Early Spring Food Plot Prep: What to Plant in March

Spring is the ideal time to plant crops in your food plots. The weather is beginning to warm up, giving the seeds time to germinate and grow without being stifled by harsh winter weather and killed by frost. It’s also the ideal timing for a deer’s stomach. Deer can’t process new foods during the winter months because they’re in survival mode. Their bodies are storing every bit of nutrition they can and any new variant could throw their systems out of whack. So, now is the time to introduce food and let them get used to it before hunting season begins. We’ve got tips on what to plant in March and throughout spring for an optimal food plot.

What to Plant

Spring is the ideal time to plant clover, alfalfa, and chicory. Though each of these crops can also be planted in the fall, planting them in the spring allows the plants to grow with enough time to attract the deer over the summer. Bringing deer to your property all throughout the spring and summer months will make it easier to hunt during the fall because they’ll have already gotten accustomed to your property. It will also give you time to monitor their behavior so you can plan your hunts ahead of time. These crops need to be planted when there hasn’t been a frost for two weeks. In Minnesota, that could mean as early as March or as late as May. So, keep your eye on the weather forecast.

• The ideal time to plant alfalfa is the middle of April to the middle of May. It should be planted ¼ to ½ inches deep in the soil. Deer gravitate toward alfalfa for its protein content.
• Clover seeds should be planted close to the surface. Any seeds planted deeper than ¼ inches deep won’t grow properly.
• Chicory also has a high protein content and can be planted in the spring. It also has calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sulfur. These nutrients will help the deer’s antlers grow during the spring and summer growing season. It should be planted about ¼ inches deep.

Feedbank Gravity Deer Feeders

If the soil on your property isn’t conducive to growing these crops, check out our Feedbank Gravity Deer Feeders. You can load up our feeders with the seeds and grains of any plant you like. Our Feedbank 600 Gravity Deer Feeder has four feeding ports and can hold up to 600 pounds of feed. The multiple ports allow for more members of the herd to feed at the same time. You can mount it on a single 6×6 post and it can easily be moved to different locations around your property. The single post design eliminates the extra beams that could knock into the deer’s antlers and damage the growth. The Haybank Feeder also mounts onto a single 6×6 post and can hold an entire bale of hay.

Before you plant anything, make sure supplemental feeding is legal in your area. Check your state’s hunting regulations to confirm.

Whether you’re planting your own food plots from scratch or you’re filling your Feedbank Gravity Deer Feeders to the brim, having premium food choices will bring the deer to your property and keep them coming back throughout spring and summer and into the fall hunting season.

What do you plant in your food plots in the spring? What are you planning to plant this month? Let us know in the comments below!