Avoid These Food Plot Fails
By Mark Melotik
Most every avid deer hunter who owns or manages land has considered adding a deer-attracting food plot or two. The sad reality is many of these initial plantings fail. Worse, the loss of invested time and money is often compounded, because most well-meaning hobby farmers have no idea exactly how or why things went wrong.
To get more insight I spoke with Brooks Johnson and John Betker, avid whitetail hunters and co-owners of Minnesota-based Martie’s Farm Supply. With two locations located just north of the Twin Cities, Martie’s specializes in helping first-time land managers succeed in helping grow better plots and bigger, healthier deer.
The duo has identified three critical errors that plague most first-time food plotters.
Fail No. 1: Planting Like A Farmer
“Most food plotters simply till the ground and plant,” Johnson said. “Farmers can get away with that because they use pre-emergent herbicides to stop weeds from growing, and then they spray post-emergent herbicides. Either of those two methods will kill your plot seeds.
“What you should do is create a sterile environment where your seed is the only thing that can grow, so your seed has no competition,” Johnson continued. “You need a good herbicide, maybe glyphosphate — two quarts per acre is pretty standard for a food plotter. Weed control is number one. If you don’t have a plan to defeat the weeds, you’re going to fail.”
Fail No. 2: Planting Brassicas Too Thick
“Maybe you’re growing turnips, rape or radish. Those are the big ones,” Johnson said. “The recommended rate is typically 4 to 8 pounds per acre, and that’s not a lot of seed. So lots of food plotters will double it. And then the plants don’t have room to grow. So then you have a wonderful carpet of stunted brassicas. Those plants need the space to grow. People need to follow the recommended rates. If you have two, three or four times too much seed, the plants will max out at maybe 5 inches. Not good.”
“This just puts us in a bizarre position, and it happens all the time,” Betker said. “I just had a guy come into the store, and he has a one-acre plot, so he needed a total of four pounds of seed. He walked out of here with 15 pounds of seed, and we couldn’t convince him otherwise. He said, ‘I’ll plant a little extra and it won’t hurt.’ But actually, it will. Too much is not good.”
Fail No. 3: Fertilizing Improperly
“Sure, we can guess about your soil type, but you can also get a soil test that will tell you exactly what you need. We offer that service at Martie’s. It costs about $30, and takes about seven to 10 days. And it’s well worth it, because you’ll spend less money, or you’ll spend your money more efficiently, so it’s a no-brainer. If you really want to have a successful plot, you need a soil test.”