Whitetail Deer Articles/Newsletter

According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Peterson's Hunting Magazine, in 2010 landowners and hunters spent $703 million on food plot plantings. Using a 3% discount rate, that makes the food plot industry have a present net worth of over $23 billion! This might explain why so many companies have appeared on the outdoor market in the last ten years, and also why there is so much competition and hype about various plant varieties. it seems folks are looking for a "magic bean" to grow big bucks with very little effort! Research here at the Instiute for White-tailed Deer Management  & Research over the last four decades, however, have claerly shown that only a handful of food plot varieties are truly useful to deer management; including cereal grains and corn, clovers, chicory, cowpeas and soybeans. "There is not a single plant variety on the market today," Says Dr. Kroll, "that we have not tested intensively; and most have come up short in one way or another." The hype associated with food plot seed often leaves the consumer confused about what works and what does not. Check out some of the materials on our web site to help you make sound decisions. As always, you are welcome to send us your questions. 

This mixture of cowpeas and cereal grains has proven to be a time-tested summer food plot in the southern United States.