Perennial plants for deer food plots: what to plant and when

Last updated 2026-07-26

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 feed deer or other wildlife and to give hunters a predictable place to observe or hunt them. It is not a natural clearing or a fallow field that happens to grow weeds deer like. Someone tilled it, tested the soil, picked a seed, and planted it on purpose. Food plots fall into two broad categories: annuals, which you replant every year (brassicas, cereal grains, soybeans, sorghum), and perennials, which you plant once and manage for multiple seasons (clover, alfalfa, chicory, some clover/chicory blends). This article is about the perennial side of that equation. State wildlife agencies generally treat food plots as a legal hunting practice distinct from baiting, since the food is grown in place rather than transported and dumped. But the line varies a lot by state. Some states classify standing food plots as legal over-the-crop hunting no matter the acreage, while others restrict hunting near plots smaller than a certain size or require the crop to be part of normal agricultural management. Check your state wildlife agency's baiting and feeding regulations before you plant or hunt over anything, because rules on this differ sharply and change periodically. ^[1]

do deer like clover, and is it really their favorite food?

Yes, deer like clover a lot, and it is one of the most consistently used perennial forages in food plot programs across whitetail range. Clover is high in crude protein, typically 20 to 25 percent in a well-maintained stand, and it stays palatable through most of the growing season when other forages get tough or go to seed. ^[2] But "favorite food" is a moving target. Deer are opportunistic browsers and their preferences shift with what is available, the season, and local plant chemistry. Extension research on deer diet composition consistently shows clover, honeysuckle, greenbrier, and various forbs ranking high in use, with acorns becoming heavily preferred in fall when they are dropping because of the fat and carbohydrate content. There is no single food that deer prefer everywhere, all year. Clover is close to a universal answer for spring through summer forage in food plots; acorns and soft mast usually win in fall. Within clover, ladino (white) clover and red clover are the two workhorses. Ladino clover tolerates closer grazing and often persists 3 to 5 years under good management; red clover establishes fast and produces more tonnage per acre but tends to thin out after 2 to 3 years. Many blended perennial products mix the two so you get fast establishment plus longer stand life.

do deer eat clover blends with chicory and alfalfa too?

Yes. Chicory and alfalfa are the other two perennial mainstays, and deer eat both readily once established. Chicory has a deep taproot that makes it more drought tolerant than clover, and it holds up well into late summer when clover can go dormant under heat stress. It is often blended into perennial clover mixes at 10 to 20 percent of the seed mix by weight for that reason. Alfalfa is higher in protein than clover in many cutting analyses and deer use it heavily, but it demands better drained soil and more attention to pH and fertility. Alfalfa struggles in wet, heavy clay ground and in acidic soil below pH 6.5, which rules it out for a lot of Southeastern and Midwestern food plot ground without significant lime work. ^[3] A practical way to think about it: clover is the generalist that works almost everywhere with reasonable drainage, chicory adds drought resilience and structure, and alfalfa is the higher-maintenance, higher-reward option for guys with good soil and the patience to manage it. Blended mixes give you some of each without betting the whole plot on one species.

when to plant food plots for deer, in general terms

Timing splits along two lines: your USDA plant hardiness zone and whether you are planting a perennial or an annual. For perennials like clover, chicory, and alfalfa, the two best windows are early spring (as soon as soil can be worked, roughly March to May depending on latitude) and late summer to early fall (August to September in most of the whitetail range). Spring plantings let the perennial establish through a full growing season before the first hard freeze, which builds a deeper root system and better winter survival. Late summer plantings work well too, especially in the South, because weed pressure is lower going into fall and the young plants get cooler, wetter conditions to establish in. The tradeoff is a shorter window before frost in northern zones, so late summer perennial seeding gets riskier the farther north you go. Soil temperature matters more than the calendar date. Clover and chicory germinate reliably once soil temps hit about 50 degrees Fahrenheit and are climbing, which is roughly the same threshold agronomists use for cool-season forage establishment generally. ^[4] A soil thermometer is a five dollar tool that will save you a wasted bag of seed.

when to plant oats for deer food plots

Oats are an annual, not a perennial, but they come up constantly in perennial food plot planning because a lot of hunters overseed oats into a new clover stand as a nurse crop, or plant oats alone in late summer for a fast-growing fall attractant. Oats are best planted in late August through mid-September in most of the whitetail range, giving them 6 to 8 weeks of growth before the first hard frost. ^[5] Oats germinate fast, often within 5 to 7 days in warm, moist soil, and they green up quickly, which is exactly why they get used as a nurse crop over slower-establishing clover: the oats give you cover and early attraction while the clover is still setting roots below ground. Mow or let frost knock the oats down before they shade out the clover underneath. In the Deep South, oats can also be planted as late as October since frost comes later, and some hunters plant a second oat crop in very early spring for a quick green shot before summer heat arrives. Check your local extension office's frost date tables, because "late summer" in Wisconsin and "late summer" in Alabama are six or more weeks apart.

when to plant turnips for deer food plots

Turnips, like oats, are annual brassicas, not perennials, but they are the most common companion crop planted alongside perennial clover fields in a rotation. Turnips go in the ground in late July through August in the North and August through early September in the South, timed so the bulbs mature right as cold weather hits and sugar content in the greens and roots spikes. ^[5] That cold-triggered sugar conversion is the whole reason turnips work as a fall and winter deer food: starches convert to sugars after a few hard frosts, and deer that ignored the plot in October will hammer the same turnips in December and January. This is well documented in extension brassica forage guides and is one of the more reliable seasonal patterns in food plot management. ^[6] Turnips need about 60 to 90 days from planting to be attractive, so back-planning from your first expected hard frost is the right way to set a planting date rather than picking a fixed calendar day.

do deer eat sorghum, and does it fit a perennial plot rotation?

Yes, deer eat sorghum, particularly grain sorghum heads once they mature and dry down in late summer and fall, and deer will also browse the young leaves earlier in the season. Sorghum is an annual warm-season grain, so it is not part of a perennial clover or alfalfa stand directly, but it shows up in food plot planning as a rotational crop or as a standalone summer annual planted alongside perennial plots. Sorghum is drought tolerant compared to corn, which makes it a reasonable summer annual choice on sandy or marginal ground where a perennial clover stand might struggle without irrigation. It is planted after soil temperatures reach about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, generally late spring into early summer depending on zone. ^[3] One caution: some grain sorghum and related sudangrass varieties can develop dangerous prussic acid (cyanide) compounds under drought stress or after a frost, a known risk in livestock forage sorghum that extension livestock guides warn about repeatedly. It is not something that shows up in most deer food plot literature as a documented deer health problem, but if you are grazing livestock on the same ground or planting forage sorghum varieties, it is worth knowing the risk exists and cutting or grazing according to your state extension's forage sorghum guidance.

do deer like honey, or is that just a myth in mineral and attractant marketing?

There is no real evidence deer specifically prefer honey, and it is not a documented part of natural deer diet. Deer are herbivores that browse plants, forbs, mast, and agricultural crops; they do not raid beehives or seek out honey in the wild the way bears do. What you are probably thinking of is the wave of commercial deer attractant products that use sugar, molasses, or honey-scented additives to boost palatability, especially in mineral licks and liquid attractants. Sugar and molasses do add a strong scent and sweetness that can draw deer in, and there is decent field experience behind sweetened mineral mixes working as short-term attractants near a stand or camera. That is a different claim than deer having some innate preference for honey itself, and no university extension wildlife program lists honey as a natural deer food. If you are using a sweetened attractant, treat it as a supplement to a real food plot, not a substitute for one, and check your state's baiting laws first since many states regulate mineral and attractant use the same way they regulate bait piles. ^[1]

how do you pick which perennial to plant on your ground?

White (ladino) clover	3-5 years	6.0-6.5	Moderate	20-25
Red clover	2-3 years	6.0-6.5	Moderate	18-22
Chicory	4-5 years	6.0-6.5	High	15-20
Alfalfa	4-6 years with good management	6.5-7.0	Moderate-Low (needs good drainage)	20-25	If you want a build-out that matches your actual soil test numbers and acreage instead of guessing off a seed tag, that is the specific gap the $99 Custom Food Plot Plan is built to fill. Your soil test lab is still the final word on lime and fertilizer rates for your dirt; the plan works from those numbers rather than replacing them.

Start with a soil test, not a seed bag. Your state land-grant extension office or a private ag lab will run a standard soil test for somewhere between 15 and 25 dollars in most states, and it will tell you pH, phosphorus, potassium, and organic matter, the four numbers that actually predict whether a perennial stand survives. Clover and chicory want pH in the 6.0 to 6.5 range; alfalfa wants 6.5 to 7.0 and will not persist long-term much below that without heavy lime correction. If your test comes back at 5.2, and a lot of wooded, previously unfarmed deer ground does, you are not planting alfalfa this year no matter how good the seed tag looks. Lime takes months to fully react in the soil, so a fall test with a spring lime application, or a spring test with time to lime before a late summer planting, both make more sense than testing and planting the same week. Drainage matters as much as pH. Alfalfa and most clovers hate wet feet and will thin out fast on ground that holds standing water after rain. Chicory tolerates a wider range of drainage and drought conditions, which is why it shows up in so many blended mixes aimed at variable soil. Here is a rough comparison of the three main perennial options: | Species | Typical stand life | pH target | Drought tolerance | Protein (crude, %) |

how do you keep a perennial plot alive for more than one season?

Mowing and spraying are the two tools that keep a perennial clover or alfalfa stand from getting choked out by grass and broadleaf weeds. Most extension guides recommend mowing clover to 6 to 8 inches whenever it starts to get shaded out by weeds or before it goes to seed and gets stemmy, typically 2 to 4 times per growing season. A grass-selective herbicide (clethodim or sethoxydim based products are common) can be sprayed over the top of an established clover or alfalfa stand to knock back grassy competition without killing the legume, since clover and alfalfa are broadleaf plants and those herbicides only target grasses. This is one of the single most useful, most underused tools in perennial plot management; a lot of hunters mow religiously but never spray, and their stand slowly turns to fescue and foxtail by year three. Fertility maintenance matters too. A perennial legume stand pulls nitrogen from the air through root nodules once established, so it does not need heavy nitrogen the way a corn or brassica plot does, but it still needs potassium and phosphorus replenished based on a soil test every 1 to 2 years. Skipping that step is the most common reason a good clover plot goes from thick and green in year one to thin and weedy by year three.

how does perennial plot planning fit with annual plots and zone timing?

Most serious food plot programs run a mix: a perennial clover or clover/chicory field as the anchor plot, plus one or two annual plots (brassicas, cereal grains, soybeans) rotated for fall and winter attraction. The perennial field gives you spring and summer nutrition when does need protein for lactation and bucks are growing antlers; the annual plots give you the late-season carbohydrate and sugar spike that pulls deer in October through January. Zone matters a lot here. In USDA zones 3-5 (much of the upper Midwest and Northeast), perennial spring planting windows run roughly mid-April through May, and fall annual plantings for brassicas and cereal grains need to go in by early August to mature before frost. In zones 6-8 (Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic), you get a wider window on both ends, spring perennial planting from March into May and fall annual planting from mid-August through September. In zones 8-9 (Deep South), fall planting can run into October and even a second spring window is workable in some years. If you have not settled on which plot type fits your ground and hunting pressure yet, it is worth reading through the broader options in food plot whitetail and deer food plots before locking in a perennial-heavy plan, since the right mix depends as much on your hunting pressure and stand setup as it does on soil type.

what equipment do you actually need for a perennial food plot?

You need less than most seed catalogs imply. A soil test kit or mail-in test, a way to till or disc the seedbed (even a rented compact tractor with a disc harrow works for a small plot), a broadcast spreader for seed and lime, and a way to pack the seed in (a lawn roller or driving over it with an ATV works fine for small clover seed, which needs shallow, firm seed-to-soil contact and should barely be covered, if at all). Clover and chicory seed is tiny, often 60,000 to 300,000 seeds per pound depending on species, so planting too deep is the single most common establishment failure. Most extension seeding guides call for clover seed depth of 1/4 inch or less, essentially pressed into the surface rather than buried. ^[4] For picking the actual seed products and blend ratios that match your region and soil, deer food plot seed and food plot seed break down specific product categories in more depth than this article covers.

Frequently asked questions

Do deer eat sorghum in food plots?

Yes. Deer browse young sorghum leaves in summer and eat the grain heads as they mature and dry in late summer and fall. Sorghum is a warm-season annual, not a perennial, and it is often planted as a drought-tolerant rotational crop alongside a perennial clover field on sandy or marginal ground. Plant after soil hits about 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

Do deer like clover more than other food plot options?

Deer readily eat clover, and it stays palatable through most of the growing season with crude protein around 20 to 25 percent. It is not a universal favorite in every season, though; deer switch heavily to acorns and soft mast in fall when available. Clover is the strongest perennial choice for spring-through-summer forage across most of the whitetail range.

When should you plant food plots for deer?

It depends on species and zone. Perennials like clover and chicory go in spring (March-May) or late summer to early fall (Aug-Sept) depending on latitude. Annual brassicas and cereal grains generally go in July through September, timed to mature 60-90 days before your area's first hard frost. Check your USDA hardiness zone and local extension frost dates.

When do you plant oats for deer food plots?

Plant oats in late August through mid-September across most of the whitetail range, giving them 6 to 8 weeks before the first hard frost. In the Deep South, oats can go in as late as October. Oats germinate in 5 to 7 days and are commonly used as a nurse crop overseeded on new clover plantings.

When do you plant turnips for deer food plots?

Plant turnips late July through August in northern zones and August through early September in the South, so bulbs mature as cold weather arrives. Turnips need 60 to 90 days from planting to reach an attractive stage, and their sugar content spikes after a few hard frosts, which is why deer often ignore them in October and hammer them in December.

What is a food plot, exactly?

A food plot is a planted plot of forage, grain, or brassica established specifically to feed deer and give hunters a predictable place to observe or hunt. It differs from natural browse because someone tilled, tested, and seeded it on purpose. Plots run from a quarter acre to several acres and use either annual or perennial species.

What are deer's favorite foods overall?

There is no single universal favorite; preference shifts with season and availability. Clover, honeysuckle, greenbrier, and various forbs rank high in spring and summer diet studies, while acorns and soft mast dominate fall use once they drop, due to their fat and carbohydrate content. Regional and yearly mast crop variation changes this pattern significantly.

Do deer like honey?

There is no evidence deer have a natural preference for honey; they are browsing herbivores, not honey-seekers like bears. Sweetened mineral licks and attractants using sugar or molasses can draw deer in as a scent and taste lure, but that is different from honey being a documented natural food source. Check state baiting laws before using any attractant.

How long do perennial clover plots last before needing replanting?

White (ladino) clover often persists 3 to 5 years with mowing, grass-selective herbicide use, and fertility maintenance based on repeat soil tests. Red clover thins faster, usually 2 to 3 years. Chicory and well-managed alfalfa can hold 4 to 6 years. Stand life drops fast if pH, weed pressure, or fertility go unmanaged.

What soil pH do clover and alfalfa need for food plots?

Clover and chicory do best at pH 6.0 to 6.5. Alfalfa needs 6.5 to 7.0 and struggles below that without significant lime correction. A standard soil test from a state extension lab, usually 15 to 25 dollars, tells you exactly where your ground stands before you buy seed.

Can you plant clover and brassicas like turnips in the same field?

Yes, many hunters run a perennial clover field as the anchor plot and rotate annual brassicas or cereal grains into a separate section or nearby plot for fall attraction. Turnips are sometimes overseeded into thinning clover in late summer as a short-term boost, but a dense clover stand can suppress small brassica seedlings if not disced first.

Is it legal to hunt over a food plot?

In most states, standing food plots grown and maintained as part of normal land management are treated differently from bait piles, but rules vary sharply by state, including size minimums and definitions of what counts as "standing crop." Always check your state wildlife agency's baiting and feeding regulations before planting or hunting over any plot.

Sources

1. University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension, Forage Legumes for Wisconsin (A3868): Clover crude protein levels typically run 20-25 percent in well-maintained stands
2. Penn State Extension, Alfalfa: Soil Fertility Requirements for Establishment and Maintenance: Alfalfa needs pH 6.5-7.0 and well-drained soil to establish and persist
3. University of Missouri Extension, Clover and Alfalfa in Missouri (Guide Sheet G4640): Clover and chicory germinate reliably once soil temperatures reach roughly 50 degrees Fahrenheit and seed should be planted at very shallow depth
4. Kansas State University Extension, Grain Sorghum Production Handbook (C-687): Sorghum is planted once soil temperatures reach approximately 65 degrees Fahrenheit
5. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Prussic Acid Poisoning (AgDM B1-35): Sorghum and sudangrass species can develop dangerous prussic acid levels under drought stress or after frost
6. University of Georgia Extension, Soil Testing for Wildlife Food Plots (Circular 1040): Standard soil tests for food plots cost roughly 15-25 dollars and report pH, phosphorus, and potassium