Fall food plot mix: what to plant and when

Last updated 2026-07-24

what is a food plot, exactly

A food plot is a planted patch of forage or grain on hunting land, sized anywhere from a quarter acre to several acres, designed to feed deer (and often turkey, dove, or other wildlife) and to hold or attract animals for observation or hunting. It's not the same as agricultural farming for yield. The goal is nutrition and attraction on a small footprint, usually somewhere between 1 and 5 percent of a property's total acreage according to general guidance from state wildlife agencies and university extension programs ^[1]. Most food plots fall into two buckets: annual plots (replanted every year, like brassicas, cereal grains, or soybeans) and perennial plots (clover, chicory, alfalfa) that can produce for 2 to 5 years with proper mowing and fertility. A fall food plot mix usually blends both concepts, since you're trying to feed deer through the stress period of late fall into winter while also setting up spring regrowth if clover is part of the mix. If you're brand new to this, start with food plot whitetail basics before you get into blend specifics. It'll save you from buying seed that doesn't fit your soil or your region.

when to plant food plots for deer

Timing depends entirely on what you're planting and where you live, but the rule of thumb for fall plots is to get seed in the ground 60 to 90 days before your area's average first killing frost. That gives brassicas time to bulb up and cereal grains time to establish a root system before growth slows. In northern states (Zone 3-5, think Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, upstate New York) that usually means late July through early September for brassicas and late August through mid-September for cereal grains. In the transition zone (Zone 6, Kentucky, Virginia, southern Ohio) you've got more room, generally late August through late September. In the Deep South (Zone 7-8, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida panhandle) fall planting often runs from late September into early November, because heat and drought make August planting risky and deer pressure on food is lower until later in the season. Cooperative extension services publish frost date tables by county, and those are more reliable than any generic "zone map" you'll find on a seed bag. The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information keeps historical frost/freeze data you can check by station ^[2]. If you want a plan built around your specific zip code and soil test, that's the exact gap the $99 Custom Food Plot Plan is meant to fill. It's general regional guidance, not site-specific agronomy, but it beats guessing off a bag label.

do deer eat sorghum

Yes, deer eat grain sorghum (milo), but it's more valuable as fall and winter cover and a secondary food source than as a primary attractant crop. Sorghum heads mature in late summer to early fall and the grain persists on the stalk, giving deer and other wildlife a standing food source into winter, which matters most in northern climates once other forage is buried in snow. Whitetail Institute and several land-grant extension programs classify sorghum more as a screening and structural crop (it grows 5 to 8 feet tall and creates cover and travel corridors) than a top-tier attraction plot. Deer will feed on the grain heads, especially later in the season when acorns and soft mast are gone, but given a choice between fresh sorghum and standing soybeans or a brassica plot, most deer pick the beans or brassicas first. Where sorghum earns its place in a fall mix is as a companion planting alongside brassicas or clover, giving you cover plus food in the same field.

do deer eat clover, and do deer like clover

Deer eat clover heavily, and most wildlife biologists rank it among the most consistently used food plot forages available. Clover is a legume, meaning it fixes nitrogen in the soil, and it's high in crude protein, often tested in the 25 to 30 percent range depending on variety, cutting stage, and soil fertility. That protein content matters most in spring and summer for antler growth and lactation, but clover also stays green late into fall in many regions, giving deer a reliable food source right up until hard frost knocks it back. Do deer like clover? Data from grazing studies and extension forage trials consistently shows clover near the top of preferred forage lists, often behind only soybeans and certain brassica varieties in raw preference rankings, and ahead of most native browse ^[3]. White clover (ladino types) and red clover are the two most common food plot varieties. Ladino clover tolerates closer grazing and lasts longer under heavy deer pressure; red clover grows more upright and can outlast ladino in poor soils or drought. The catch with clover in a fall food plot mix is timing. If you're planting clover from scratch in fall, you want it in the ground by late August in northern zones so it has time to establish roots before winter dormancy. In the South you can push clover planting into October. A perennial clover stand that's already established doesn't need replanting each fall, just mowing and a fall fertilizer application based on your soil test results.

when to plant turnips for deer

Turnips (and other brassicas like radish, rape, and kale) go in the ground 80 to 90 days before your first expected hard frost, which lands most northern plotters in late July to mid-August and southern plotters in late August to mid-September. Brassicas need that long runway to bulb properly and to build the sugar content that makes them attractive after a few frosts. Here's the thing nobody tells you up front: deer often ignore brassicas for the first month or six weeks after planting, then hit them hard once frost converts starches to sugars, which usually happens after the first couple of freezes in your area. This is well documented in extension publications on brassica forage quality, where freezing temperatures trigger a starch-to-sugar conversion that makes the plant more palatable ^[4]. If you plant turnips in August expecting deer traffic in September, you'll likely be disappointed. The payoff usually shows up in November and December, which makes turnips one of the better late-season standing food plot options in the whole country. Seeding rate for turnips alone runs about 4 to 6 pounds per acre; in a blended brassica mix with radish and rape, total blend rates commonly run 5 to 8 pounds per acre, but always check the specific product's rate since brassica seed is tiny and easy to overseed.

when to plant oats for deer

Oats go in 45 to 60 days before your first frost, generally making them one of the last things you plant in a fall food plot mix, and one of the fastest to show green growth (often visible within 5 to 7 days of planting under decent moisture). In the North that's typically late August into early September. In the transition zone and South, oats can go in through late September and even into October. Oats are a cool-season annual grain, and deer favor them most in the first 6 to 10 weeks after emergence, when the plant is leafy and low in fiber. Oats aren't cold-hardy the way winter wheat or cereal rye is; a hard freeze in the teens will usually kill oats outright, while wheat and rye keep growing (slowly) and green back up in spring. That makes oats a strong early-to-mid fall attractant but a weak late-season option compared to wheat, rye, or brassicas. Seeding rate for oats alone runs 2 to 3 bushels per acre (roughly 64 to 96 pounds, since a bushel of oats weighs about 32 pounds), per standard extension forage seeding tables. In a mix with brassicas or clover, oats are often cut to 50 to 60 pounds per acre to leave room for the companion species.

what's actually in a good fall food plot mix

Oats	5-7 days to emerge	First 6-10 weeks	Killed by hard freeze (teens F)	50-96 lbs/acre
Winter wheat/rye	7-10 days	Fall through spring green-up	Very high, survives snow cover	60-120 lbs/acre
Turnips/radish (brassica)	80-90 days to bulb	After first frosts (Nov-Dec)	High, tops killed but bulbs persist	4-8 lbs/acre
Clover (ladino/red)	60-90 days to establish	Spring/summer, holds into fall	Perennial, survives winter dormant	6-10 lbs/acre
Grain sorghum	Full season crop	Late fall/winter grain drop	Moderate, standing structure holds through winter	8-10 lbs/acre	A common northern-zone fall blend: winter rye or wheat as the backbone (cheap, reliable, holds through winter), turnips or a turnip/radish blend for the late-season sugar spike, and a small percentage of clover if you want the plot to convert into a perennial stand next spring. Southern blends often lean more on oats, wheat, and clover since brassica establishment is trickier in warm, dry early fall soil. For pre-made options, look at how a deer food plot seed blend is formulated before buying. Read the tag. Cheap mixes are often mostly annual ryegrass (a filler grass, not a preferred forage) with a small percentage of the good stuff.

A well-built fall mix usually combines two or three plant families so you get fast attraction, mid-season tonnage, and late-season standing forage all in one field. Here's how the common components stack up. | Component | Establishment time | Peak deer use | Cold tolerance | Typical seeding rate |

what are deer's favorite foods, really

There's no single universal answer because it shifts by season, region, and what's locally available, but preference studies and extension forage trials consistently put a handful of foods at the top: acorns (especially white oak acorns, which are lower in tannins and more palatable than red oak), soybeans, clover, and standing corn rank among the most consistently preferred whitetail foods across most of the country ^[5]. Acorns aren't something you plant, but they matter enormously to fall food plot planning because deer will often bypass a food plot entirely during a heavy mast year. If your property has good oak cover, expect plot traffic to drop in years when the acorns are falling heavy, then rebound once the mast is gone (usually by December). This is well known among deer managers and is one reason plot performance varies so much year to year even with identical seed and fertility. Among plantable crops, soybeans and corn typically top preference rankings in summer and early fall when they're still green and in the milk stage, while brassicas and clover take over as fall favorites once frost hits and beans/corn dry down. If you're picking a single fall species to maximize attraction on a tight budget, most deer biologists and seed companies point to brassicas (turnips, radish) or a clover/chicory blend as the best return for the money in the November-December window.

do deer like honey

There's no wildlife research or extension data on deer eating honey, and honey isn't a food plot crop or a natural part of deer diet in the wild. Deer are browsers built to digest plant fiber (leaves, forbs, mast, agricultural crops) through a four-chambered rumen, not concentrated sugar syrup, and there's nothing in state wildlife agency guidance or peer-reviewed deer nutrition literature that lists honey as an attractant. What people are probably thinking of is honeysuckle, which deer absolutely browse hard, particularly Japanese honeysuckle and native honeysuckle species, both valued as high-protein browse in many whitetail management guides. If "honey" got you here searching for a sweetener-based attractant, note that many states regulate or ban feeding/baiting with minerals, syrups, and processed attractants, especially where chronic wasting disease is a concern. Always check your state wildlife agency's current baiting and feeding regulations before using any additive product, since rules vary widely and change year to year ^[6].

how much does a fall food plot mix cost

Seed costs for a fall plot mix generally run $30 to $80 per acre for basic cereal grains (oats, wheat, rye) up to $100 to $200+ per acre for premium brassica or clover blends, not counting lime, fertilizer, or equipment time. Bulk buying raw seed (plain oats or winter wheat from a farm co-op) is almost always cheaper per acre than a bagged "deer blend" with a marketing name on it, though blends do save you from having to source and mix multiple species yourself. Fertility costs vary more than seed costs. Lime alone can run $30 to $60 per ton delivered and spread depending on region, and a plot with a pH below 6.0 (common on wooded, previously unfarmed ground) may need 1 to 2 tons per acre to correct, per typical land-grant extension lime recommendations . This is exactly where a soil test earns its keep. Guessing on lime and fertilizer is the single most common way new plotters waste money, since deer forage quality and tonnage both drop hard on acidic, low-fertility soil regardless of how good the seed is.

how a soil test changes your fall mix decision

A soil test tells you your existing pH, phosphorus, potassium, and organic matter, and every legitimate fall food plot mix recommendation should start there, not with the seed bag. Clover and brassicas both want soil pH in the 6.0 to 7.0 range for best nutrient uptake; below that, especially under pH 5.5, nitrogen and phosphorus become less available to the plant no matter how much fertilizer you apply. Your state land-grant extension soil lab (or a private ag lab) will give you a report with specific lime and fertilizer recommendations for your target crop. That report is the actual authority on what your dirt needs; a general article like this one can tell you the biology and the ranges, but it can't replace a site-specific test. If your test comes back with a pH of 5.4 and you plant clover anyway without liming, you'll get a thin, yellowish stand and wonder why the seed didn't work. It wasn't the seed. Once you have a soil test in hand, matching species to your dirt and region is a lot more precise than picking a mix off a shelf. That's the specific problem the $99 Custom Food Plot Plan is built to solve: you upload your soil test and location, and get a species and fertility plan back suited to your ground and planting window, not a generic bag recommendation.

equipment and planting method basics for fall mixes

Seed-to-soil contact is the single biggest driver of germination success, more than seed brand or blend choice. For small brassica and clover seed, a light cultipacking after broadcasting (or a no-till drill set shallow, 1/4 to 1/2 inch) works far better than deep tillage, since these seeds are tiny and germinate from light or very shallow soil contact. Cereal grains like oats, wheat, and rye tolerate deeper planting, generally 1 to 1.5 inches, and can be drilled or disked in more aggressively. If you're broadcasting by hand or ATV spreader without a drill, a common trick is to broadcast the small seed first, then lightly drag or cultipack, then broadcast the grain seed on top and drag again, since the size difference means one pass rarely gets both right. Timing your seedbed prep around rain is worth more than any other single decision. Extension agronomists consistently note that seed planted into dry, cloddy dirt right before a dry spell fails more often than seed planted a week later into a forecasted rain window, even if that means missing your "ideal" calendar date by several days. Check a 10-day forecast before you commit tractor time. For more on picking blends suited to specific soil and region combinations, see deer food plots and domain food plot seed for product-level comparisons.

Frequently asked questions

Do deer eat sorghum?

Yes. Deer eat grain sorghum heads, especially in late fall and winter once other food sources thin out, but sorghum is generally used more for cover and structure in food plots than as a top attractant crop. It works best planted alongside brassicas, clover, or soybeans rather than alone.

Do deer eat clover?

Deer eat clover heavily and it's one of the most consistently preferred food plot forages, often testing 25 to 30 percent crude protein depending on variety and growth stage. Ladino (white) and red clover are the two most common varieties planted for whitetail food plots.

When should I plant food plots for deer in the fall?

Plant 60 to 90 days before your area's average first killing frost. That's usually late July through mid-September in northern states, late August through late September in the transition zone, and late September through early November in the Deep South. Check your county's frost date data through NOAA or your local extension office.

Do deer like clover more than other food plot crops?

Preference studies and extension forage trials generally rank clover near the top of consistently used forages, often just behind soybeans and top brassica varieties in raw preference. It's especially valuable because it stays palatable across spring, summer, and into fall, unlike most annual crops.

When do you plant oats for deer food plots?

Plant oats 45 to 60 days before your first expected frost, generally late August to early September in the North and into late September or October in the South. Oats emerge fast, often within 5 to 7 days, but they're not cold-hardy and a hard freeze in the teens usually kills them outright.

When is the best time to plant food plots overall?

There's no single best date; it depends on species and your local frost timeline. Spring/summer plots (soybeans, corn) go in after your last frost date, while fall plots (brassicas, cereal grains, clover) go in 60 to 90 days before your first frost date so plants establish before winter dormancy.

When should you plant turnips for deer?

Turnips need 80 to 90 days before your first hard frost to bulb properly, which lands most northern growers in late July to mid-August and southern growers in late August to mid-September. Deer usually ignore turnips for the first month, then hit them hard after a few frosts convert starches to sugar.

What exactly is a food plot?

A food plot is a planted area, usually a quarter acre to several acres, seeded specifically to feed and attract deer or other wildlife on hunting land. It differs from row-crop farming because the goal is nutrition and hunting opportunity on a small footprint, not maximum commercial yield.

What are deer's favorite foods?

Acorns (especially white oak), soybeans, clover, and standing corn consistently rank as top whitetail foods in preference studies. Among plantable fall crops, brassicas (turnips, radish) and clover/chicory blends are generally considered the strongest late-season attractants once frost hits.

Do deer like honey?

There's no research or extension data supporting honey as a deer food or attractant, and it isn't part of a wild deer's natural diet. People often mean honeysuckle, which deer do browse heavily. Check your state's baiting and feeding regulations before using any sweetener-based product, since many states restrict this, especially in CWD management areas.

Can I plant clover and brassicas together in the same fall plot?

Yes, and it's a common combination. Clover establishes slower and stays as a perennial base, while brassicas grow fast and provide a late-season sugar spike after frost. Just reduce seeding rates for each component compared to planting them alone so they don't compete too heavily.

How do I know what fall food plot mix is right for my land?

Start with a soil test from your local extension lab; it tells you pH and nutrient levels, which determine what will actually grow well. Match species to your frost dates and soil type from there. A soil-test-based plan, whether built yourself or through a service, beats guessing off a seed bag label.

Sources

1. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Frost/Freeze Data: historical frost and freeze date data by station used to time fall plantings
2. University of Georgia Extension, Deer Food Plots: clover and soybeans rank among the most preferred whitetail food plot forages
3. University of Tennessee Extension, Brassicas for Deer: frost triggers starch-to-sugar conversion in brassicas, increasing palatability for deer
4. USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System, Quercus alba: white oak acorns are lower in tannins and more palatable to wildlife than red oak acorns
5. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Baiting and Feeding Regulations: states regulate or restrict baiting and feeding of deer, including with mineral or supplemental attractants
6. University of Missouri Extension, Soil Test Interpretations and Lime Recommendations: lime recommendations of 1 to 2 tons per acre are common on acidic soils below target pH