Irrigating food plots?
 

I'm currently thinking/planning on planting a food plot. In wyoming we dont get a lot of rain so we have to irrigate our crops. I am thinking of planting a food plot near a bedding area on a irrigated pasture field. Has anyone ever irrigated thier food plots? Which plants would do the best? I'm thinking of planting a clover/alfalfa mix. Any input would be Great!

Never irrigated a food plot, but I have never heard of irrigating pasture land either. Alfalfa is pretty drought tolerant.

In Northwestern wyoming it is very dry. We dont get enough rain to plant crops. We have irrigation cannels from rivers that supply enough water to water our crops. We grow alfalfa, corn, wheat, barley, sugar beets, and beans. All of these crops have to be irrigated. I suppose planting a clover/alfalfa food plot would be similar to seeding an alfalfa field.

How many inches of rainfall do you get up there in a year? I live in the furthest corner away from you in Kansas and we get around 34 inches per year.

We avg. less then 8 inches of rainfall per year. We depend on the snowpack from the mountians to fill our irrigation cannels.

:eek::sad:

Sorry man, that's beyond what I call dry. I'd say irrigating would be required.

Since you know your annual rain fall, and raise alfalfa, you know to get your dirt right first.:wave:

I'd definitely plant something perennial. Clover/alfalfa like you mentioned. If you have alot of weeds, maybe plant some Roundup Ready beans this spring or summer, wait for everything (beans and weeds) to germinate, then spray Roundup to kill everything. You could then broadcast the clover and hopefully it would germinate. By the time the beans are mature, the clover would start taking off. I wouldn't bother with corn.

Thanks for all of your input everyone. Does clover bring in deer during september and october ? In wyoming the bow season is from sept. 15 till oct. 14 and i would like a food plot that will attract the deer during this time as well as nourish during the spring/summer.

One of the best times. Clover is great in fall until it gets down to the low 20's a few nights. Not sure when that is for you. Mid-late December for me. Normally real close to November before I get a frost.

I planted a thin long strip of some clover in 98 or 99. It's still around and has spread a little (and died off in other areas). It started turning a deeper green about 2 or 3 weeks ago and is growing.