Cool-season vs. warm-season forages for deer food plots
By Matt Tarr, Whitetail Stewards, Inc.
What do the terms cool-season and warm-season mean?
The terms cool-season and warm-season refer to the specific time of year that a particular forage germinates and is growing actively. The temperature of both the soil and air are important for stimulating plants to either begin active growth or to slow growth and become dormant.
Why are these terms important?
It is important to know whether the forages you are planting are either cool-season or warm-season plants. This determines not only when to plant the forage, but when that forage will be useful to deer. Deer have different demands for nutrition in each season of the year. (Click to view a list of seasonal nutritional demands of deer) If you want to improve the quality and health of deer in your area, it is important to plant a variety of forages that mature a different times of the year. Planting a combination of cool-season and warm-season forages will allow you to accomplish this.
Cool-season forages
Cool-season forages begin growing when air and soil temperatures are below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. They either stop growing (i.e., go dormant) or die when temperatures rise above 60 degrees F. Cool-season forages can be either annuals or perennials.
Cool-season annuals
Cool-season annual forages have one peak of active growth each year:
forages are planted and germinate in the fall
forages go dormant or growth slows in winter
forages begin growing again in spring
forage production peaks in mid spring
forages die by summer
Importance of cool-season annuals
Cool-season annuals are often planted to attract deer to hunting food plots and to provide an early spring food source for deer. The forages are especially important for helping deer recover energy and protein lost during winter.
Cool-season perennials
Cool-season perennial forages have two peaks of active growth each year:
forage production begins in spring
forage production peaks in late spring
forages go dormant or growth slows in summer
forages have another short peak in production until a killing frost (24 degrees F) in fall
forages go dormant over winter
Importance of cool-season perennials
Cool-season perennials are especially important as a spring through early-summer food source to deer. These forages are important for providing does with the energy they need for lactation or for supporting antler development in bucks.
Warm-season forages
Warm-season forages begin growing in late-spring and early summer, when soil temperatures are above 60 degrees to 70 degrees F. Warm-season forages are either annuals or perennials. Warm-season perennials follow the same pattern of growth as warm-season annuals, except they don't die in the fall. Instead, they go dormant in winter and will grow again the following spring.
Warm-season forages have one peak of active growth each year:
forages begin growing in late-spring
forage production peaks in mid- to late-summer
forages die in winter (annuals) or go dormant in winter (perennials)
Importance of warm-season forages
Warm-season forages are especially important to deer during summer. Summer is a particularly stressful time for deer because most natural forages are low in nutritional value and are difficult to digest. Warm-season forages provide an important source of nutrition for lactating does, rapidly growing fawns and for antler production in bucks.
Which forages are cool-season and which are warm-season?
