RESEARCH
EQUALS RESULTS: That’s been the Whitetail Institute’s motto for decades. The
reason is simple: Scientific research, development and testing are the
governing principles of Whitetail Institute product development, and they’re
why Whitetail Institute products continue to lead the industry in performance.
Testing by the Whitetail Institute’s Certified Research Team is just one aspect
of that process — but it’s a vital one.
While looking back through old issues of Whitetail News recently, I noticed two things. First, I
noticed many articles generally discussed the Whitetail Institute’s product development
process. I also noticed, though, that although some aspects of that process,
such as plant breeding and forage analysis, had been covered in some detail,
the Whitetail Institute’s Certified Research Program had only been mentioned. I
thought that was a disservice. Although only a few of the Whitetail
Institute’s product development stages involve Whitetail Institute Certified Research,
it’s just as important to Whitetail Institute product performance as any other
stage.
The Scientific Method
The information provided
by the certified research stations is an exceptionally important part of
ensuring that Whitetail Institute products perform at the highest levels in
almost every part of North America. Explaining how important their role is requires
an understanding of the scientific method. Long recognized by scientists as the
exclusive process for reaching reliable conclusions, the scientific method is
a continuous process that consists of a series of steps beginning with identifying
a question to be answered or achievable goals. In the case of forage product
development, the ultimate goal is creating the best-performing forage product
for a specific set of circumstances, including, for example, soil type and
equipment limitations.
Candidate Forages
The next step is
gathering information relevant to the question or goal. At this stage, the
Whitetail Institute identifies existing plant varieties that best exhibit
specific traits. The most important of these is attractiveness to whitetails.
Other traits the Whitetail Institute seeks include nutritional content,
tolerance of adverse weather conditions and many others. Close interaction with
top agronomists, seed growers and research universities has allowed the
Whitetail Institute to effectively develop each of these traits. The Whitetail
Institute draws from an extremely deep pool of information, and the sources
from which it obtains seed are equally broad, reaching beyond North America. The Whitetail Institute refers to plant
varieties initially chosen for research and development as candidate forages.
When the Whitetail Institute identifies plant varieties that are good enough to
become candidate forages, it could stop there. The company could bag the seed
and put it on store shelves. Although that would be the easiest and least
costly option for Whitetail Institute, that’s not what happens —not even close.
That fact speaks volumes when you understand how the scientific method works.
From Candidates to
Products
During the early stages
of product development, the Whitetail Institute sometimes gathers existing
performance information about potential forage components from external
sources. Such externally gathered information is usually generally correct, but
the scientific method requires much more, especially because the Whitetail
Institute’s goal is developing forage products that push the upper limits of
performance in food plots for deer. Specifically, according to the scientific
method, the Whitetail Institute’s candidate forages aren’t a definite
conclusion. They’re what’s referred to in scientific-method terminology as a
hypothesis — a conclusion that only has a good probability of being accurate.
Certainty, though, requires verification through dependable testing. That’s why
Whitetail Institute subjects its candidate forages to an extensive process that
involves repeated cycles of testing and data analysis to determine which (if
any) meet the Whitetail Institute’s stringent product-performance standards.
Only the few that survive that stage are accepted for direct inclusion in a
Whitetail Institute food plot product or as parent stock for breeding new
plant varieties for food plots. Whitetail
Institute testing is performed first at the Whitetail Institute’s Alabama
headquarters and its research areas elsewhere in the United States. To make
sure the forage will perform at high levels, blind testing is also conducted
elsewhere across North America to determine how well candidate forages, alone
and in various blend ratios with other forages, perform in a variety of
climates. And that’s where the Whitetail Institute’s Certified Research Program
gets involved.
Whitetail Institute
Certified Research Program: A Brief Description
the Certified Research
Program consists of satellite research stations across North America. These
stations are not Whitetail Institute entities. Rather, they are privately owned
locations where deer managers and long-time Whitetail Institute customers
conduct blind tests of forages, individually and in blends, as well as
nutritional supplements and deer attractants for Whitetail Institute. Tests
are sent to certified research stations at least once a year and usually several
times. Each forage test is separately packaged and identified with a unique
code so researchers don’t know exactly the components or composition of the
test seed. Planting or site instructions are also provided with each test,
along with one or more questionnaires researchers use to log specific data and
otherwise provide information to Whitetail Institute on a wide range of topics,
which the Whitetail Institute then incorporates with its test data in
subsequent stages of product development.
Profile of a Whitetail Institute
Certified Researcher
Whitetail Institute
certified researchers are real hunters who use and test Whitetail Institute
products in the real world. They tend to stay with the program for many years.
There’s little turnover, and the waiting list is long. One reason is the
extreme care with which Whitetail Institute selects its certified researchers.
Obviously, we must be sure that anyone asked to be a certified researcher will
provide precise, comprehensive data to us, and on a timely basis. Another
reason that might not be so obvious is that the Whitetail Institute works so closely
with its certified researchers during product development that they often have
access to insider information that our competitors would kill to have. For
anyone to become a Whitetail Institute certified researcher, the Whitetail
Institute must know them so well there is no question that their work and
observations with test products are done on a completely confidential basis,
and that the feedback they provide accurate and honest. In some ways, our certified researchers are as
diverse a group as you’ll find. In other ways, they’re the same. Whitetail Institute
certified researchers run the gamut in age and background. Some are in their 30s,
but others are in their 60s. Some own the property they use for testing, and
others lease it. All, though, share a love of the outdoors, a sense of
stewardship of the natural world and of whitetail deer, and are committed to
providing the Whitetail Institute with accurate, comprehensive data and other
feedback on tests. But I really don’t
have to tell you that. Anyone who has tried Whitetail Institute products
already knows they’re the industry’s top performers. As I hope I’ve shown, our
certified researchers are a big part of the reason why that’s the case.
