About J. Wayne Fears

What can you plant one time in a food plot, and for years thereafter not have to do anything but enjoy seeing deer feed on the crop? This is one of the most often asked questions at food plot seminars. The answer is simple: “Nothing!”

Despite some claims to the contrary, there is not a magic crop that you can plant once and then forget, one that will produce quality food that will attract whitetails for years, without any further attention from the food plot manager.

However, some clovers have now become available that come close; and come even closer when mixed with selected cereals, Brassicas, peas, and other clovers. These relatively new perennial white clovers are offering food plot managers a crop that will last for several years, tolerates heavy grazing, is drought and cold resistant and requires little maintenance. Here are two of the superstars.

Durana Clover

One of the impressive perennial white clovers that have been developed lately is Durana clover, which was developed by Dr. Joe Bouton, a plant breeder formerly at the University of Georgia and currently with the Nobel Foundation in Oklahoma. Bouton was looking to develop a clover that improves the grazing tolerance of white clovers. He collected plants that had survived several hot, dry summers from several locations in Georgia. After transplanting offspring of these plants into the harsh environment of a research center, the plants were subjected to heavy continuous grazing with grass competition. Productive survivors were crossed, and a promising entry was further developed. It became Durana.

Durana was released for sale in 2003 and has become one of the most successful clovers for wildlife food plots. It provides standing forage for up to 12 months in some areas, can withstand very heavy grazing, competes well with weeds and grasses, is drought and cold resistant, contains up to 28 percent protein, and thrives for five years or more. This is the ideal perennial clover for areas where deer graze heavily all year.

Durana is sold by Pennington Seed Company (www.penningtonseed.com, phone 1-800-285-seed) and is available in several of their mixes including Rackmaster and Rackmaster Elite.

Imperial Whitetail Clover

Imperial Whitetail Clover is actually a blend of clovers. It was developed at the Whitetail Institute by the Director of Forage Research, Dr. Wiley Johnson. In the 1980s, Johnson and his team gathered seed for about one hundred different clovers in areas of the world from which the plants originated. They also took clovers from the U.S. seed market. Then they started a cross-breeding program to develop for specific traits such as heat and cold tolerance, early plant vigor, drought tolerance, and year-round availability.

Durana was developed for the cattle industry, but it has turned out to be an ideal perennial food plot crop. It does well in much of the U.S., and is finding favor in southern Canada.

The program was repeated through many breeding cycles until one hybrid that contained all the desired characteristics was developed. The result was Advantage Ladino Clover. Then in 2004, a second clover variety called Insight Ladino Clover was developed specifically for food plots. This highly drought resistant variety was added to the Imperial Whitetail Clover blend.

Today, Imperial Whitetail Clover is one of the leading perennial clovers used in wildlife food plots. It is touted for its high protein content (up to 30%-35%), digestibility, nutrient content, heat resistance, disease resistance, and cold tolerance. It provides food for wildlife for up to 12 months on food plots in some areas, and has a life expectancy of three to five years.

Imperial Whitetail Clover is sold by Whitetail Institute (www.whitetailinstitute.com, phone 1-800-688-3030) and is in many of their mixes such as Imperial Chicory Plus, Imperial Extreme, and Pure Attraction.

Follow Planting
Instructions to the Letter

One feature of both clovers is the wide range across the country where they will do well as a food plot crop. Both, if planted and maintained according to instructions, will do well in almost any area of the U.S., provided there is enough rainfall and the soil is not deep sandy soil.

I have used both of these clovers successfully on my own farm and on wildlife properties I manage, but there are several common mistakes that are made when planting clovers. These include planting when it is too dry, not getting even distribution of seed on the ground, planting too deep, and not liming or fertilizing correctly.

	Imperial Whitetail Clover is a favorite with whitetails. Photo courtesy: Whitetail Institute of North America, WINA.

Most seed bags come with detailed planting instructions, but in general, here are some basic tips:

• Do not plant perennial clover when it is hot and dry.
• Soil test each food plot and use the results to properly lime and fertilize the plot. If your food plots need lime, apply it three to six months before planting.
• Plant during the recommend time for your area. This information is provided by the seed company and is available from the dealer or on the seed company website.
• Due to the perennial clover’s shallow root system, avoid deep, sandy soils. Annual clovers will do better under those conditions. Perennial clovers do best in moist, well-drained, fertile soils.
• Measure the size of the food plot carefully, and seed at the proper rate with the recommended amount of seed for the area you measured.
• Disk your seed bed repeatedly until you have a soft, weed free seedbed four to six inches deep. Firm the seed bed with a cultipacker or crosstie drag.
• To my knowledge, all of the Imperial Whitetail and Durana clover is pre-inoculated so inoculation is not necessary. However, most other clovers require inoculation. Be sure to keep pre-inoculated clover from getting too hot or cold before planting, since the inoculant is live bacteria which help clover roots fix nitrogen from the air.
• Spread fertilizer and seed with a spreader. Take the time to adjust your spreader opening to the right size. Clover seeds are extremely small, about 700,000 per pound, so it is easy to over-seed if your spreader adjustment is too large. Be very careful to spread the seed evenly.
• Using a cultipacker or drag, cover the seed no more than a 1/4-inch. Do not disc the seed in. Good seed-to-soil contact is important to ensure rapid germination and emergence.

Annual Maintenance is a Must

Following poor planting techniques, the second reason for perennial clover food plots failing is that once the field is established, it is not maintained properly. You can’t just plant it and forget it. If it is not grazed heavily during the warm months weeds will take over the plot and the competition from the weeds for water, nutrition, and sunlight can damage or destroy the clover.

Maintenance Tips:

Watch the food plot, and if the weeds and clover get over 10-inches high, mow it down to about 4-inches. This keeps the weeds from competing with the clover and promotes tender, lush clover growth. Based on my experience it usually requires two mowings each summer to keep the weeds down. Do not mow when it is hot and dry.

With most perennial white clovers, maintenance – like mowing in the summer – is required.

Each year you will want to fertilize the clover plot with a no-nitrogen fertilizer such as 0-20-20 or 0-10-20. Since clover is a legume, it does not require nitrogen, and the addition of nitrogen will encourage the growth of weeds.

Finally, soil test every three years and follow the recommendations of the test results.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help

Not all food plot managers are farmers. If all of these things sound like another language to you, or you have very little planting experience, there is free help available to you just for the asking. The county agricultural agent at your local Cooperative Extension Service is available to help you with soil testing, selecting seed sources, and offering planting and maintenance information. The agent is familiar with the soils and growing conditions in your county and offers a wealth of information for those new to planting and managing food plots. Also, the plant material companies who sell these clovers will help you over the phone.

While these perennial white clovers are not quite the “plant once and forget it” crop that hunters and wildlife managers wish for, it is a step in that direction. With a little planning and thought given to the planting process, and a simple annual maintenance program, these clovers will play a major role in attracting and holding deer on your property. You are offering them quality food on a nearly year-round basis.

Editor’s note: The Food Plot Doctor column is written based on food plot questions that you, the reader, submit. Please email your questions to J. Wayne at:

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