on species and your USDA hardiness zone. Spring/summer annuals go in after the last frost, roughly April-May. Fall plots (brassicas, cereal grains, most clover establishment) go in 60-90 days before your area's first killing frost, generally late summer to early fall.

When do I plant turnips for deer?

Plant turnips in late summer, generally mid-July through August depending on your region, so bulbs mature and sweeten with frost before deer season. Planting too early risks poor germination in summer heat; too late and bulbs won't size up before hard freezes hit.

When should I plant oats for deer?

Oats for deer plots typically go in late summer to early fall, roughly August through September depending on zone. This timing gets forage at peak palatability during archery season and into the rut, since oats are a fast-growing, cool-season annual.

What is a food plot?

A food plot is a planted area, from a quarter acre up to several acres, established specifically to grow forage that attracts deer and supplements their nutrition. It's one tool within a broader habitat plan alongside cover, water, and bedding, not a standalone strategy.

What are deer's favorite foods?

Research and extension trial data point to white clover, soybeans, chicory, and frost-sweetened brassicas as consistent favorites among planted forages, with acorns and other hard mast often outcompeting any planted crop in years with a heavy natural mast crop.

Do deer like honey?

There's no research support for deer seeking out honey specifically. The confusion likely comes from honeysuckle, an actual browse plant, or from marketed attractant products with sweet-sounding names. Honey itself isn't a recognized food plot forage or deer attractant.

What fertilizer should I use if I don't have a soil test?

A general-purpose blend like 19-19-19 or 13-13-13 at a modest rate (around 200-300 lbs/acre) is a reasonable stopgap, but it's a guess. A soil test costs roughly $8-$20 through most university extension labs and removes the guesswork within a couple of weeks.

Does clover need nitrogen fertilizer?

Established clover needs very little nitrogen because it fixes its own through root nodule bacteria. A small starter dose (20-30 lbs N/acre) can help at initial seeding before nodules form, but ongoing maintenance fertilizer should focus on phosphorus and potassium instead.

How much lime does a food plot need?

It depends entirely on your soil test's buffer pH reading, but a rough extension rule of thumb is about 1 ton of ag lime per acre to raise pH roughly half a point on average soil. Clay soils with higher buffer capacity often need more.

Can I put fertilizer and lime down at the same time?

You can apply them together, but lime works slowly (often 6-12 months to fully react), so applying it well ahead of planting, even a full season prior, gets you closer to target pH before fertilizer nutrients need to be available to roots.

Sources

1. Mississippi State University Extension, Soil Testing for Wildlife Food Plots: Soil tests measure pH and nutrient levels and generate lab recommendations for N-P-K application rates
2. University of Tennessee Extension, Establishing and Managing Wildlife Food Plots: Extension guidance on retesting food plot soil every 2-3 years
3. University of Missouri Extension, Soil pH and Liming: Target soil pH range of 6.0-7.0 for most crops and lime rate guidance of roughly 1 ton per acre per half point pH change
4. Purdue University Extension, Clover and Alfalfa Fertility Management: Clover soil pH target of 6.0-7.0 and phosphorus/potassium as the primary limiting nutrients in established stands
5. University of Kentucky Extension, Small Grains Production: Nitrogen rate recommendations for cereal grains and brassica-type forage crops
6. Kansas State University Extension, Grain Sorghum Production Handbook: Nitrogen recommendations of roughly 80-120 lbs actual N per acre for grain sorghum depending on yield goal
7. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Baiting and Feeding Regulations: Michigan restricts baiting and feeding of deer in specific management zones tied to chronic wasting disease
8. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Baiting and Feeding Regulations: Wisconsin restricts feeding and baiting of deer in counties affected by chronic wasting disease