portable ladder

I have an open field that I am planting in mainly clover, inside this field which is surrounded by timber and a fence row, I want to plant5 separate areas 25' x 25', I want to break up the food plot with mini-plots inside. I want these 25' x 25' areas to hold rabbit and quail, but would also want them beneficial to deer and turkeys.

I was considering planting milo, alfalfa, sunflowers orsomething elsealong thoselines,I want each area to be something different, what would you suggest for southern Indiana?

nyorange

Contact your local agricultural station or conservation officer. They should provide you with free inforegarding best plants at lowest cost and even give you the nursery where the state gets such plants at discount. Here in NY they offer a free assessment by a forester/ conservation guy on how to manage your property and the get most value benefit to wildlife out of it etc depending on your goals. they also publish books etc on the subject for free and list recomended plants that grow well inthe area. and what wildlife benfits from each type. They even teach you how to make brushpiles and densto encourage rabbits etc.Checkout your own state/ county etc . Hope it helps.

Rebel Hog

For years we planted one acre of Millet and Milo for Quail and Doves!

Dan O.

Clover for the rabbits, but even more important, trim your trees and create brush piles for cover.

Dan O.

daleh

Planting for Quail and Rabbits is easy
Leaving things alone is why they will be there
More than feed they need cover and nesting areas

alsaqr

"Clover for the rabbits, but even more important, trim your trees and create brush piles for cover."

Right you are. i cannot say enough good things about brush piles for cover. Some folks are not aware that quail also use brushpiles.

rednecksteve

your old xmas tree works good
cut down some little pine trees and use thim its good

yeoman

Quail benefit most from land which is allowed to go fallow for 1-3 years, Then it begins to lose value to them. They benefit most from small new growth forbes and insects in that environment. If farmers were randomlyrequired to allow land to go fallow 1 year in 5 the quail population would explode. So would the cost of groceries!

Rabbits need thick vegetation for cover, green forage during the three mild seaons and young woody plant growth to get thru winter. They need more "wood" than quail.

What you may want to consider is a fallow ground 5 year rotation, but your 25x25 plots aren't going to cut it. Maybe you should consider allowing the 25' perimeter of the field to go fallow. Each year youtill adifferent 1/6 of the perimeter. After 5 years, your perimeter consists of bare earth, 1,2,3,4,5 year growth and stays that combination as you then always till under the 5 year old portion.

The same acreage in a "purchased food plot" can't begin to compete with "nature's plan". Problem is, humans always have to feel like there making something happen instead of letting something happen.

Blueditch42

Soybeans That is a quail number one source of food when they have a hard winter. I went to a quail management class and that is what they told me.

Tyrus21

make sure your fencerows have sumak on them. You can find sumak virtually anywhere. It's a form of poison ivy but.... the quail eat the seeds and they won't roost too far from it.