Is Tall Tine Tubers better than other turnip products as a food plot planting for deer? If better means the only turnip product ever specifically developed for deer, the answer is yes.
Designed for planting in late summer and early fall, Tall Tine Tubers provides two food sources for deer during fall and winter. The first is its foliage, which grows quickly, produces abundant tonnage and becomes even sweeter with the frosts of fall. The second is the sweet tubers it produces, which can grow large underground. Deer dig them up when cold weather sets in.
The backbone turnip variety in Tall Tine Tubers is Tall Tine Turnip, a proprietary turnip variety developed by Whitetail Institute scientists. Initial research and development began with the Whitetail Institute’s agronomists, who painstakingly selected and tested numerous turnip varieties to determine which ones best satisfied specific goals the Whitetail Institute considered important for a turnip product that would be planted in food plots for deer. Criteria included tuber size, high tonnage, sustained availability, attractiveness to deer, and rapid establishment and growth. The No. 1 selection consideration was preference by deer.
Researchers then tested various formulations until the list of candidate blends was narrowed to the best. The remaining candidates then underwent real-world testing on wild, free-ranging deer at the Whitetail Institute and its certified research centers across North America.
The Whitetail Institute is committed to ensuring that the results of its forage testing are accurate. Without question, the Institute’s diligent product development process is what separates its forage products from the crowd. Although it might seem simple, you get the picture of how rigorous, time-consuming and reliable that approach is when it’s conducted the way the Whitetail Institute does it: by strict adherence to scientific method.
In a nutshell, scientific method describes the established way scientists generally go about proving something or solving a question. It’s a step-by-step process that starts with setting the research goal, and then repeatedly testing assumptions based on research until reaching an accurate conclusion. For the results of any experiment to be accurate, testing must be set up so its results are absolutely reliable, and the scientist is merely an observer.
It took the Whitetail Institute six years to develop Tall Tine Tubers — six years of constantly evaluating candidate components, alone and in different ratios, in a reliable way: by planting according to directions; observing the stand for establishment, growth and production during actual climactic conditions; and letting wild, free-ranging deer show the variety they preferred most. When testing proved preference for a variety, that plant was isolated and protected from further browsing to let it produce seed. That seed was then put back into testing the next year, and researchers continued the process of developing the most attractive turnip variety. Think about it. If you’re developing products intended to establish quickly, grow well, attract and hold deer, and perform in various climates, what could be a more reliable test than actually planting those varieties and observing what happens in real-world conditions? It’s expensive and time-consuming, but that’s how the Whitetail Institute does it, for one simple reason: It’s as reliable proof as you can get.
And that’s the real beauty of Tall Tine Tubers. As with all Whitetail Institute products, the guesswork has been taken out. You have the luxury of relying on the Whitetail Institute name and what wild deer have shown during real-world conditions.
Six years of research, development and real-world testing have proven that Tall Tine Turnip is drought resistant, cold tolerant and the most attractive turnip variety the company has ever tested.
Tall Tine Tubers is available in 1/2 and 2-acre bags. For more information, see www.whitetailinstitute.com, or call the Whitetail Institute’s in-house consultants at (800) 688-3030. The call and the service are free.
