Planting Spring and Summer Food Plots

Many hunters do not plant any kind of spring and/or summer food plots. Popular belief by many is that there is so much natural growth during this time of year that the deer do not need any food plots to survive the summer months. Some people also believe that weeds create too much of a problem during the summer. The fact is maintaining food plots during the spring and summer months can make a tremendous difference whenever hunting season begins.

During the spring and summer, hunters can plant a wide variety of forages in their food plots. Planting choices can include lab lab, soybeans, peas, sorghum, and corn. It is sometimes difficult to maintain these crops because the summer months present a whole new challenge. Drought, strong thunderstorms, hail, flood, and hurricanes are only a few of the factors that can kill your food plots. During the fall, these weather events are not much of an issue and rarely affect food plots. However, a hail storm can destroy a beautiful corn or soybean field with ease. Especially with corn, if a crop is damaged at the wrong time, it is nearly impossible for it to recover.

After several years of having some bad luck with droughts killing our summer food plots, I finally learned which plants work the best on my land. There are even different varieties of species of crop that are adapted to specific types of weather and soil conditions. For example, in our area, I have learned that planting a late crop of tropical corn is the best bet. Tropical corn is a hybrid developed for hot and humid climates much like ours. We typically see droughts throughout the spring and summer, but the middle and end of our summers tend to be very wet. So planting corn in July makes an excellent crop for the deer to eat in October when archery season begins. I choose July to plant because it is typically our wettest month of the year.

Corn and soybeans emerging

Planting Corn

Corn seems to be the most difficult crop to grow for many hunters. This is because most hunters do not know what all the corn plant really requires to make a great ear of corn instead of short, corn-less stalks. Not only is knowing the right fertilizer important, but the timing of the fertilizer applications is also vital. I typically fertilize with 150 pounds of 13-13-13 per acre whenever I plant the seed. Approximately four weeks later when the corn sprouts are between 10 and 20 inches tall, I apply between 50 and 100 pounds of 34-0-0 per acre. At the point where the corn is at the flowering stage, I make a final application of 50 pounds of 34-0-0 per acre. By making several applications of fertilizer, it ensures that the nutrients are available to the corn stalks at each of its vital growth stages when the corn undergoes rapid growth.

Fertilized properly, this is what corn should look like after 30 days of growing. It is
approximately 4 feet tall and will enter the flowering stage in two to three weeks.

The biggest problem with planting corn, especially in southeast Alabama, is drought situations. There is very little that you can do about a drought unless you have a pond and sprinkler system to irrigate your fields. If you have a large creek near your field, it is possible to irrigate using a small portable pump powered by a 12 volt battery, and that can be connected to garden sprinklers. However, most of us do not have a large creek to be able to do these things. To ensure that your seeds will always germinate, plant in moist soil. I do not recommend planting in dry soil even if there is a good chance of rain over the next few days because I have seen times where there was an 80% chance of rain, but never got a single drop for weeks. By planting in wet soil, preferably just prior to a rain, you can get much better soil coverage over the seed, and there is enough moisture in the soil for the seed to germinate without being rained on.

This is a failed corn crop affected by drought. By planting soybeans as a companion,
it ensured the deer got something out of the plot.

Once corn has entered the flowering stage, moisture is crucial to the development of ears. Flowering begins when the tassel emerges from the stalk. The tassel is where pollen development takes place. Within days of the tassel emerging, an ear of corn will begin to grow off the stalk. This ear will then grow a large amount of what is called silk, which looks like hair coming out of the ear. The pollen from the tassel fertilizes the silk, and then the kernel of corn develops. The silk is somewhat sticky, and that allows it to catch the pollen. After fertilization of the silk, it will take 40-60 days for the kernels to be fully grown. If there is high moisture stress during the silking stage, the silk may not have enough available moisture to be as sticky as it should, therefore reducing pollination rates. Bees and other insects also play a vital role in fertilizing the corn plants. These insects usually show up in high numbers when moisture levels are adequate, but seem to disappear during times of drought.

This is the tassel of a corn stalk. Its important role is to develop and carry the pollen.
Different varieties of corn may have tassels that look different from this one.

This is an ear of corn during the silking stage.

In the end, corn is a lot of work. However, if planted and maintained correctly, corn can be a valuable addition to your food plot plantings. It is relatively low in protein, but it is high in fat. During the early fall when deer are packing on the pounds just prior to winter, hardly anything can beat a corn field. I prefer to plant my corn plots in early July because they will reach maturity right about the time archery season opens in Alabama. This has been very successful for me in the past, and I hope it will serve me well again this year.

Planting Soybeans

Soybeans are much easier to plant than other crops such as corn, and they can adapt to a wide variety of soil types. They also seem to tolerate slightly acidic soils, and as long as they get enough rainfall to germinate, they are fairly drought-resistant. Most importantly, soybeans make an excellent companion crop to plant with corn, sorghum, or sunflowers. Soybeans can fix nitrogen to the soil, which the corn plants readily consume. Soybeans provide a highly nutritious option for the deer to eat while the corn or sorghum is growing. They also provide a good "back-up crop" in case, for some reason, the corn crop was to fail. Soybeans also help suppress the growth of grasses and other weeds in a corn field by completely blanketing the ground.

Soybeans are very high in protein, are highly preferred by deer, but are prone to overgrazing. When the soybean emerges and only has a couple leaves, it can be easily killed in one chomp from a deer. By adding extra nitrogen to young soybeans growing in a corn field, they receive a quick boost in growth and become very green. Once they receive other sets of leaves, soybeans can quickly grow new leaves to replace ones that were eaten by the deer. The true reward comes in the fall if you leave your soybean and corn crop standing. Not only do the deer have the mature corn ears to eat, they will also have small pods on the soybean plant containing the actual soybean. Usually the seed will stay attached to the plant for a while as the plant loses its leaves. Once it gets to the point that the deer like, deer will flock to the field and devour every last soybean hanging on the plant's branches.

When choosing to plant soybeans, be careful about which variety you choose to plant. Some varieties have a lot of thick stems which are not really eaten by the deer. Other hybrids have been developed that concentrate more on leaf growth rather than stem structure. These forage variety soybeans are the best type to plant for deer. One of the newest and most popular types is the Tyrone Forage Soybean. This plant can grow to over 5 feet tall with thin, has vine-type stems that are easier for the deer to digest, and this hybrid yields a large amount of leaves. If you cannot find this particular hybrid, ask your local Farmer's Co-op or seed store which type of forage soybean would be right for you in your area.

Throughout the growth cycle of soybeans and peas, deer will eat the leaves continuously. Within days, the plant sprouts new leaves where the others were eaten. This is very beneficial to bucks throughout the summer when they are growing their antlers. These leaves are highly preferred by deer and have high levels of protein. By planting a lot of soybeans, you will see a very dramatic increase in antler growth and development. Bucks will have thicker racks with longer tines whenever they eat soybeans all summer instead of lower-protein foods. When planting soybeans, avoid planting in fields less than 3/4th of an acre in size. In small food plots, soybeans and peas are quickly eaten as they germinate and have no chance to establish. With larger food plots, this is much less of a problem and can be fixed by adding extra seed to the edges of the field where the deer feed the heaviest. It is possible to use a supplemental feeding program to keep the deer from destroying the crop before it establishes. However, I have seen deer step over a pile of corn so they could go eat growing soybeans.

Planting Sorghum

Sorghum is easy to grow compared to corn. It has good drought resistance. It can survive with even small amounts of rain throughout its growth cycle. It, like corn, loves nitrogen. I fertilize sorghum with 100 pounds of 13-13-13 per acre at planting, and add 50 pounds of 34-0-0 per acre when the plants are about a foot tall. As long as there is enough ammonium nitrate applied to the crop, it will make a very large seed head which the deer and turkey love. However, the seeds produced by the sorghum in many cases are eaten within days, and then there is nothing left of the field. Because of this, it is crucial to plant companion crops with it. Soybeans and peas are two excellent companions to plant with sorghum because they will provide food in the plot while the sorghum is growing.

Once the sorghum has become fully mature, the seed head will change colors. It depends on the variety of sorghum what color it changes to, but most turn dark red or brown. Once the seed changes color, the deer and turkeys devour it. It is crucial to plant sorghum in moist soil because the small seed is also a favorite of all birds. If planted in dry dirt, birds and other wildlife can easily uncover and eat the seed before it ever geminates. Overall, sorghum is a good choice to plant, especially in areas prone to drought or that have had poor performance growing corn because not only do the deer like it, but the turkeys love it. When planted in companionship with soybeans or peas, it makes a highly preferred plot that is also highly nutritious throughout antler development periods.

 
Above is two does that were eating the sorghum growing in a food plot
right as the seed is changing color

Other Spring and Summer Food Plots

Soybeans, peas, corn, and sorghum are the most commonly planted spring and summer crops for deer. In addition to these, sunflowers are also a good choice to plant. They create very large leaves, up to 2 feet in length, that deer love to eat. They also make the big flower full of seeds that both deer and turkey love. I have not had much success planting sunflowers in my plots in the past, but in many other places, they grow very well.

A very cheap spring/summer food plot is planted by simply bush-hogging a fall food plot that was planted with wheat, grain rye, and/or oats. By mowing the plot after it has made the hard grain, the grain will be spread throughout the field and most of it will germinate and grow. If you try this, be sure to mow just prior to a heavy rain, otherwise turkeys and other birds will quickly eat up the seed as it lays on the ground.

Advantages of Planting Spring and Summer Plots

The advantages are clear. You provide highly nutritious food throughout the year. The bucks benefit greatly and show increased antler growth. With high-quality food, does will give birth to much healthier fawns, and the does will have increased milk production to feed their fawns. Increased fall body weight by up to 20% is common when planting spring and summer food plots. If there is a large corn field planted, body weights can increase by up to 35%!

In addition to these benefits, other deer on neighboring lands will eventually find your food plots. During hunting season, these deer that are not native to your land will remember where that field was and continue to check it out. Soybean fields are unbeatable for patterning new deer onto your land.

By planting both fall and spring/summer food plots, you also accumulate a lot of dry matter in the soil. While this decays, it enriches the soil. Over several years of planting the same food plot, even the worst soils can improve greatly with seasonal crop rotations.