Food plot

Food Plot is a term that has been coined by the hunting/outdoor industry for planting crops solely for the benefit for wildlife. Food plots generally consist of but are not limited to legumes (clovers, alphalpha, beans, etc.) or forage grasses. Most products used for food plots are or were derived from agricultural variants of forages. Some of the oldest companies to start selling products for food plots are Whitetail Institute of North America in 1988 and Mossy Oak BioLogic shortly there after. Since then many companies across the nation have started selling food plot products and the list grows every year.
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In 2001 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that 8.7 million people across the country maintained some sort of planting for the sole benefit of wildlife. This group of people spent $699 million on these plantings. The plantings were maintained for wildlife viewing opportunities that 66.1 million of us enjoy.

Food plots generally differ from a similar planting called re-vegetation. Re-vegetation generally refers to planting naturally growing grasses, legumes, shrubs, and trees. Food plots will provide higher nutritional value plants than what nature has supplied, therefore a higher density and diversity of animals will thrive near a food plot.

Animals that will benefit

Whitetail deer
Turkey’s
Bear
Moose
Rabbits
Song Birds
Grouse
Woodchucks

Resource links

Whitetail Institute of North America
Mossy Oak Biologic
Tecomate
Buck Forage Oats

Quality Deer Management Association
Ruffed Grouse Society
National Wild Turkey Federation

NorthCountry Whitetails Inc.
Wildlife Habitat Consultants
Whitetail Stewards Inc.