A Walk on the Wild Side: 2021 Cool-Season Forage Recommendations for Wildlife Food Plots in North Florida

The list of cool-season forage recommendations for wildlife in this publication includes varieties that have been tested and are known to perform well in Florida. Written by M. Wallau, A. R. Blount, J. M. Campos-Krauer, M. A. Lashley, E. Rios, J. M. B. Vendramini, J. C. B. Dubeux, Md. A. Babar, C. L. Mackowiak, and K. H. Quesenberry, and published by the UF/IFAS Agronomy Department, revised October 2021.

17 Comparing Natural Vegetation and Food Plot Preference against Supplemental Protein Pellets in Captive White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and Exotic Species

Supplemental feed is the most expensive input in the captive wildlife industries. This is due to operations utilizing high-energy pellets as supplemental feed. Low fence operations often utilize food plots with high quality vegetation to minimize cost and increase forage availability for wildlife. The objective of this study was to determine forage preference of animals in captivity, and determine the most cost effective method of supplemental feeding. Seven food plots covering 25 acres contained one of three treatments. The treatments were: a commercial blend of soybeans; a commercial blend of soybeans, sunflowers, and milo; native/unplanted. Three utilization cages were set up to inhibit wildlife access to samples within each food plot to act as a control. Height of vegetative samples, inside and outside of the utilization cages, was collected on days 30, 60, and 90 after planting. The 30-d sample showed a preference of native/unplanted vegetation over the commercial treatments, P < 0.05. However, samples taken on days 60 and 90 showed the preference shifted toward the commercial blends, P < 0.05. This browsing preference indicates stage of maturity had an impact on plant selection. Regardless of sample date, the commercial blends showed a difference of P < 0.01, selecting the soybean blend more frequently. With an increased selection of the forages in the food plots, there was a decrease in cost of purchasing feed pellets with a total savings of approximately $5,500.00 from April 5-July 5, 2019. These results suggest that white-tailed deer and exotic species in captivity prefer forages compared to pelleted feed. Supplemental feeding programs that include food plots could allow for natural feeding tendencies, while being more cost effective for operations in the captive wildlife industries.

16 Comparing Natural Vegetation and Food Plot Preference against Supplemental Protein Pellets in Captive White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and Exotic Species

Supplemental feed is the most expensive input in the captive wildlife industries. This is due to operations utilizing high-energy pellets as supplemental feed. Low fence operations often utilize food plots with high quality vegetation to minimize cost and increase forage availability for wildlife. The objective of this study was to determine forage preference of animals in captivity, and determine the most cost effective method of supplemental feeding. Seven food plots covering 25 acres contained one of three treatments. The treatments were: a commercial blend of soybeans; a commercial blend of soybeans, sunflowers, and milo; native/unplanted. Three utilization cages were set up to inhibit wildlife access to samples within each food plot to act as a control. Height of vegetative samples, inside and outside of the utilization cages, was collected on days 30, 60, and 90 after planting. The 30-day sample showed a preference of native/unplanted vegetation over the commercial treatments, P < 0.05. However, samples taken on days 60 and 90 showed the preference shifted toward the commercial blends, P < 0.05. This browsing preference indicates stage of maturity had an impact on plant selection. Regardless of sample date, the commercial blends showed a difference of P < 0.01, selecting the soybean blend more frequently. With an increased selection of the forages in the food plots, there was a decrease in cost of purchasing feed pellets with a total savings of approximately $5,500.00 from April 5-July 5, 2019. These results suggest that white-tailed deer and exotic species in captivity prefer forages compared to pelleted feed. Supplemental feeding programs that include food plots could allow for natural feeding tendencies, while being more cost effective for operations in the captive wildlife industries.

Towards a Characterization of Working Forest Conservation Easements in Georgia, USA

We examine the attributes of working forest conservation easements in Georgia. Easement contracts and baseline reports are inspected to investigate easement themes, land use types, recreation opportunities, hydrological features, and forest management activity. Easement themes are heavily weighted towards themes of protecting natural habitat and preserving the conservation values of properties. Predominant land use types include wildlife food plots, bottomland hardwoods, and planted pine stands. Common hydrological features found were small creeks/streams and ponds. Lastly, forest management was characterized as having small amounts of restrictions present, with forest management being largely similar to other unencumbered property in the southeastern USA. This information can be used as a reference for landowners interested in establishing a working forest conservation easement (WFCE) on their property as well as a tool for comparison for researchers investigating easement characteristics in other regions.

Effect of Habitat Management on Duck Behavior and Distribution During Spring Migration in Indiana

Spring migration is an important life stage for ducks because their ability to find and acquire nutrients can affect subsequent reproductive success. Therefore, providing sufficient habitat to support the energetic needs of ducks and facilitate efficient feeding is a goal of habitat management and restoration. The rapid, unpredictable flood events that regularly occur in highly modified landscapes can make habitat management challenging and justify diverse management strategies. We examined the effect of habitat management on dabbling duck behavior and distribution during spring migration in southwest Indiana. We investigated three management options for wetlands: active management, passive management, and unmanaged agricultural food plots. We assessed duck behavior and density on 14 wetlands at Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area. The agricultural food-plot areas had the lowest estimates of food availability followed by the actively managed areas; the passively managed wetlands had the greatest estimate. Dabbling duck density was greatest on the actively managed wetlands followed by food plots coming in second and passively managed wetlands third. Most dabbling ducks fed more intensively while on the passively managed wetlands followed by the actively managed and food-plot wetlands. Conservation prioritization of passively managed areas would provide larger areas for dabbling ducks to feed, but active management provides habitat regardless of climatic variability. Moving forward, wetland complexes encompassing diverse wetland management approaches would be the best option for spring-migrating waterfowl as these complexes can provide high-quality habitats and buffer against uncontrollable climactic conditions.

ANALYSIS OF PROFITABILITY OF SMALLHOLDER IRRIGATED FOOD PLOTS IN THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AFRICA

Smallholder irrigation farming is transformative to poor households as they improve livelihoods and alleviate poverty but little has been done to quantify their profitability. The present study assessed the profitability of smallholder irrigated crop farmers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and ascertained their determinants. A multi-stratified technique was employed to select 120 smallholder irrigated crop farmers. Data were analysed using gross margin and multiple regression models. Results showed that crop production is profitable. Farm experience, years spent in school, access to credit, distance to markets, and tractor use were found to have a bearing on the profitability of the irrigated crop farmers. Based on the results, crop farming is identified as crucial for jobs and poverty reduction.

Gaskell's Food Plots and the Biopolitics of the Industrial Novel

This essay uses Elizabeth Gaskell's industrial novelsMary Barton(1848) andNorth and South(1955) to chart an intersection between biopolitics, food studies, and questions of novelistic form. First, the essay develops the argument that with the emergence of population as a key cultural concern, the Victorian novel became a biopolitical form structured by an interplay between the marriage plot and what I call the “food plot.” Following Thomas Malthus's uneasy connections between reproduction and the food supply, the nineteenth-century British novel was animated by a biopolitical tension between sexuality and appetite that took the shape of an uneven relationship between the dominant marriage plot and the subordinate food plot. However, the essay goes on to argue that Gaskell's industrial fiction reworks this dynamic to expose its limits and elisions. Through its commitment to representing working-class hunger, Gaskell's industrial fiction reshapes the relationship between the food plot and the marriage plot, giving appetite a central place in Victorian narrative but also drawing attention to the problematic ways in which marriage plots push appetite to the margins. My main test case is Gaskell's first novel,Mary Barton, which deploys in order to scrutinize and finally destabilize the novelistic framework that subordinates appetite to sexuality.

A Walk on the Wild Side: 2018 Cool-Season Forage Recommendations for Wildlife Food Plots in North Florida

Forage variety recommendation for wildlife. Revised October 2019. Previous version: Blount, A., S. Olson, D. Francis, C. Mackowiak, H. Ober, J. Freeman, K. Quesenberry, R. Barnett, T. Wilson, and R. Gornto. 2013. “A Walk on the Wild Side: 2013 Cool-Season Forage Recommendations for Wildlife Food Plots in North Florida”. EDIS 2013 (11). https://journals.flvc.org/edis/article/view/88388.

The utilization and apparent ruminal digestibility of dual-purpose food plots for wildlife and cattle grazing

The objective of this study was to examine cattle and deer utilization of nine different varieties of forage cereal grains. Yield and forage quality were also determined as well as apparent ruminal digestibility of select forage cereal grains. Cattle preferred annual ryegrass, followed by the oat varieties compared to wheat varieties. Deer preferred the wheat varieties and utilized the plots for the first nine weeks of the study but utilization decreased when cattle were introduced to the area. The annual cereal rye yielded the most tons per hectare followed by wheat varieties then the oat and other rye varieties. Apparent ruminal digestibility was determined through the use of fermenters that were randomly assigned to one of the following primary forage source: 1) fescue grass hay (GH); 2) ryegrass (RYE); 3) Buck Master Wheat (BMW); or 4) Buck Forage Oat (BFO). Dry matter digestibility was greater for RYE and BMW compared to GH and BFO. Neutral detergent fiber and CP digestibility were greater for RYE and BMW compared to GH and BFO. All varieties have the ability to extend grazing but more research needs to be done to determine best management practices for common use land areas.