05/28/2026
Want to try a new addition to your Deer food plots this year? 🦌For a change of pace, try growing chicory – a tough cool-season perennial crop that is a preferred deer forage – in your next fall food plot.
This nutritious broadleaf crop is actually in the sunflower family, but looks more like the common w**d plantain. Chicory is an herb and develops a rather deep tap-root that prefers loamy, well-drained soils. While chicory was originally used as a coffee substitute, it has now become a dynamic tool in food plots for land managers. The leaves of chicory are highly digestible and carry a protein level of anywhere between 15 and 30 percent. Chicory is quickly becoming a favorite among landowners and hunters due to its ability to tolerate acidic soils, withstand drought, and crowd out potential w**d competition. Deer also seem to be quite fond of it
