Food plots help animals survive winter

Winter in Iowa is bad enough even for people with a warm place to stay. It is even worse for the creatures that spend it outdoors. Not only must animals suffer through the cold, they have to make do with little food as snow covers the ground from December to February.

Farmers and other rural landowners can help these critters survive the winter by planting food plots. Food plots consist of a few acres of grass or grain dedicated to feeding wildlife. These fields are planted with corn, sorghum, soybeans, alfalfa or clover.

Jason Gritsch works for the Department of Natural Resources in Keokuk County and helps landowners design food plots. Gritsch explained that animals such as pheasants burn through their fat reserves over the winter to make energy. When the spring comes and it?s time to lay eggs, the number of eggs the bird lays will depend on how much fat it used over the winter. He said that a bad winter can mean a bird that normally lays six to eight eggs will lay only two to four. More food plots mean more offspring.

?Pheasants look for waste grains over the winter,? said Gritsch. ?They look for weed seed, ragweed seed or small grains such as corn and soybeans. Turkeys and deer scratch through timber in search of acorns.?

If the weather is bad enough and the deer are hungry enough, they will even resort to eating trees and shrubs.

?Deer will eat needles and bark,? said Gritsch. ?They?ll chew on woody vegetation and nibble on tree limbs.?

If farmers don?t want deer to gnaw on their decorative plants, Gritsch recommends they plant a food plot. Luckily, food plots are economical. The seed for food plots can be acquired for free. Seed companies have to discard their product if it doesn?t meet specifications, but this seed usually still grows well enough to provide a tasty treat for Bambi. Seed companies give this seed away at no charge.

Food plots need to be tended to just as the other crops on the farmer?s land. Gritsch said that fertilizer should always be used when planting corn or sorghum in a food plot.

Most food plots are planted in land designated as CRP ground (Conservation Reserve Program). Gritsch recommends a food plot of at least three acres.

?When we have a blizzard, one-third of a food plot can get covered up with snow,? said Gritch. ?That means there is less food for the animals to get to, which is why the food plots need to be bigger.?

The Conservation Reserve Program does not allow farmers to plant more than 10 percent of their CRP ground in food plots, nor may they plant a single food plot of more than five acres. Gritsch explained that these rules exist because CRP has other purposes besides feeding wildlife, namely reducing soil erosion.

In addition to food, animals need cover and water. Gritsch recommends planting a food plot next to a wooded area or any other location animals typically travel. That way, they?re never far from their food supply.

?Deer and other animals will go where they feel safe, which is in a secluded area,? said Gritsch.

Those who are interested in planting a food plot can contact Jason Gritsch at his office in Sigourney at 641-622-3380. He said some food plot seed is still available for free.