6 Food Plot Fall Planting Guide That Old-Timers Swear By

Late summer has a certain feel to it, a shift in the air that tells you change is coming. For anyone managing a piece of land for wildlife, that feeling means it’s time to get seed in the ground. These aren’t just farming tips; they are time-tested methods for creating a food plot that pulls in deer and keeps them there.

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Foundation: Soil Testing and Early Tillage

You can buy the most expensive, genetically engineered seed on the market, but if you throw it on poor soil, you’re just growing expensive weeds. The old-timers knew that everything starts with the ground itself. A soil test isn’t a suggestion; it’s your roadmap for the entire season. It tells you exactly what your plot is missing and, more importantly, what it doesn’t need, saving you a fortune on the wrong fertilizer.

Get your soil sample to the local extension office in mid-summer. The most common problem is acidic soil, which requires lime to correct the pH. Lime takes months to work, not days. Spreading it right before you plant is mostly a waste of time and money. If you get the results in July and apply lime then, it has time to start changing the soil chemistry before your fall seeds even sprout.

If you plan to till, do it early. Breaking ground a month or more before planting allows the soil to settle and lets the early summer sun bake out some of the existing weed seeds. A follow-up disking right before you plant will be much easier and more effective, giving your food plot seeds a clean, mellow bed to start in. This isn’t about creating a perfect garden; it’s about giving your crop a fighting chance against compaction and competition.

Planting Brassicas for Late-Season Forage

When the first hard frost hits and everything else in the woods turns brown, a green field of brassicas is like a dinner bell. This group of plants—including turnips, radishes, and rape—is the key to late-season attraction. The cold converts their starches into sugars, making them incredibly palatable to deer when other food sources have vanished.

The trick with brassicas is timing and pressure. Plant them about 60-90 days before your first expected frost. This gives the leafy tops time to grow big and the turnip or radish bulbs time to develop. They provide a two-stage food source: deer will browse the greens through the fall and then dig for the energy-rich bulbs after the snow flies.

But here’s the tradeoff: in areas with high deer density, a small brassica plot can be wiped out before it ever sees a frost. If it’s the only green thing for miles, deer might browse it down to the dirt in October. Consider planting a larger plot than you think you need or using a temporary fence for the first month to let it get established.

Cereal Grains for Early Season Attraction

If brassicas are the late-season magnet, cereal grains are the instant gratification plot. Oats, winter wheat, and especially winter rye are like candy to deer. They germinate quickly, grow fast, and are immediately attractive from the moment they sprout. This makes them perfect for drawing deer into bow range during the early season.

Winter rye is arguably the most valuable tool in the box. It’s cheap, ridiculously easy to grow, and more cold-tolerant than any other grain. You can broadcast it onto barely prepared soil and it will likely grow. It provides green forage all fall and will even green up again during winter thaws, offering food when nothing else is available.

The primary role of cereal grains is early attraction, but they also serve as a fantastic "nurse crop." Their fast growth helps suppress weeds and provides a sheltered environment for slower-growing perennials like clover or chicory to establish underneath. A common and effective strategy is to plant a mix of winter rye and clover; the rye provides the fall attraction, while the clover takes over the following spring.

The "Shotgun" Mix for All-Season Appeal

Sometimes, the best plan is not having a single plan. The "shotgun" or "blunderbuss" mix is the old-timer’s answer to uncertainty. Instead of betting on one type of plant, you throw a diverse mix of seeds out there, ensuring that something is always at its peak palatability from September through February.

A classic shotgun mix contains a little bit of everything, designed to work together.

• An early attractant: Oats or wheat for immediate green-up.
• A late-season staple: Turnips or radishes for post-frost energy.
• A hardy perennial: A bit of white or red clover to establish for next year.
• A durable grain: Winter rye for its sheer toughness and winter hardiness.

The beauty of this approach is its resilience. If a dry fall hurts your brassicas, the cereal grains will still thrive. If deer browse the oats down early, the turnips are still growing underground for later. This strategy provides a continuous buffet, which is key to holding deer on your property. The downside is that you can’t manage it for a single species, but for a small, do-it-all plot, it’s tough to beat.

The Poor Man’s Plot: Standing Corn or Beans

You don’t always need a tractor and a bag of expensive seed to create a killer food plot. One of the most effective and lowest-effort methods is to simply work with what’s already there. If you have access to a farmer’s standing corn or soybean field, you have the perfect foundation for a "poor man’s plot."

The technique is simple: in late August or early September, just before the corn or bean leaves start to yellow and drop, walk through the rows and broadcast a hardy seed like winter rye or even turnips. As the crop leaves fall, they create a natural mulch that holds moisture and protects the seeds. The new forage grows up under the canopy, protected from early grazing.

Once the farmer harvests the primary crop, your plot is revealed. The deer come in to clean up the waste grain from the harvest and discover a lush, green carpet of food that will last them well into the winter. This method costs next to nothing, requires no tillage, and leverages the fertilizer and weed control the farmer already applied. It’s the ultimate work-smart-not-hard strategy.

Establishing Chicory for a Hardy Perennial

While annuals provide a quick fix, perennials are the long-term foundation of a solid food plot program. Chicory is one of the toughest and most underrated perennials you can plant. With its deep taproot, it’s incredibly drought-tolerant, staying green and productive through the hot, dry spells of mid-summer when clover might struggle.

Chicory is a high-protein forage that can last for years with minimal maintenance. However, it requires a little patience. It can be slow to establish, and you must control grass competition during its first year. Mixing it with a hardy clover is a fantastic combination; the clover fills in the gaps while the chicory provides that critical summer forage.

The best time to plant chicory is late summer, which allows it to establish its root system without the intense weed pressure of a spring planting. Once it’s established, a simple mowing once or twice a year is all it needs to thrive. Think of it as an investment—a little more work upfront for years of reliable, high-quality forage.

Post-Planting: Fertilizing and Weed Control

Getting the seed in the ground feels like the finish line, but it’s really just the halfway point. How you manage the plot after it sprouts is what separates a mediocre patch of green from a truly effective food source. Two things matter more than anything else: fertilizer and weed control.

Your soil test told you what your plot needs. Now is the time to give it that food. Applying a dose of the right fertilizer about 3-4 weeks after germination, right before a rain, will supercharge your plot’s growth. For brassicas and grains, this boost in nitrogen is what creates the lush, attractive foliage you’re looking for. Don’t just guess with a bag of 13-13-13; use what the soil test recommends.

Weeds are thieves. They steal sunlight, water, and nutrients from your crop. If your plot is more than 50% weeds, you’ve essentially planted a plot for nothing. For clover and chicory plots, specific herbicides can be used to kill grasses without harming your forage. For annual plots, a healthy, thick stand of your desired crop is the best weed control, which goes right back to starting with good soil and proper fertilizer.

In the end, these methods aren’t about secrets, but about fundamentals. It’s about working with nature, understanding the soil, and thinking a season ahead. A successful food plot is less about a magic seed and more about a thoughtful approach that provides the right food at the right time.