Food plots can attract ducks, geese, mourning doves, quail, deer, pheasants, turkeys, rabbits, and many songbirds. Plan your food plot so it is close to cover. This might be a pond, woodlot, or brushy fence row used as a wildlife travel lane. It is best to have several small plots, as opposed to one large one. For example, a plot 50 ft. wide by 1,000 ft. long is less valuable than two plots 100 ft. by 250 ft.

1. F ood plots can attract
ducks, geese, mourning
Food Plots Can doves, quail, deer, pheasants,
turkeys, rabbits, and many
songbirds.
Help Wildlife Survive Plan your food plot so it is
close to cover. This might be a
Tough Winters pond, woodlot, or brushy fence
row used as a wildlife travel
lane. It is best to have several
For more nature habitat information small plots, as opposed to one
large one. For example, a plot
Visit these helpful websites: 50 ft. wide by 1,000 ft. long is
A Plant's Home less valuable than two plots
A Bird's Home 100 ft. by 250 ft.
A Homesteader's Home
As wildlife venture in the
open to feed, they need thick
vegetation or water to return
to quickly, should danger
appear. Ideally, a 1-ft. to 15-ft.
path between the woodland,
hedgerow or pond, and the
food plot should be mowed to
lawn height. This provides
space for maintaining the plot
and allows wildlife to better
reach the food.
But mowing should only
occur before April 1 or after
August 15, to protect nests
of birds near the ground.
Now is the time – while
you are getting your
planters in shape and
taking delivery of this
year’s seed – to decide
where to locate your
wildlife food plots.
The importance of
providing food for wildlife
was illustrated last year
with many areas
reporting a decline in
game bird populations.
© WindStar Wildlife Institute Page 1 A Plant's Home

2. Usually a mixture of food plot attract, here are a few cultivation, or both, will be
plants is better than a single suggestions: beneficial because some species
species. You might want to try prefer to feed on ground that is
the following mixtures for an Millet not filled with vegetative
acre: Both the seeds and growth. Black oil is the best
vegetative parts are consumed. variety.
For upland areas: Wild fowl and upland birds are
s Soybean 3 to 4 lbs. most common. Proso millet Grasses
s Gold millet 2 lbs. attracts mourning doves, but Provide browse and nesting
s Japanese millet 2 to 5 lbs. beware as the seed might be areas to a variety of wildlife,
s Milo 3 to 4 lbs. contaminated with Johnson- and some birds feed on the
s Buckwheat 1/2 lb. grass, which is tough to control. seed.
For wet/lowland areas: Corn Grasses used for wildlife
s Big Bluestem 1-1/2 lbs. Food source for a variety of plantings are usually perennial,
s Switchgrass 1-1/2 lbs. wildlife. Geese will eat it as their thus making them long-duration
s Black oil Sunflower 4 oz. primary feed when available. crops.
s Black-Eyed Susan 4 oz. Ducks, squirrels, deer, and
s Ladino Clover 1 lb. turkeys like it also. Clipping after young wildlife
are raised will help reduce weed
For dry/upland areas: Soybeans problems. These grasses are
s Little Bluestem 1-1/2 lbs. Plants are eaten by deer and often grown with legumes, such
s Sideoats Grama 1-1/2 lbs. quail. Deer eat the foliage, while as alfalfa and some of the
s Black Oil Sunflower 4 oz. quail eat the seed. Geese and clovers.
s Black-Eyed Susan 4 oz. ducks will also eat the seed, but
s Ladino Clover 1 lb. prefer other feed. Small Grains
Oats are preferred as browse
One good single crop to plant Sorghum by most wildlife. But geese and
for wildlife is sunflower. It is a Preferred by many species. ducks prefer wheat as browse,
favorite food for goldfinches, The bird-resistant type while doves eat the seed.
house finches, cardinals, blue contains tannin, causing a
jays, titmice, chickadees, and bitter taste that discourages Planting strips of wheat and
many other birds. feeding until the grain is fully sunflower or proso millet have
ripe. This discourages produced excellent feeding
It’s easier to manage a single blackbirds, bobolinks and areas for doves.
crop for higher production than grackles.
multiple crops.
Plant short varieties if you WindStar Wildlife Institute is a
Some mixtures may contain want ducks and geese to be national, non-profit, conservation
organization whose mission is to help
species of plants that may able to reach the seed head.
individuals and families establish or
dominate and crowd out the improve the wildlife habitat on their
others. Whatever you plant, the Buckwheat properties.
crops must be compatible. Provides an attractive feed
for waterfowl. Although it will For more information or for the
name of a Master Wildlife Habitat
For most crops, the seed is not last long, it will entice birds Naturalist in your area, please
the most important food to your land. Because of its contact:
source, although wildlife short-term usefulness, do not
consume both the seed and use it as a sole crop. WindStar Wildlife Institute
vegetative portions of some
E-mail: wildlife@windstar.org
crops. Sunflower
Excellent food for doves and http://www.windstar.org
If you want to match the crop songbirds. Planting the crop in
to the wildlife you want to rows and using herbicides,
© WindStar Wildlife Institute Page 2 A Plant's Home