Mossbergman, you will have fun doing it. It's a lot of work and quite rewarding. First off get you a book on food plots, it will help tremendously, and save you a boat load of mistakes a lot of us make. I would recommend QDMA Quality Food Plots about $35.00. I promise you it will save a lot more than that.

Bushes and trees will help the deer feel more comfortable in the plots. The cedar are not nessisarly sign of acidic soil, it is that they can grow better in more acidic soils than most plants. The only true way to find out the ph of the soil is to take a sample (another $5-$10 spent).

If you decide to put some clover back in try planting a mix of white, yellow, and red clover, with some chicory. Plant a spring annual like Lab Lab/mix, soybeans and sorghum, just any warm season mix will do. Then plant a fall hunting plot I like a ceral grain mixed with brassica (Purple Top Turnups), and a winter pea (my pref. is WWII peas).

Equipment wise you are doing fine, probably find some type of roller or cultipacker, to firm up the seed bed before and after you plant. Some of your bigger seeds need to driven into the ground. So some kind of drag will normally do that.