preferred crops for deer
I'm not sure who said it in another post but this genetically engineered corn is getting to have no food value whatsoever. It makes me wonder, since the deer in my area feed mostly on the farmers fields most of the year, if the food value of the deer is getting worse?
Does anyone know of any studies done on this?
The deer in my area seem to eat corn mostly, but also beans. I know that it also depends upon what variety of corn is planted in your area. Much of the new varieties of corn are bred for volume and nothing else. Bigger stalks, bigger and multiple ears with bigger kernels are the new game in farming. These varieties are grown for ethanol production and for straight burning for fuel. They are not engineered for food value at all and should not be fed to livestock. I myself utilize a corn furnace to heat my home. It burns whole kernel corn, or wood pellets. I preffer corn for it's BTU's. I can simply heat better for less money.
I guess if you live in an area where there is plenty of grain being grown for livestock you are probably ok, or if you plant huge food plots. But people who live in areas where the farmers grow corn for ethanol production only, would need food plots for sure to keep deer healthy. Someone I know recently bought the cheapest corn he could get at MFA to mix with chicken feed and noticed that the chickens would not even pick up the corn from the ground.
It stands to reason that if the corn has no nutritional value that the deer would avoid eating it, just like the chickens, or would have to eat much more to get the needed nutrition. I have noticed the fields around here being hit very hard by the deer and wonder if that is why? They may be destroying more corn because they have to to get the needed nutrition.
One thing is sure they will clean up all the acorns when they fall and leave the corn until they have to go back to it.
Also although I have never tried it, you could presumably write down the numbers from those little sign posts in the corn fields and find out the nutrition information for that variety of corn? This might be a handy tool to find out what your deer are being fed.