Imperial Whitetail Winter-Greens… The “Maximum- Attraction” Brassica Product

By Hollis Ayers

 Let’s face it: If you’re going to consistently bring deer to your food plot during hunting season, you have to offer them the most attractive forage you can. If you’re looking for a brassica food plot product that’s specifically designed to provide maximum attraction from early fall into winter, look no farther than Imperial Whitetail Winter-Greens.


When it comes to brassica food plot products, no competing brassica product the Whitetail Institute has ever tested has even come close to matching Winter-Greens for sheer attractiveness. The reason lies in the unique type of brassicas included in Winter-Greens. Lettuce-Type Brassicas The Whitetail Institute has included brassicas in some of its multi-variety forage blends for over two decades. (As a matter of fact, the Whitetail Institute has been researching and marketing brassica varieties for longer than the other “food plot” companies have even been around). Generally, brassicas tend to reach their most attractive stage late in the season, when frosts cause starches in the leaves to convert into sugars. This window of highest attractiveness is the reason why the Whitetail Institute has used brassicas for many years as a timing element with other non-brassica forage components in some of its blends. Until the introduction of Winter-Greens, though, the Whitetail Institute had decided not to offer an all-brassica product because of the high performance standards the Whitetail Institute sets for all Whitetail Institute products, which include early- and late-season attraction. The Whitetail Institute’s decision to not offer an all-brassica product changed only after Whitetail Institute testing revealed an all-brassica blend that met these standards. That blend is Winter-Greens, which contains especially attractive lettuce type brassicas — brassicas with a vegetable genetic base. When it comes to attracting whitetail deer, all brassicas are definitely not the same. Whitetails require very tender forages because of their smaller digestive systems and any food plot product has to take that into account, at least if it is going to maximize attraction to whitetails. And because of the type of brassicas in the blend, side-by-side cafeteria tests have repeatedly proven that deer prefer Winter-Greens over other brassica products by a huge margin.


Tall Tine Turnips

And lettuce-type brassicas aren’t the only unique thing about Winter- Greens. In addition to the lettuce-type brassicas, the Whitetail Institute also now includes a small amount of Tall Tine Turnip, a new turnip variety the Whitetail Institute developed specifically for deer. Tall Tine Turnips boost late-season attraction and tonnage even further, as an additional forage from late fall into winter and as the tubers remain available through the coldest months. Most food plots begin to lose attractiveness to deer when temperatures get cold and snow accumulates. Winter-Greens does just the opposite — and again, because of the nature of the brassicas.

Nutritional Considerations

In addition, consider the nutritional benefit Winter-Greens offers your deer — especially carbohydrates. It takes a lot of energy for deer to just survive cold winters, let alone survive them in good health. In fact, a buck can lose up to 25 percent of his body weight during the rut and in winter when food is scarce. When the next antler-growing season rolls around, he will have to recover his winter health losses before he can devote nutritional resources to antler growth in earnest. Winter-Greens is rich in the carbohydrates deer need for energy and health during fall and winter. By helping bucks better maintain body weight and overall health during winter, you can shorten the amount of time they spend recovering winter health losses in spring and help them devote substantial resources to antler growth as early in the antler growing process as possible. For hunting whitetails in the early season and especially in the late season, attract them with the nutritionally enhanced and balanced vegetable-based brassicas found only in Winter-Greens from the Whitetail Institute — the leader in the food plot industry since 1988. Winter-Greens is designed for late summer or fall planting in good quality soils that drain well. For more information, visit www.whitetailinstitute.com, or call (800) 688-3030 today.