When we first started on the food plot journey about 5 years ago, we were under the impression that white clover can't be beat. We limed, fertilized, tilled, sprayed, etc and grew very nice Alice/Patriot/Jumbo Ladino plots which the deer seemed to enjoy. After a couple years, I started to experiment with alfalfa--Ameristand, and eventually Alfa-rack plus. We also grew an acre or so of Eagle Beans yearly. The interesting thing is that the majority of my plot acreage is within view of the house, so we have been able to view deer preferences over time. Last year I decided to give the soil a break from soybeans and frostseeded an acre of Alta-Swede Mammoth Red with plans to disc it under mid-summer for brassicas. Much to my surprise, the deer couldn't stay out of it (I think Lickcreek has alluded to this in the past as well). We had beautiful white clover and alfalfa plots next to the Mammoth Red, and they would run to that cheap clover and mostly stay there. I was so miffed, I went and tasted them all. The Mammoth Red was tough and a little bitter, the whites were tender and a bit sweet, and the alfalfa would be delicious in a salad, but they still hammered that Mammoth Red. Needless to say, I kept a decent strip of it to see how it would perform/persist. That was last summer. After observing so far this year, I would say that they will eat anything at first greenup, but prefer the alfalfa. A few weeks later, they go to the Mammoth Red, and seem to prefer it to everything else (except soybeans) until late Sept/early Oct. They then really hit the white clover Oct/Nov until the acorns start dropping. We do find they dig through the snow for the white as well. I'm in 5b So. MI, btw.
