Food Plots Am I overthinking it...

[BDS05]

or can it be that complicated....?
First of all, this is my first yr. looking into food plots. I'm looking at 2 if not 3 plots consisting of 2ac, 2ac and 1 ac. I'm wanting to try a different mix in each to "get a feel for things" but just read about PLS on QDMA. I've only bought very minimal seed (clover and turnips) from CO-OP here and there and it came in paper sacks. Between the three plots I'm looking at a dozen or so different seeds (though I havent figured my exact mixes out yet..). I feel like I'll be on the phone all day digging for all this info.
Is it standard protocol for you to inquire this when quoting and checking availability or do you just use the seed rate they give you?

Second, how do you figure seed rate / acre in a mix? Is there a method or just something you figured from experience?

Ex... awnless wheat, buck forage oats, arrowleaf clover, austrian winter peas and daikon radishes

Winter rye, crimson clover, ladino clover, radishes / turnips and chicory

Crimson clover, arrowleaf and forage rape

Somewhere in between I'd like to throw sunflower and maybe beans to see what happens...

The plan is to use a drill....

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[MickThompson]

Have you read any food plot books?

 

[ADR]

I have always thought this to be a good starting resource

https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcon ... k_agexfish

Hope the link works

 

[JCDEERMAN]

While there is an art to it, keep it simple. At the end of the day, you just need good seed-to-soil contact just before a rain. Your drill will do that.

When I first got into it years ago, we bought the bags with the big bucks marketed on them. We branched out from there and started doing our own blend, obviously much cheaper. You can google the types and percentage contents in a bag for just about any of the big marketed bags. Or go to your local Co-Op or hunting store, look at the seeds they provide (I used to take pics of the seed content percentages of each bag), then experiment from there. That's a start, though there is plenty of online info these days, especially on the QDMA site. It also depends on your goals for these plots - attracting deer for hunting, providing food from early fall through late winter, trying to build soil health, etc.....Check out the food plot section of Growingdeertv