Poor Food Plot Performance – 3 Simple Solutions to Common Problems

Poor Food Plot Performance – 3 Simple Solutions to Common Problems

For many of us in the Florida Panhandle, managing land for and hunting deer are two of the pastimes that we’ll spend the most time and money on each year.  I greatly enjoy spending time in the woods and value the opportunity to fill the freezer with high-quality protein and occasionally hang a trophy rack on the wall.  Managing a deer herd isn’t without its annoyances though.  One of the main complaints I hear each winter from hunters is regarding their food plots not performing as well as they’d like.  While all manner of things could be at fault, there are three common reasons for poor food plot performance and a few possible solutions to each – let’s take a look.

  1. Not doing your soil homework.  Crops of all kinds, winter food plot forages like small grains, clovers, and ryegrass included, perform best when their pH and nutrition needs are met.  The only way to ensure that your food plot plants’ needs are being met is to perform a soil test well before planting.  Soil tests show the actual levels of various nutrients (N, P, K, and other essential elements) and pH in your food plots.  It is important to remember that even if your soil fertility is adequate or you plan to get it there through fertilizer applications, those nutrients are only available for plants to uptake if your pH is correct (a pH of around 6.5 is ideal for winter grasses and legumes).  If your pH is low and needs adjusting, make sure to apply lime several months in advance as it takes time to change your soil’s chemistry.
  • Not harvesting enough deer.  Even when hunters do all the above correctly, forage performance sometimes lags.  This can be a strong indication that too many deer are using the food plot.  Stocking rates for deer are difficult to determine because there are many variables involved (native vegetation in your area, hunting pressure around you, etc.).  However, if exclusionary cages show quality forage growth, food plots are adequately large, and your forage still struggles, it is likely as simple as too many deer using the forage available. Harvesting only a buck or two a year and no does isn’t going to solve the problem either.  In this situation, the solution is often as simple as taking advantage of Florida’s anterless deer harvest periods (doe weekends) to harvest some does, applying for antlerless deer permits if your property meets the qualifications for that program, and filling your freezer with more tasty, nutritious venison. 

While there can be many causes for poor winter food plot performance, most hunters can improve their forage situation by simply soil testing and amending accordingly ahead of planting, enlarging food plots where possible, and harvesting a few more deer than they have previously.  For more information about winter food plots and any other wildlife management topic, contact your local UF/IFAS Extension office.  Happy Hunting!

A New Camera Trap Monitoring Program for Private Landowners

A New Camera Trap Monitoring Program for Private Landowners

A deer darting across a path, a bobwhite calling at sunrise, or the tracks of a coyote in the mud are all fascinating examples of how we enjoy our natural areas. Have you ever wished you could watch wildlife all day to understand the intricate relationships they have with one another? What if you could learn more about their behavior? And their habitat and daily activities?

Deer captured on a digital game camera. Image: Dr. Carolina Barzzui.


Dr. Carolina Baruzzi at the UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center and Dr. Corey Callaghan at the UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center are launching “ConservationCam”, a new extension program to help you monitor wildlife on your property using camera traps.


Camera traps are a valuable tool for wildlife monitoring. When an animal moves in front of a camera, they trigger a motion sensor to take a picture or video. Camera traps can be set up in multiple ways to target a species or habitat of interest, such as a forest opening or a wildlife burrow. Thanks to their versatility and relative low cost, camera traps are being used in a variety of contexts, for example, understanding the effects of wildlife or habitat management on target species.

Images of turkeys captured on a digital game cam. Image: Dr. Carolina Barzzui.


The primary goal of ConservationCam is to provide private landowners with access to camera traps, and expert guidance about monitoring wildlife and managing natural resources for biodiversity based on camera trap observations. Armed with this knowledge, landowners can make informed decisions about land management practices that positively impact biodiversity on their property. If you live in the Florida Panhandle, and are interested in using camera traps to monitor wildlife on your property, while learning how to answer different ecological questions, we are gathering expressions of interest through this online form.


Rabbit near a burrow on a digital game came. Image: Dr. Carolina Barzzui.
Two Upcoming Forestry Educational Events in September

Two Upcoming Forestry Educational Events in September

Walton County Extension will be hosting two forestry events in September. These events are available to all in the Panhandle interested in forestry and forestry-related topics. The events have been planned to cover requested information from landowners and extension clients. The events offer excellent opportunities to receive information and see forest practices in the field. Here is the information you need to know to attend these events.

Sandhill pine forest at Blackwater River State Park

September 14-Forestry Toolbox: First Steps in Forestry

On September 14th a Forestry Toolbox series will be hosted at the Walton County office. This is a new series created by Ian Stone to help landowners understand forest management tools and techniques and add them to their “Forestry Toolbox”. The last in this series was in May focusing on vegetation management and cost shares for forestry practices. This next installment will be First Steps in Forestry and is designed for landowners that may be new to forestry or forest management or for landowners that need a good refresher on the core concepts. To help reach a broad audience this program is being offered in a hybrid format with an in-person option at the extension office and an online attendance option through Zoom. Mark your calendars for Thursday September 14th from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Central Time and sign up on Eventbrite through https://www.eventbrite.com/e/forestry-toolbox-first-steps-in-forestry-tickets-703588832137?aff=ebdssbdestsearch .

September 21-Florida Land Steward Tour-Little Creek Woods Property of Bob Reid and Betsy Clark

The second event will be a Florida Land Steward Field Tour on September 21st  hosted through the Florida Land Steward Program at UF. This program is a joint funded extension program focused on forest stewardship around the state. Without the generosity of Walton County Landowners Bob Reid and Betsy Clark, we would not have access to their amazing Little Creek Woods property. Bob Reid is a landowner that is a long-range thinker and driven conservationist, who is passionate about longleaf pine and restoring the native longleaf pine ecosystem on his property over the next 300 years to what it might have been like when early explorers arrived. This will be an excellent opportunity to see the hard work, planning, and monetary input it takes to manage longleaf properly for ecological restoration. The Tour and Program are a joint project between Walton Forestry Agent Ian Stone and Florida Land Steward Coordinator Chris Demers. The tour will be at the property in the morning from 9-11:30 a.m. Lunch will be offered at the extension office following the program and an open forestry discussion forum and networking session will follow until 2:30 at the Walton Extension office. Find more information on the Florida Land Steward Website Events Calendar – Florida Land Steward – University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences – UF/IFAS (ufl.edu)  or sign up through Eventbrite at Florida Land Steward Tour at Bob Reid and Betsy Clark’s Little Creek Woods Tickets, Thu, Sep 21, 2023 at 9:00 AM | Eventbrite .

Nature-Based Stormwater Solutions in the Florida Panhandle

Nature-Based Stormwater Solutions in the Florida Panhandle

Summertime always makes me think of the supermarket. At least one time each of the past few summers, I clearly remember being at the supermarket during a rainstorm and watching the water wash over the parking lot, talking with all the other people debating whether to run to their car with a buggy full of food. Supermarkets, home goods stores, medical facilities, libraries, and shopping centers all provide important services that we depend on for our everyday life, but their development has altered the natural processes that control the movement of water from the landscape to creeks and ultimately to the bays and bayous around us (collectively referred to as receiving waters). Concrete, asphalt, and building roof surfaces are impervious, meaning that water cannot pass through them. As a result, more water washes off the rooftops, parking lots, driveways, and roads than before the area was developed. Less water sinks into the ground to move slowly toward receiving waters and to recharge aquifers. More impervious surface leads to more runoff to receiving waters, resulting in greater erosion and higher levels of pollutants like nitrogen, phosphorus, and silt in these waterways. These extra pollutants from the landscape and from eroding stream banks have harmful effects many types of organisms that call these waterways home.

New development in Florida is required to include features that “treat” a fraction of the surface water that runs off impervious surfaces before flowing into receiving waters. Treating surface water runoff means holding it back and preventing it from running quickly off the developed landscape; as it is held back, some pollutants may settle out or be consumed by plants. Treatment is commonly accomplished through features like dry retention basins or wet detention ponds, where water is stored and then slowly moves through soil pathways toward receiving waters. These features are common parts of our developed landscape: the big pond behind the supermarket or in front of the new truck stop, or the grassy pit next to the gas station. While these satisfy regulations, they occupy a considerable amount of land, typically are aesthetically lacking, and may not actually reduce pollutant runoff or stormwater volume as intended. They also can be neglected and become a nuisance in the landscape.

Nature-based stormwater infrastructure projects can play an important role in protecting communities in northwest Florida from the effects of heavy rainfall that occurs periodically in the region. Nature-based stormwater projects are designed primarily to incorporate the natural processes of infiltration that occur in undeveloped areas in the developed landscape, treating stormwater by reducing volumes of surface runoff and concentrations of pollution that could otherwise flow directly into receiving waters. Depending on their design, these features can also provide aesthetic enhancements that can increase the value of properties and the overall wellbeing of the communities where they are implemented. When used in coordination, nature-based projects such as roadside treatment swales, bioretention cells, rain gardens, green roofs, and porous pavement can provide similar levels of stormwater treatment as dry retention basins and detention ponds while also enhancing the aesthetic, recreational, or functional potential of the landscape.

Local government and extension staff across northwest Florida are working to introduce more nature-based stormwater projects into the panhandle landscape. To learn more about recent demonstration projects that have been implemented in our region, visit the WebGIS project https://arcg.is/1SWXTm0.

Late Spring is Time to Go Cogongrass Hunting

Late Spring is Time to Go Cogongrass Hunting

Donn Shilling and Eldridge Wynn look over a research field of cogongrass, which has become a problem for cattle ranchers.

Cogongrass is one of our larger invasive species here in the Panhandle, and spring is a good time to detect and treat it. If you know or suspect your property may have cogongrass, spring is the best time to hunt it down and locate the spots and infested areas. It is also a great time to patrol your property boundaries as well to see if you have any that may be coming onto your property from a neighbor or right of way. Cogongrass seems to love fencerows and right of ways as it spreads easily on equipment through its tough rhizomes. One of the best ways to prevent large infestations from taking over portions of your property and creating a significant control cost is to catch it early. The key to this is to identify and mark small spots before they expand; and then follow up with herbicide treatment once to twice a year. Spring is an excellent time to go and scout for cogongrass and get a jump on this invasive for several reasons.

A relatively new patch of cogongrass recently found in Washington County. Photo Credit: Mark Mauldin

One feature of cogongrass that is very distinctive is the seed head. In spring cogongrass flowers and puts up a cottony white seed head. These seed heads look like an elongated fluffy white tuft on a tall stalk. Once you have seen them for the first time you will instantly recognize this invasive grass. If cogongrass has been mowed, it can sometimes be hard to spot especially in a pasture. In spring the seed heads will quickly draw your attention to an area infested with this grass. It is very distinctive, and you do not see other grasses with this type of seed head the same time of year.

Other distinguishing features of cogongrass include a bright green color sometimes with red edges. In the spring the new growth of cogongrass is very prominent and stands out due to its bright color and usually faster growth compared to other grasses. The midrib of the grass blade is also usually offset to one side, another identifying feature. If you have a shovel handy you can dig up a small amount and you will notice thick rhizomes with sharp pointed tips. Once you learn to identify cogongrass and know what you are looking for; you can go out on your spring cogongrass patrol to identify any areas of infestation.

Cogongrass shown here with seedheads – more typically seen in the spring. If you suspect you have cogongrass in or around your food plots please consult your UF/IFAS Extension Agent how control options. Photo credit: Mark Mauldin

Once you have identified an infestation you need to do three things: mark the impacted area with a flag or other noticeable method, record the location (by description or GPS), and develop a treatment plan. Marking and recording the location of cogongrass infestations, especially a small spot that is new, is critical to the success of control efforts. Cogongrass is tough and requires multiple treatments with herbicide to effectively control it and hopefully eliminate the infestation. This means you need to know where a patch is, be able to relocate and monitor it, and consistently treat the same spot to ensure you achieved complete control. Cogongrass control is easier when the spot is small and has not become well established. With small spots it can be difficult to locate the spot again the next year, especially after a round of herbicide treatment, so good marking combined with a GPS location or description is essential. Once you have gone back to a spot several years and the spot has not come back after treatment; you can consider the spot controlled. If you stop treatment and monitoring before cogongrass has been controlled for several years, the infestation will return from remaining rhizomes and spread all over again.

Consistent treatment with effective herbicides is the best way to ensure cogongrass is controlled on your property. If you locate some while scouting this spring be prepared to start a treatment program. Cogongrass responds to herbicides with the active ingredients glyphosate or imazapyr. These can be used alone or in combination. The spring and fall are the two treatment windows that are most effective. If you treat in the early spring when new growth is vulnerable you can sometimes prevent seed heads from maturing. You can also get some control that can help prevent heavy growth over the summer, which can be an advantage if you have to mow or maintain the area. Spring treatment is usually best accomplished with glyphosate alone, imazapyr alone or a mixture of both can be used.

Once we progress into summer, treatments with herbicide will mostly top kill the grass and do not provide effective control. Treatment in the fall with imazapyr alone or in combination is the most effective treatment method. If you identify infestations in the spring you can mark them and come back in the fall to get the most bang for your buck with treatments. You can apply a spring and fall treatment in one year if you want to accomplish some control in the spring, but this method is not necessarily more effective than the fall treatment alone. When using imazapyr herbicide you should be aware that this is soil active and has the potential to damage surrounding vegetation and hardwood trees that are in and near the treatment area. Pines are tolerant of imazapyr but can be damaged if high rates are used, and longleaf pine is more sensitive than others. When treating cogongrass with imazapyr be aware that damage to other vegetation could occur. If the cogongrass is in an area with hardwood trees or other sensitive vegetation glyphosate alone is a good alternative herbicide treatment. When using any herbicide be sure to read and follow the label correctly, follow all label directions, and wear proper protective equipment. There are several IFAS EDIS publications on cogongrass control which provide more detailed information: for control in pasture areas follow this link SS-AGR-52/WG202: Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) Biology, Ecology, and Management in Florida Grazing Lands (ufl.edu) and for control in forested areas follow this link FR342/FR411: Biology and Control of Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) in Southern Forests (ufl.edu) . If you identify cogongrass on your property these publications will help you develop a treatment plan to control it. Early detection and treatment when infestations are small is key to getting this nasty invasive under control. Take advantage of this spring to identify, mark, and treat any cogongrass that may be getting a foothold on your property before it becomes a major infestation.