Green

Thank God for the rains!

Food Plots are a great tool in wildlife management, benefiting all kinds of plants and animals. Here at Phil's Food plots and Consulting we plant acres of food plots on our farms and have seen great rewards by doing this, I'm confident that food plots will help your farm greatly too. This article will answer some common questions about food plots; why should I plant food plots? What exactly do food plots do? In what ways will my farm benefit from them? After all we spend hours of time in preparation, planting, and maintaining, not to mention the money we spend, in tractors, fuel, and seed. We are just going to scratch the surface but you will get the main ideas of management and food plots.

The main thing food plots do is raise the Carrying Capacity on your land. What is Carrying Capacity you ask? "Carrying Capacity is the maximum number of individuals or inhabitants that an environment can support without detrimental effects." What do animals need? Foods, water, and cover. These are the main things that can help your inhabitants reach their full potential. This is the main reason for food plots. The more food, water, and cover, you have on your land, the more animals your land can sustain, and the healthier they will be, allowing inhabitants to reach their full potential! In White-tailed deer this means your immature bucks must be passed on, the hardest years to pass them is 3.5, because they are a nice deer but still not full potential. That 3.5 year old buck, into 4.5 is a big jump in inches gained in antler size, so 4 1/2 or better 5 1/2 is when they reach maximum in both body size and antler size. Another vital part of deer management is age structure, allowing bucks to reach maturity, 4 ½ or better yet 5 ½. We won’t dive too deep in this right now, but as you can see food plots are a huge part of wildlife management.

There are many variables that contribute to the success of a population; those have to be looked at and a management plan implemented. But every farm and case is different. Food plots are just a small but vital part in wildlife management. There are many pieces to this puzzle, and it takes years to develop, don’t waste years of your time, call Phil’s Food plots & Consulting (Phil 309-229-6650) and talk to an experienced consultant and allow us to help your land reach its full potential. Thanks for your time, and God bless!

Quote from “Quality Whitetails” (QDMA magazine Feb 2009 issue)


this is a great stand of chicory, clovers, and rape.


strips of winter wheat and buckforage oats, from a treestand view.



some winter wheat strips....looking great!