Of all Imperial Whitetail forage products, none bears a more accurate name than Extreme. That’s because it performs at the highest levels in attraction and protein content, and has the ability to thrive in optimum conditions and those that are less than perfect.
Attraction and Nutrition: Extreme is so attractive that it rivals the attractiveness of the No. 1 food plot planting in the world: Imperial Whitetail Clover. One reason is its main component, Persist Forb. Persist has a light, sweet taste similar to that of watermelon and cucumber, and it attracts deer like a magnet. Extreme’s other perennial forage component, WINA-100 perennial forage chicory, is also exceptionally attractive, especially when compared to other chicory varieties. Unlike other chicories, WINA-100 chicory doesn’t get stemmy as it matures, and its leaves don’t get leathery and waxy the way other chicory varieties can. Extreme also includes specially selected annual clovers to help ensure that your food plot can green up and start attracting deer as soon after planting as possible. Extreme is also highly nutritious. With protein levels up to 44 percent, Extreme provides abundant protein necessary for improved rack size, increased milk production in does, fawn growth and overall herd health.
Tolerance of sub-optimal conditions.
Just like all Whitetail Institute forage products, Extreme performs best in rich, fertile soils with neutral soil pH (6.5 to 7.5) in areas that receive 30 inches or more rainfall per year. It’s unique, though, in its ability to tolerate less-than optimum conditions, such as lighter soils, slightly acidic soils and annual rainfall levels as low as 15 inches. Extreme is an excellent option even in areas with poor soils, such as reclaimed strip mines, lighter soils and areas where the soil can’t be tilled. Also, Extreme’s ability to tolerate as little as 15 inches of annual rainfall and grow its roots as deep as three feet into the soil to find moisture obviously makes it highly drought tolerant. Extreme can also tolerate soil pH as low as 5.4, a level of soil acidity at which many other high-quality forage plantings couldn’t survive. Even so, Extreme performs the best in soils with neutral soil pH, so the better course of action, if possible, is to lime low-pH soils before planting. The closer you bring low-pH soils to neutral range, the better Extreme can grow. Extreme is a high-quality, protein-rich food source that’s exceptionally attractive to whitetails and provides crucial nutrition to deer throughout the year. And its ability to flourish in such a wide range of conditions make it one of the most versatile perennial forage products you’ll find. If you live where the climate and soil pH are perfect (and even if you don’t), give Imperial Whitetail Extreme a try. You’ll find it’s one of the most attractive, durable and versatile perennial food plot plantings available.
Whitetail Institute Pro Tips:
Imperial Whitetail Extreme, Establishment Phase
Imperial Whitetail Extreme rivals the attractiveness of Imperial Whitetail Clover, and it’s among the most durable perennial forages you can plant for deer. As with any foodplot planting, though, Extreme has to establish — that is, achieve a good foothold in the plot soon after planting — to mature into a high-quality stand that offers multiple benefits for you and your deer.
The Whitetail Institute has spent decades educating folks that legumes such as Imperial Whitetail Clover need only a comparatively light application of nitrogen fertilizer at planting to establish. In fact, they might have done too good of a job, because some Whitetail Institute customers seem to miss the fact that the steps for making sure Extreme establishes correctly are different in an important respect: Extreme requires a lot more nitrogen fertilizer to establish than Imperial Whitetail Clover does. Like Imperial Whitetail Clover, Extreme should be fertilized with a full-spectrum NPK fertilizer just before putting the seed out. The default (without a laboratory soil test) fertilizer recommendation for planting Imperial Whitetail Clover, 6-24-24, has a much smaller percentage of nitrogen than the default fertilizer for planting Extreme: 17-17-17. And unlike Imperial Whitetail Clover, Extreme should be fertilized again 30 to 45 days after it germinates with even more nitrogen fertilizer, such as 34-0-0. (Do not apply fertilizer when plants are damp.) Why the difference? Because Imperial Whitetail Clover needs just a little nitrogen for the seedlings to get started. After that, they fix nitrogen in the soil naturally, so no additional nitrogen need be added. Extreme doesn’t fix nitrogen, so nitrogen must be added in the form of fertilizer. And because nitrogen fertilizer doesn’t last very long when exposed to the environment, more nitrogen fertilizer should be added 30 to 45 days after germination. It is crucial for Extreme’s establishment that this second fertilization not be skipped. Keep in mind, though, that just as nitrogen fertilizer boosts forage growth, it also boosts the growth of competing weeds and grasses. Early grass competition (grass that appears in the plot soon after planting, when Extreme is still trying to establish) usually isn’t a big issue when Extreme is planted in late summer or fall, because that’s when most grasses are going dormant. You do need to monitor the plot the next spring for grass, and if grass shows up, you need to spray it as soon as possible. When Extreme is planted in spring, though, chances of early grass competition are much higher. That’s why it’s especially important after planting Extreme in spring to continue to monitor the plot for early grass competition and control it with Arrest Max grass herbicide as soon as you see it. Arrest Max controls most kinds of grass, and it can be sprayed on Extreme even when the forage plants are still very young. This and everything else you need to know about Arrest Max can be found on the herbicide label, which is packaged with Arrest Max and is also available on the Arrest Max page at whitetailinstitute.com. There, you’ll also find a link to a quick-reference sheet the Whitetail Institute has prepared to help you make sure you correctly mix the Arrest Max spray. Keep in mind that this article doesn’t cover all the steps in the planting and maintenance instructions for Extreme. Instead, the points I hope you’ll take are: Extreme needs both fertilizations — at planting and 30 to 45 days after germination — to develop into the best possible stand, and doing so will also boost early grass competition that you need to be prepared to control.
