Episode #50 - Spring Food Plots with Duane Hopkins - the good and bad for different spring plot options

Published: 2021-02-08
Episode page
Duration: 79 min

In this episode

alfalfa

Duane describes alfalfa as the ‘queen of forages’—very productive but high-maintenance, and it doesn’t tolerate constant grazing pressure well. 7:44
Duane explains alfalfa is subject to the potato leafhopper, a tiny insect that survives at southern frost lines and rides wind currents back into the Midwest. 9:59
Terry asks Don how long alfalfa can be left growing in the same plot before it needs to be rotated out. 11:59

chicory

Duane says chicory offers above-average calcium compared to clover, adding a nutritional boost within a blend. 12:56

clover

Jared Barr from Meadville, Pennsylvania asks whether, with proper fertilizer, Real World’s clover blend would grow in his very rocky soil or if he should plant something else. 57:07
Ryan Wisecock asks whether frost seeding clover across all 13 acres would waste time and money given he’ll no-till drill beans and Deadly Dozen later, and if COBRA would help. 68:38

cold-weather

Don says he’s glad he has Real World soybeans and NutriCrave corn planted for his deer as a cold snap moves in. 5:28

company-growth

Duane says Real World’s goal from day one was to become the best and biggest food plot company, and it has grown every year since starting. 3:53

company-history

Don says Real World would not be what it is today without Dwayne, recalling the partnership began about fifteen years ago when he nervously walked into Dwayne’s office. 78:27

company-origin

Don recalls feeling nervous walking into Duane Hopkins’s office to pitch the idea of starting a new food plot seed company. 2:04

corn

Duane explains that weed pressure on corn at the three-to-four-leaf stage will cause the crop to fail. 27:55
Duane explains row-planted corn needs even spacing so each plant gets equal sunlight, water, and nutrition. 30:21

deadly-dozen

Lee De Smith asks what to plant in the spring to keep his Deadly Dozen plot from lying fallow until fall, and when to eventually rotate out of Deadly Dozen. 59:45

episode-structure

Terry announces that because the corn/spring plot discussion ran long, the fall food plot products topic will be covered in a later episode. 53:48

mineral-supplementation

Rich Highly asks whether it makes sense to spread Maximizer Deer Mineral onto food plots like a fertilizer so deer get nutritional benefit. 63:53

nutrition

Don says working with captive research deer taught him how important year-round nutrition is, not just nutrition during antler-growing season. 48:22

soil-testing

Duane recommends food plotters use private soil-testing labs such as KSI Labs in Shelbyville, Illinois, since ag testing kept operating through COVID. 74:31
Duane recommends spending $7 to $10 on a soil sample, calling it the best money a food plotter can spend. 74:45
Don says he has personally used KSI Labs, which is near him, for soil testing. 76:07

soybeans

Terry says soybeans are probably the easiest and most user-friendly ag-type food plot product available to food plotters. 39:28
Don explains soybeans are so attractive to deer that a small plot with a sizable deer herd will simply get wiped out. 41:30

Deer activity

unnamed buck (harvest) 2:57
unnamed buck (sighting) 20:48
unnamed buck (trail-camera) 21:36
unnamed buck (harvest) 59:33

Listener questions

Question: Jared Barr from Meadville, Pennsylvania asks whether, with proper fertilizer, Real World’s clover blend would grow in his very rocky soil or if he should plant something else. 57:07 — asked by Jared Barr

Answer: Duane recommends the deep-rooted Real World clover and chicory blend as a good choice for rocky soil, alongside a proper soil test. 57:49

Question: Terry asks Don how long alfalfa can be left growing in the same plot before it needs to be rotated out. 11:59

Answer: Don says getting five years out of an alfalfa planting is doing fantastic. 12:05
Answer: Don says four to five years is typical for an alfalfa stand, after which growers must rotate to a different crop rather than replant alfalfa. 12:09

Question: Lee De Smith asks what to plant in the spring to keep his Deadly Dozen plot from lying fallow until fall, and when to eventually rotate out of Deadly Dozen. 59:45 — asked by Lee De Smith

Answer: Duane suggests planting soybeans in spring, since Deadly Dozen can later be drilled right over the top of them in late summer. 60:10
Answer: Duane says by year three, Deadly Dozen’s quality begins to decline, making that the point to swap in something else for a season. 61:05
Answer: Don adds that a spring clover option would also add nitrogen to the soil ahead of the fall Deadly Dozen planting. 61:30

Question: Ryan Wisecock asks whether frost seeding clover across all 13 acres would waste time and money given he’ll no-till drill beans and Deadly Dozen later, and if COBRA would help. 68:38

Answer: Duane says the clover could offer early ground cover and help control weeds ahead of the no-till beans. 69:22
Answer: Duane says his only concern is the added expense of frost seeding clover before killing it off to plant soybeans. 69:43
Answer: Don agrees frost seeding clover ahead of the Deadly Dozen planting would be a great combination, unlike ahead of the soybeans. 70:32

Question: Rich Highly asks whether it makes sense to spread Maximizer Deer Mineral onto food plots like a fertilizer so deer get nutritional benefit. 63:53 — asked by Rich Highly

Answer: Duane recommends keeping fertilizer and mineral programs separate, using a targeted fertilizer analysis for the plants rather than spreading mineral as fertilizer. 65:07
Answer: Don calls the idea terrible, arguing the same money spent on fertilizer instead of mineral would produce far better results. 65:53

Don and Duane discussed Real World’s origins, with Don recalling his nervous pitch to Duane about fifteen years ago that led to the company’s growth. They covered forage specifics: alfalfa as a high-maintenance but productive “queen of forages” vulnerable to the potato leafhopper, chicory’s above-average calcium, and soybeans as an easy, highly attractive but heavily grazed option. Duane recommended private soil testing, such as KSI Labs, for $7 to $10, calling it money well spent, which Don echoed from personal use. Listener questions drove much of the episode: Jared Barr asked about clover in rocky soil, Terry asked about alfalfa rotation timing, Lee De Smith asked about spring plantings ahead of Deadly Dozen, Ryan Wisecock asked about frost seeding clover, and Rich Highly asked about spreading mineral as fertilizer, which Duane and Don both discouraged. Don also reflected on lessons from captive deer research about year-round nutrition.

Unofficial fan project. AI-synthesized from public episodes; may contain errors.