What type forage should you plant in a food plot? Most people have ideas of what to plant for the winter stress period. I would like to take a moment to examine some possibilities for a food plot targeting the potential summer stress period. The following may be some good choices depending on your soil type and average rainfall:

Warm Season Forage Choices

Choices for warm-season deer plantings are somewhat limited compared to many different cool season favorites. Also, the vast majority of the warm season forages are annuals, meaning that they must be replanted each year.

However, there are several that meet the criteria of spring-summer production, high protein levels, and palatability to deer. The most commonly planted warm season forages in the North include Alyce clover, Buckwheat, and Soybeans. Other good choices include Lablab, Forage Brassica (rape), and Corn.

Cool Season Choices

Perennials such as Clover, Alfalfa, Chicory and Small Burnett.

Secondly there are cool season annuals. Crops such as wheat, oats and all brassicas fall into this category.