Spring is bringing new life to vegetation on your property. Increased day lengths and warmer temperatures should be invigorating your deer and turkey food plots. In this post we discuss actions that you can take to maintain your hard earned food plots. Spring serves as a much needed relief for deer food plots that were heavily browsed during the late winter. Deer are now able to browse on a fresh vegetation budding from shrubs and trees. It is typical to see much less browse pressure on clovers and greens as natural vegetation becomes active again. So whats the next step for your food plots in this transition period? Red clovers (annuals) will grow aggressively until flowering. Annuals do not provide many options for spring/summer management, but there a few tips to make there last few months beneficial to your wildlife. I always recommend strip mowing until flowering and pollinating completes. At this time red clover or annual plots can be 18"-24" or more in height. Insects should be abundant in the tall vegetation but are not easily available to turkeys or other small game. Mowing strips (5'-10' wide) well spaced creates edges for turkey to access insects and seed. Annual plots should not be aggressively managed for weed control since they are going to be mature and dead by July. It is wise to monitor when this occurs, then spray burndown to keep weeds down. I have had success drilling soybeans, corn, and sunflowers immediately after spraying. This can provide summer forage or a fall "hot crop".
Perennial plots require more effort to maintain if intended to carry over into the fall. White clovers do not grow as aggressively in the spring as annuals. But with proper management practices they can provide quality forage year around. The most common mistake I see with white clovers is over mowing or improper spraying. When temperature exceed 80 degrees white clover will begin to show stress. Maintaining a proper height is the key to preventing burn out. Most common white clovers are bred for intention of grazing, we want to simulate this with periodic mowing to stimulate growth. Mowing to a height of 8" has worked great for me in the mid-south region. Beware, scalping the vegetation will increase the likelihood of burnout due to loss of thermal capabilities and increased evaporation. I typically do not recommend spraying except when grass competition is aggressive. In this case, a mixture of Clethodin (Select) and light rate of Glyphosate (roundup) will knock back grass pressure. If herbicide is used there is increased risk of burn out and death. Spraying should never occur while clover is stressed (hot and dry). The spring and summer offers the best chance to address soil fertility. The applications you make in May will show during the fall. Please reach out to us at Wildlife Strategies to improve your food plots and put more wildlife in front of your stands.
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