About J. Wayne Fears

Homemade mixes, if done correctly, can result in high-quality food plots.

There are many reasons why hunters, land managers, and hunting clubs like to blend their own deer food plot seeds rather than purchase sacks of premixed seeds. Not the least of these reasons is preventing the introduction of weeds. When buying seeds for a food plot, you want to get the best seeds available without bringing in weed seeds with them. Most commercial wildlife food plot mix producers do a good job, but there are a few seed dealers that sell “bargain basement” mixes that can include seeds from an unknown source, seeds that have been spilled on the floor (called “sweepings”), seeds infested with weed seeds, or unknown amounts of the various seeds in the mix. These seed mixes are cheap but give less than desired results, and often introduce problems in the form of invasive weeds.

	Learn to read a certified seed tag.

Know What You Are Buying

To avoid disappointment and to have the best food plots possible, if you are going to mix your own blends, buy seeds that are bagged with a certified seed tag attached, usually sewn in the top of the bag. These are required in many states. Learn to read the tag because it offers a lot of information about the product in the bag.

Avoid seed that does not have a certified seed tag; know what you are buying.

Be sure to mix together carefully all seeds selected for your mix in order to achieve even plant distribution on the food plot.

Save Money

Many highly advertised premixed seeds are expensive. The producer has to charge enough to cover the cost of packaging, promotion, advertising, and distribution. By visiting your local county Cooperative Extension Service agent or DNR biologist and learning what plants deer in your area like most, you can purchase those seeds in bulk and mix them yourself, often cutting the cost of the mix significantly. When visiting with these agents, also learn the planting instructions for the seeds and, if included in mixes, what amount of each seed should be planted per acre. I have seen homemade food plot seed mixes that were planted at a per acre seed rate that didn’t account for each of the different seeds in the mix. If there were three different plant seeds in the mix, then there were three times too many seeds for the acre. The results were far too many plants trying to grow on that acre.

Crops Specific
to Your Area

Perhaps one of the best reasons for blending your own deer food plot seed mixes is that with the help of your local DNR biologist and county Cooperative Extension Service agent, you can select seed varieties that are specific to the soils, temperatures, and other conditions for your area. Customizing the seed in this way, the results – with good management – are lush food plots that the local deer seek to find.

Plant homemade seed mix at the recommended planting rate, considering the various plants being planted. Be careful not to overseed.

Plus, if you want to attract other game species such as wild turkey, quail, or bear, you can incorporate plants in the mix that will be attractive to them as well.

Be Sure to Mix Seed Well

If you decide to create your own mix of seeds, be sure to blend them well. I have seen food plots that were planted in several types of crops that looked somewhat like a checker board when the crops came up. The seed had been poured into the seed hopper one variety at a time and instead of a mix, there was a section of the plot that was all clover, a section that was all winter wheat, and a section that was all brassicas.