Dairyman's plots are a preferred foraging mix for North American white-tailed deer throughout much of the deer's range because of their year-round nutritious content, drought and cold tolerance, and overall attractiveness to white-tailed deer. The mix consists of oats, clover, and chicory, particularly the Buck Forge variety. (Photo by Haynes Shelton)
May 24, 2024 Haynes Shelton
This article appeared in the 2024 Habitat issue of North American Whitetail.
Letters from magazine editors often include sentimental stories, reminiscences, current events, or summaries of articles from the monthly magazine. I know this because I've written similar editorials. But not this month. Instead, I'll stop rambling on and answer the land management questions I'm most often asked every year, from people of all experience levels, from land professionals to novices who've never planted a plant before.
In the space of about 1,000 words, I can answer a question that could (and has) filled a book, and since it didn't quite fit on this page, turn to page 104 if you want to finish reading my answer to this million-dollar question: “Where are white-tailed deer's favorite feeding spots?”
The answer is in three words: “dairy plots.” That’s what we at North American Whitetail call them, because that’s how our colleague biologist, Dr. James C. Kroll, always describes them.
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What's inside? Three words: oats, clover, and chicory. In my experience, this perennial combination is hard to beat for year-round forage and nutrition, deer (and wild turkey) attraction, and drought and cold resistance. Plus, it's easy to plant and grow. And if the word “perennial” in the first sentence of this paragraph made you think, then yes, you know that oats are annuals (more on that later).
Why are they called “dairy plots”? Dr. Kroll explains, “In the 1970s, we needed a better approach to food plots, so we went to the people who knew most about growing food for ruminants – dairy farmers. When asked what was the best forage for deer, dairy farmers always said grains and legumes. With this information, we began the longest-running research program on deer food plots in history. Over the next few decades, we tested every variety of plant that could potentially be suitable for deer forage.”
To make a long story short, Dr. Kroll's research team identified just a handful of plants that thrive best in the grain and legume category. The grain they chose was oats because deer prefer oats over wheat, rye, and triticale. Then, in collaboration with Dr. Steve Harrison of Louisiana State University, they developed a variety of oats “designed” specifically for deer: Buck Forage Oats.
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As a legume, Ladino white clover should not be overlooked due to its high crude protein content (25-30%) and digestible energy, creeping growth habit, erosion resistance, and high yields (up to 3,000 pounds per acre). NAW uses the Buck Forge clover cultivar.
Perhaps the perfect companion to ladino clover, chicory is a non-legume perennial herbaceous plant that lasts for five seasons. It is packed with protein (up to 30%) and is a very tasty and easily digestible plant for deer. Like clover, it is perfect for frost seeding, broadcasting/dragging, or drilling. The hidden talent of this plant is its long taproot that is very drought tolerant. I prefer the Backforage chicory variety, which consists of a round leaf and white stem variety and has been proven by Dr. Kroll to be preferred over the frilly leaf and red stem variety.
In his home state of North Carolina, USDA hardiness zone 7, the author prefers to plant Dairyman's Plot in the fall, allowing annual oats to provide excellent cool-season attraction the first year and perennial clover and chicory to mature the following spring and thrive for three to five years. (Photo by Haynes Shelton)
I plant this three-plant combination from mid-September through early October (North Carolina, USDA Zone 7) using the following method: First, I till the plot with a disc harrow or PTO rotary tiller. Next, I broadcast a 50/50 mix of back-forage clover and chicory at a rate of 7 pounds per acre and plant to a depth of 1/4 inch. Finally, I use a seed drill to plant back-forage oats at a rate of 50 pounds per acre to a depth of 1/2 to 3/4 inch.
NOTE: If you don't have a seed drill, I recommend sowing oats first, covering with a second tillage, and scattering clover/chicory at the end. Don't worry too much about planting oats deep (it's better shallow than deep). I've seen oats sprout from spilled oats in truck beds or on barn floors. Clover and chicory, however, will not tolerate being planted too deep. Often germination is good if you just scatter them on top of the tilled ground before rains.
When planted in the fall in my area, this combination works like this: The oats sprout first and grow into a strong cool-season grass in less than a month. The clover and chicory take a season to establish but produce a great crop the following spring. The oats are annuals, so they will die back the following summer, at which point the seed heads will crumble and fall to the ground (if they haven't already been eaten by deer or turkeys). I've found that the oats that fall reseed surprisingly well, “self-seeding” and resprouting.
By the second year, chicory and clover will be well established and can be controlled by top-cutting, making weed control with herbicides virtually unnecessary.If you don't have any native oats, simply planting new seedlings directly where the clover and chicory are growing will keep your plot healthy for at least three to five years.
Personally, I have seen this plot used successfully throughout the Deep South and throughout the Southeast and most of the Midwest, west to central Kansas, and north into Wisconsin and Michigan (thanks to the cold hardiness of Buck Forage Oats.) I have seen this combination perform well in extremely cold conditions, especially when protected by snow pack.
Now, I'm not saying this is the only food plot mix worth considering or that it's best for every scenario. For example, if you were hunting in Iowa during late musket season, would you prefer a Dairyman's Plot over standing beans and corn? No. Similarly, there are times and places where temperate plot varieties comprised exclusively of legumes such as cowpeas and soybeans are appropriate.
But hey, that’s a post for another day, but for now, just know that if I could only plant one food patch forever, it would be oats, clover and chicory, or as we always call it here at NAW, a “dairy patch.”
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