Growing season is upon us. The QDMA is helping food plotters grow and manage their summer food plots. The great information located on the QDMA website can help to decide what you should plant and where the best place to plant it is.
It’s time to plant and manage summer food plots! Here is a quick guide to all the useful information available on the QDMA website to help you decide what to plant, and how to plant it.
Let’s begin with profiles of several species you should consider for use in summer food plots. These profiles are shorter versions of profiles from the pages of Quality Whitetails magazine, the publication for QDMA members.
Alyceclover: Not a clover, but easier to plant
Corn: Fall attraction, winter energy
Grain Sorghum: Poor man’s corn that produces quality screening cover
Lablab: Viny legume that can take browsing punishment
Soybeans: King of summer forages
Sugar Beets: A warm-season crop for cold-climate regions
Don’t forget that food plotters in the northern United States can grow some “cool-season” crops in summer with a spring planting. They include clover, chicory, oats and alfalfa. These species won’t survive hot summers of the Deep South when established in spring but will do just fine in the North.
Now let’s look at some blending and planting techniques you’ll find especially useful in spring and summer.
VIDEO: The Benefits of Grain Sorghum in Summer Blends
Try These Warm-Season Food Plot Mixes
Planting Corn at the Right Time
Tips for Mixing Corn and Soybeans in the Same Food Plots
Can Milorganite Repel Deer From Summer Legume Food Plots?
Tips for Using ATV Disk Harrows
Photo Gallery: 12 Food Plot Tools From Bargains to Beasts
More than any other season, summer food plots will face weed invasions. Here are some resources that will help in this battle.
How to Calibrate a Food Plot Sprayer
Avoiding Glyphosate Resistance
Photo Gallery: Identifying the Most Wicked Warm-Season Weeds
Many summer food plots can also be useful in predicting early-fall buck movements, giving you an advantage in early archery seasons. Here’s a look at GPS research into summer and early fall buck movement patterns.
GPS Reveals Early-Season Buck Movements
Finally, here’s a short time-lapse video we produced to show what happened when a protected summer food plot at QDMA Headquarters was opened to local deer. Watch how fast they wipe out this small test plot of summer forage!