2026 Food Plot Experiment Plan

[356]

which one would i use? the home garden one of the Ag one?

I do the Ag tests for both the row crop and food plot locations. It will allow you to identify the planed planting.

 

[bigboreblr]

The AG one I'd do, they got a code 1056 for wildlife foodplots. Focus is pH, CEC. Seeing phophorous or pottasium isn't that bad. IF one is quite low, maybe level out while soil pH improves over time.

IF you're doing bags of lime, you probably wont put out as much as they ask for. Predominate weeds is a major sign of your soil. I did dairyone's lab in NY for apple tree site prep. They told me 5 tons per acre.... 2 tons per acre on that .4 acre plot is going to be. 1600lbs. That's (40) 40lb bags of pelletized lime if it's 100% calcium equivalent, which its not. PRobably more like 45-50 bags to get that number.

Most clay soil take 2 tons per acre to raise the pH by 1. That's assuming 6 inches of tillage depth. Often no-till is 1/2 ton / acre per year.

You might be better off renting a tow behind spreader. Usually 2-4 ton capacity.

Buying (40) 50lb bags of barn lime is $200 plus tax. Buying (50) 40lb bags of pelletizd lime is $350 plus tax. tractor supply vs home depot. Getting a tow behind drop spreader can pay for itself quickly. Buying it in bulk will get you at your target much more feasibly. Might find someone with a pickup truk dump or tow behind dump trailer for a reasonable price.

 

[omicron1792]

which one would i use? the home garden one of the Ag one?

You get more info with a private company than with Ag school. Just depends on what you want to know.

 

[omicron1792]

These guys do an awesome test.

Soil & Soil Health Analysis

Discover how USDA-NRCS Soil Health CEMA 216 can improve your soil's health by measuring vital nutrients and microbial populations.

www.wardlab.com

Growingdeertv does some good videos of them testing his land and going through interpreting it.

Not necessary but not expensive at all If your just testing once every so often.

I’ve done both. Usually just use my local free one through Auburn that local botanical gardens offers. But I did one of the ward one time and was cool.

 

[omicron1792]

@bigboreblr nailed the lime. For me if I had 1-3 acres and a spreader I would just use pellet lime. Anything more I would find a way to get ag lime delivered and spread.

@SD51555 has some serious knowledge on lime. Check out his stuff on it.

 

[RGrizzzz]

I do the Ag tests for both the row crop and food plot locations. It will allow you to identify the planed planting.

I use the Ag one, too. You can specify what crops you want to plant. Some will ask you a yield goal and it will suggest fertilizer amounts too.

At home I've used the lawn one for the yard. The results look about the same.

 

[SD51555]

I used to be very diligent with soil testing. On my land, after I pulled so many, all the results fell into a range. My most recent plot, I did not test at all because I know what every other test was, and for me, that means I need about 1 ton of calcitic lime.

I would still lobby heavily for a >>complete<< soil test if you really don't know. It's not necessary to grow a decent plot. It is necessary if you want to have the absolute best plot, and the definition of that from me to you to the next guy can be wildly different. I subscribe to the quality of forage theory, which is largely my own, and that is, deer will favor the same forage from a better soil than a poorer one.

That means you have a perfectly amended soil next to one that isn't, and the deer should draw the line for you where the soil is right. How to do that is a whole nother story, but the main take away here is, get a complex soil test, and dial your lime in perfectly both quantity and type. Then if you can get into a stay-green system for a few years, you unlock the power of mycorhizal fungi and complex plant associations that blow away quality metrics vs a put and take annual single-crop system.

But, you also may not need that. When you're starving, a hunk of stale bread is good enough to win the choice. But if it's a buffet out there with unlimited offerings around the hood, those little things matter.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I used to be very diligent with soil testing. On my land, after I pulled so many, all the results fell into a range. My most recent plot, I did not test at all because I know what every other test was, and for me, that means I need about 1 ton of calcitic lime.

I would still lobby heavily for a >>complete<< soil test if you really don't know. It's not necessary to grow a decent plot. It is necessary if you want to have the absolute best plot, and the definition of that from me to you to the next guy can be wildly different. I subscribe to the quality of forage theory, which is largely my own, and that is, deer will favor the same forage from a better soil than a poorer one.

That means you have a perfectly amended soil next to one that isn't, and the deer should draw the line for you where the soil is right. How to do that is a whole nother story, but the main take away here is, get a complex soil test, and dial your lime in perfectly both quantity and type. Then if you can get into a stay-green system for a few years, you unlock the power of mycorhizal fungi and complex plant associations that blow away quality metrics vs a put and take annual single-crop system.

But, you also may not need that. When you're starving, a hunk of stale bread is good enough to win the choice. But if it's a buffet out there with unlimited offerings around the hood, those little things matter.

definitely want the best plots i can get for sure!
...im in a weird spot at my house and in laws where both are surrounded by good Ag (meaning corn, beans, alfalfa, not just hay though there is a fair amount of that)..i know i cant compete with acres of corn/beans/Winter wheat, etc...
BUT.. can I make my plots so good that they will hit them on the way to these AG crops or that will be their first stop once those crops are gone (also why I have fruit trees in the plot at my house to give it some more nutritional and timing diversity)
...also want to help feed through the winter ....not exactly possible on the small plots I have but worth a try (also I, like most others on here, get a kick out of deer eating what I plant..)...will go for the Ag one if I can get it from the PSU extension..THANKS!

 

[SD51555]

definitely want the best plots i can get for sure!
...im in a weird spot at my house and in laws where both are surrounded by good Ag (meaning corn, beans, alfalfa, not just hay though there is a fair amount of that)..i know i cant compete with acres of corn/beans/Winter wheat, etc...
BUT.. can I make my plots so good that they will hit them on the way to these AG crops or that will be their first stop once those crops are gone (also why I have fruit trees in the plot at my house to give it some more nutritional and timing diversity)
...also want to help feed through the winter ....not exactly possible on the small plots I have but worth a try (also I, like most others on here, get a kick out of deer eating what I plant..)...will go for the Ag one if I can get it from the PSU extension..THANKS!

You're on the right track. The other draw can be location. Think of it as the good grocery store in a large city. If there are multiple in a given area, we all lean towards the one that is cleanest, safest, and most convenient.

Throw in smart access for hunting, a good browse buffet around the edge, and bedding and water nearby if you can.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

You're on the right track. The other draw can be location. Think of it as the good grocery store in a large city. If there are multiple in a given area, we all lean towards the one that is cleanest, safest, and most convenient.

Throw in smart access for hunting, a good browse buffet around the edge, and bedding and water nearby if you can.

working on the bedding with brush piles and doing some TSI in my little 3 acre patch of woods...(mostly just cutting down/spraying invasive honeysuckle and trying to free up some oaks...)
and only hunting with the right wind (thankfully I can hunt on any North wind and any West wind) plus good stand access up a steep hill with my lock on climbing sticks on the backside of a large cherry tree that faces away from the plot...i've actually gotten in the stand with deer feeding in the plot 40 yards away...also noticed that the windier days are the best even though my plot is close to the top of a hill...
I like your idea of "good stuff" vs "normal stuff"...hence the fruit trees (the only other ones around are in my front yard) and I try to plant something different like a different kind of clover (like Marco Polo White or Mammoth red) than anything around