What is the Best Late Winter Protein Crop?
Filed under: Ask Grant, Food Plots
First off, I would like to thank you for answering my question in the past. I really love your site and information. On our farm we plant corn, soybeans, rye, wheat, and oats for the deer. The problem is I would like to have something high in protein for the months of March and April. I can’t seem to get clover started well and you can’t seem to spray chicory with many chemicals for weeds. Any thoughts on that would be wonderful. Do you think something like plotsaver would help the clover get started or should I just try something else? Kevin
Kevin,
Clover rarely puts on much volume from existing stands in early March at The Proving Grounds (Branson, MO for a latitude comparison). New stands have zero production at this time. Clover, like all growing forage, requires a certain amount of heat to germinate or grow. Clover is best suited to provide quality forage during the spring and late fall (if there is adequate soil moisture). Standing grains provide great food for wildlife during the late winter months. You stated you planted corn and soybeans. These are two great crops for your mission. Corn grain provides a great source of energy and relatively low amounts of protein. Standing soybean grain provides very high quality protein and suitable quantities of quality energy. Remember that forage soybeans provide super high quality forage during the growing season and grain during the winter months (if the plot is big enough it is not over browsed). If you can leave enough corn and soybeans standing so the local herd has plenty to eat through the late winter, your forage management plan would be outstanding!
Growing Deer together,
Grant
