“Got Protein?” – PowerPlant™ Delivers!

By Jon Cooner

“Protein!”  Any time antler growth is discussed, the conversation always includes protein, and the reason is simple – protein is vital if a buck is to maximize his rack size.  If you are looking to maximize the amount of protein available to your deer during the critical 200-day antler-growing season of spring and summer, you need look no further than Imperial PowerPlant. 

What is it about protein that’s so crucial during this time of year?  There are a number of reasons. 

Bucks are beginning to re-grow their antlers in spring.  The first stage of antler growth is the development of the “velvet” antler, which is comprised of up to 80% protein (collagen) and a hardened antler is 45% protein.  Later in the antler-growing season, bucks will deposit minerals on this velvet matrix, hardening it until it is solid.  The first step, though, is to grow the size of the velvet antler as much as a buck’s genetic makeup will allow.

And protein is not critical in antler formation alone.  Although we commonly refer to the 200-day stretch of spring and summer as the “antler growing” period, one should not assume that antler-growth is the only natural process that heavily relies on protein.  During this same period, protein is equally critical to the rest of the herd.  Doe milk is extremely high in nutrients, including protein.  And fawns also require high levels of protein as they rapidly grow during the spring and summer.

Exactly how much protein deer need during the spring and summer is a matter of some debate, but it is generally recognized that bucks require about 16% protein when building their antlers, does about 18% when they’re lactating, and fawns up to 20% (some of which they get from their mothers’ milk).  To be clear, these are the optimum levels – amounts required if deer are to reach their genetic potential. 

Unfortunately, natural forages of spring and summer are generally low in protein – often only 3%-8%, and their availability to deer drops off sharply as August approaches in most areas.  Commercial plantings, which were developed for the cattle market, are often not much better in terms of protein content, often running only around 7-10% protein.  Even with these low protein levels and lack of availability, deer can “survive,” but a manager who wants to push his deer as far as their genetic blueprints allow will have to supplement the protein shortfall. 

The first step in providing deer with supplemental protein is to plant high-protein perennial food plots.  Whitetail Institute perennial blends, such as Imperial Whitetail Clover, “Chic” Magnet, Chicory Plus, Alfa-Rack Plus, and Extreme can provide deer with as much as 44% protein.  PowerPlant, though, can be an excellent supplement to Imperial forages and, in some cases, even a viable alternative.

Savvy managers recognize that high-protein annual plantings, used in conjunction with perennials, can yield major benefits.  The more high-protein food sources deer have available, the more likely they will access all the protein they need.  Also, providing deer with a forage that’s highly attractive and also doubles as cover during the spring and summer can help hold deer on the property, and even influence travel patterns to a certain extent.  Finally, adding a top-quality, high-volume source of protein during the spring and summer can even increase the carrying capacity of the land.

These needs prompted the Whitetail Institute to develop PowerPlant.  PowerPlant is extremely prolific and can generate literally tons of high-quality, high-protein forage during the antler-growing period of spring and summer. As a matter of fact in an independent study by Michigan State University, PowerPlant produced the highest amount of tonnage of all tested plants.  Unlike other spring/summer deer annuals on the market, PowerPlant is specifically designed to be used as forage by deer.  This point may seem minor at first, until one investigates a little further.  Let’s start with a quick comparison of the differences between types of forage plants, specifically agricultural varieties historically planted for deer, and true forage varieties, such as are included in Imperial PowerPlant.

Agricultural soybeans, for example, do offer high protein.  However, their utility is less than optimum when they are used as a deer forage.  Agricultural soybean plants quickly become “stemmy” and unpalatable to deer as they mature and the amount of lignen in their stems increases.  They also don’t tolerate grazing very well, often either being completely wiped out in short order or, in the case of agricultural soybeans for example, dying as soon as they are bitten off by deer.  These are not necessarily flaws, but products of the purpose for which they were engineered – for optimum bean and pea production, not as a high-protein grazing source.   

In contrast, the forage varieties of beans, peas and LabLab in PowerPlant are highly graze-tolerant, and once they are established, they can continue to vigorously grow even after being bitten off by a deer.  In addition, PowerPlant’s forage plants do not become stemmy as they mature the way agricultural varieties do, but remain tender and palatable throughout their lives.   

And PowerPlant is not only of benefit to deer.  The forage plants in PowerPlant grow extremely quickly, and in order to maximize production, the Institute includes small amounts of structural plants in the blend to allow the forage vines to climb.  These include sunflowers and an extremely high-quality wildlife sorghum, chosen not only for their ability to act as a lattice for the vining forage plants but also for the benefit their seeds provide other wildlife.  As a result, PowerPlant grows to a thick mass of high-protein forage, in which deer will often bed as well as feed, and in which turkeys often nest and raise their poults       

So far, we’ve talked about using PowerPlant in conjunction with Imperial perennials.  But, are there times when a planter might elect to go with PowerPlant alone?  The answer is an unqualified, “Yes!”

PowerPlant can be an option if you have poor soil that is less than optimum for planting Imperial Whitetail Clover or Alfa-Rack Plus.  PowerPlant can also withstand hot, dry summer conditions if it gets some rain during the first few weeks after planting.  The key in such situations is to plant early enough to take advantage of the last rains of spring and early summer, but not so early that you run any risk that the newly planted PowerPlant will be subjected to a late frost.  And what if you’ve missed your spring planting dates for your favorite Imperial perennial?  In such cases, PowerPlant can be a great option for providing your deer with critical protein during the spring and summer until you can plant your perennials in the fall. 

Again, remember that PowerPlant is an annual blend.  It is designed to spend all it has during the 200-day antler-growing period, and it will provide cover and forage until the first frosts of fall.  However, your PowerPlant plot does not have to remain dormant for the rest of the year. Disking your PowerPlant in a few weeks before your fall planting dates, and then planting No Plow or Winter-Greens can be a great option for those seeking to keep the plot going year-round.  In such cases, it is fairly common for the beans and peas in PowerPlant to sprout after having been disked under, providing No Plow or Winter-Greens with an additional cover crop during its early stages.

PowerPlant is also easy to plant.  Start in early spring by performing a soil test.  For optimum results, PowerPlant should be planted in a seedbed where soil pH is at least 6.0 and with as little weed and grass competition as possible. 

Be sure to use a proper soil test kit – one that sends soil off to a lab, and not the prove- or slurry-type do-it-yourself kids, which aren’t consistently accurate.  Then in early spring, add any lime recommended by your soil-test report to the surface of the plot.  As soon as possible in early spring, disk the lime thoroughly in to the top few inches of soil, and smooth the seedbed with a heavy, fence-type drag.  Try to do this before spring green-up if possible.

In areas subject to heavy weed and grass invasion, a great option can be to wait several weeks after spring green-up for weeds and grasses to return, and then spray the seedbed with a glyphosate herbicide such as RoundUp.  In many areas there are literally millions of dormant weed and grass seeds in the ground, and when you till the soil, you will almost certainly bring many to the surface where they will germinate and grow.  By tilling in lime and smoothing the seedbed early before green-up, you can allow these weeds and grasses to return and then control them with RoundUp before planting PowerPlant.  This is not a mandatory step, but remember that you will be fertilizing your PowerPlant with nitrogen fertilizer, which can also stimulate weed and grass growth, so if you are concerned that weeds and grass might compete with your PowerPlant during its early stages, spraying with RoundUp before planting can be a great idea.

A 50-lb. bag of PowerPlant will plant between 1-1/2 and two acres. In areas of high deer densities, plant 50 lbs. per 1-1/2 acres. In spite of its prolific growth, PowerPlant, too, can be overgrazed if subjected to extreme grazing. In such cases, plant larger areas and plant early.

Since its introduction, PowerPlant has continued to prove itself a winner.  Independent academic studies have confirmed that of the available spring / summer annuals on the market for deer, PowerPlant outperforms them all.  If you are looking for a blend to provide maximum protein, unsurpassed graze tolerance even during the hot summer months when natural forages dry up, PowerPlant is the answer.  No other annual food plot planting, branded or generic, can compare.