MAY = PLANTING FOOD PLOTS

The arrival of May means that for rural Nebraska landowners it’s time to start thinking about planting wildlife food plots. As my good friend and fellow conservationist Pete Berthelsen, Biologist at Nebraska Pheasants Forever, puts it: “When planting wildlife food plots in the spring, there are some critical things to know such as always putting the kitchen next to the bedroom.”

Food plots, he says, are critical for pheasant management because of the relationship between mortality, food, and winter cover.

Pete says to think of winter cover as both foraging habitat (concealing feeding birds from predators) and roosting areas (where birds seek shelter from winter storms). Even in a mild winter, he adds, the closer the two covers are positioned, the more wildlife like pheasants will benefit.

Here are a couple of credible links for important information on establishing wildlife food plots on your farm, ranch or large acreage by June 1st:

http://www.nebraskapf.com/WinterCoverFoodPlots.aspx  

http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/wildlife/guides/plants/foodplots.asp

Special thanks to my friends at Pheasants Forever for the use of their pics!