Frost Seeding: A Tactic You Don't Want to Miss

Imagine this: Hunting season is almost here, and that means it is time to put your food plots in the ground. You spend months planning out every detail of each plot: taking soil samples, spreading lime, spraying herbicides, prepping the seedbed. Finally, after countless hours of labor and all of that money spent, it is time to get the seed in the ground. The weatherman is calling for rain over the weekend and it looks like everything is going to line up perfectly. You get the seed in the ground, the rain comes, and you already get chills thinking about the coming hunts you’ll have over that plot. Next thing you know, weeks have gone by without so much as a light rain and your food plot is gone. The devastation of all of that wasted time, money, and labor hits and for a second you think about never planting food plots again. This situation is all too familiar to many food plotters across the country, especially in the southeast. Extended periods of dry weather well into the fall can cause major frustrations when trying to get food plots in the ground. But how else are you going to get plots in the ground? This is how you’ve been taught all your life to plant food plots. 

What if we told you that you can have a lush fall food plot by simply changing what time of year and what species you plant? Most people would flock to the idea of being able to already have a thick, green food plot by the time opening day of bow season rolls in. This is something that is very achievable by almost everyone who plants food plots, and we aren’t talking about just leaving some soybeans standing from the spring! Everybody enjoys hunting over brassicas and soybeans (ourselves included), but a good stand of clover can feed your deer herd all year long and can be planted early enough in the spring to survive those harsh summer months in the deep south. Not to mention that having a well-established clover plot through the growing season could be the difference between you having that target buck hanging around in early bow season and him hitting the neighbors fields to find palatable food.

So what is the best way to plant an early spring clover plot? Many times the mistake is made of waiting until April or May whenever the ground thaws and the spring green-up has already arrived, but that is usually too late. The roots do not have enough time to establish into the soil well enough to survive those hot spells we experience here in the south and will often cause the plot to die off. There is one planting tactic for clover that is so often overlooked in this region of the country, and that is frost seeding.

Frost seeding is the most effective way to get a good clover plot established early enough in the spring that it can survive the harsh summers that we tend to face here in the southeast. This is not a new idea either, it is a technique that has been used by numerous food plotters in many of the northern states for years where snowfall and ice tend to cover the ground in the late winter. When the ground freezes, ice expands and breaks up the soil. To frost seed a food plot, you simply broadcast the seed during late winter or very early spring while the ground is still freezing at night and thawing during the day. As the ground thaws, the seeds are pulled down into the broken soil very similar to how they would fall into disked/tilled soil if broadcast over a prepped seedbed in the late spring or fall. This allows the seeds to make good seed to soil contact and promotes good germination once the weather begins to warm and the ice melts. Don't overthink timing, earlier is better than later. If the seed needs to lay dormant in the ground for a few weeks waiting on warm temps it's no problem. That is what nature designed seeds to do!

Here in the South we typically do Jan-Feb. For more Northern states anywhere from Feb-April. But again, don't overthink it! If temps are consistently freezing and thawing you're good to go. If you're a little too early it's no big deal! Seeds in nature lay dormant in the ground all winter long if they need to and that's exactly what your seed will do if you're a few weeks early. No harm done. Once warm temps arrive that seed will germinate and start growing right on schedule. You can broadcast on top of light snow, ice, frost, etc. the winter weather is your friend and will only help get your seed in the soil faster.

You can frost seed into newly prepped seedbeds to create an entirely new food plot, or you can broadcast the seed into existing plots to fill in any patchiness or to simply increase the amount of palatable vegetation in the plot throughout the growing season. Frost seeding can also be done into short grasses or other unprepped areas.

We’re not saying to ditch brassicas, beans, or cereal grains by any means. After all, diversity is the name of the game when it comes to optimal habitat and nutrition. But to ensure that you do have readily available food plots for the fall/winter months that will not rely heavily on fall precipitation, frost seeding may be just the tool that you have been missing. If you are someone who has struggled with getting good food plots established because of the inconsistency of favorable weather conditions during the fall planting season, give frost seeding a try! Clover blends like our Whitetail Hill Clover are formulated with species that are excellent for frost seeding and can survive in a wide range of soil types and drought conditions once established. Chicory can be frost seeded with clover as well, so be sure to check out our Multi-Year Mix if you would like the addition of chicory in your clover plots and a mix that will last many years from a single planting!