By Tracy Breen
Putting in
successful food plots is similar to baking cookies. If you want the cookies to
turn out, a specific recipe must be followed. Cutting a corner by omitting a
critical ingredient can cause the quality of the cookie to suffer greatly. A
food plot is similar. For a food plot to turn out, a series of steps must be
taken to ensure success. The single best way to increase the chances of having
food plot success is by doing a soil test before you plant. A soil test is like
having a recipe in your hand, because when you receive the soil test results and
recommendations, you will know exactly which ingredients will be needed to
ensure a lush food plot.
Steve Scott of the Whitetail Institute knows a few things about
food plots and soil tests, and his opinions about soil tests are eye-opening. “Doing
a soil test is one of the, if not the, most important steps a person should
take when putting in a food plot," he said. “It is also one of the most
commonly overlooked or skipped steps when putting in a food plot. It’s
sometimes human nature to cut corners, but when putting in food
plots, having a soil test done is one corner that should not be cut.”
Someone
willing to take the time to do a soil test will almost certainly reap the
rewards. “If you have two food plots side by side, and one was planted without a
soil test being done and one was planted using the information provided by a
soil test, the difference can be like the difference between a cheap hamburger
and filet mignon,” Scott said. "The burger food plot will probably be
green, but it likely won’t be as full as the filet mignon food plot. The filet
mignon food plot will almost always be more attractive to deer and be more
nutritious and produce more tonnage.” Scott said cost wise doing a soil test is
one of the best investments you can make when planting a food plot. “Seed,
tractors, lime, fertilizer and many other expenses go into planting a food
plot,” he said. “But doing a soil test can mean the difference between the best
food plot you can imagine and total failure.” A soil test will not only help
you have better results from your food plot but can save lots of money too. “When
they put in a food plot, many people guess what type of fertilizer they will
need and how much," Scott said. "Often, they also guess at the amount
of lime they will need. When you have a soil test done, the test results will
tell you exactly what the soil needs to grow the most successful food plot.”
Plain
and simple, a soil test is a road map to success. When you guess at what is
needed instead of knowing what is needed, you'll often spend more money on the
wrong fertilizer, and the plot might even fail, which will be a total waste of
money. Here in the upper Midwest, where I’m from, we often have very acidic
soil. In many cases, when we plant food plots, lots of lime is needed. Some
people who put in food plots simply throw a few bags of lime on the ground and
call it good. One of the many things a soil test will tell you is what the pH
of the soil is and how much lime will be needed to get the soil where it needs
to be for a food plot to grow. “When the pH is corrected, fertilizer is better
utilized by the forage you’re wanting to grow," Scott said. “Without the
proper pH, fertilizer often goes to waste because the plants can’t effectively
utilize it.” A soil test also addresses fertility. “
A
Whitetail Institute soil test tells you what nutrients the soil is lacking and
how much of a certain type of fertilizer is needed," Scott said. “A common
thing people do who haven’t had a soil test done is go out and buy a few
hundred pounds of 13-13-13 fertilizer. If they have a soil test done, they may
find out they don’t need all the elements in the bag. They might just be
lacking a little bit of one thing and a bunch of another. When a soil test is
done, you will know exactly what is needed instead of guessing and buying a
one-size-fits-all fertilizer. Sometimes, the soil is just lacking potassium.
Why go buy a bag of fertilizer that has many elements in it when all that was
needed was potassium?” A professional soil test that requires you to send the
soil into a lab is certainly the smartest and best way to ensure the best
results from your food plot efforts. Professional soil test services are
available from agriculture universities, your soil conservation service or
through the Whitetail Institute. “The Whitetail Institute soil test is set up
for the average Joe who wants to plant a food plot,” Scott said. “Hunters
collect the soil and send it to our lab, and we send them the results and
recommendations.
It
is that easy. Our test is generally easier for people to read and understand and
tells you exactly what is needed for a food plot. Most of our customers are not
farmers; they are food plot guys, so our test is designed for deer hunters. Our
test goes as far as telling people what type of fertilizer is available in
their area and how much to purchase. We keep it as simple as possible.” The
great thing about a soil test is that it's really simple to do. “It’s one of
the most simple tests you’ll ever take,” Scott said. “Basically, a person
starts with a clean garden shovel and bucket. The important thing is to get a
good representation of the soil from the entire area to be planted, not just
from one location. I recommend taking a little soil from as many as 10 to 20
different places within the food plot and then mix it up well and place about a
pound of it in the container that comes in our kit and then send it to our lab.
By taking soil from several locations, our lab will get a good representation
of the overall soil makeup and make their suggestions based on the overall picture.”
Let the lab know what type of food plot you are planting and they will tell you
exactly what you need to add to your soil for that particular food plot seed. When
you follow the recommendations of a soil test and plant accordingly, you will
end up with a more attractive and nutritious food plot — one that produces more
tonnage, and will make your plot more attractive to deer than the food plot
next door. “Deer are going to go where the best food is,” Scott said. “That is
why it is so important to plant a food plot properly.
Hunters
spend lots of time and money hunting deer. They can maximize their time and money
and likely see and kill more and better quality deer by planting a top-notch food
plot. All of that should start with a simple soil test.” A soil test kit from
the Whitetail Institute costs less than $15 and can no doubt help you attract
and grow healthier deer. Heck, you can’t even buy a pack of broadheads for $15.
If you have never soil-tested your ground, buy a soil test kit now, and use it.
If you follow through and use the kit and follow the recommendations, it will
likely be the best $15 you have ever spent on improving your hunting success.
