Forage Shortfalls

Forage Shortfalls

The best place to look at real world examples of what optimal nutrition does to a deer's antler potential is to look at deer farms trying to maximize antler growth.  Obviously, there are differences in genetics from pen raised deer to wild deer but to grow the amount of antler some of these huge bucks grow, they need the absolute best nutrition available.  Looking at the rations these deer are fed, they are getting over 16% protein which can be comparable in forage, but the huge difference is in copper, zinc, and manganese. 

Most deer farm rations contain:

1.6-2.1% Calcium

0.8-1.1% Phosphorus

50ppm Copper

200ppm Manganese

200ppm Zinc

Based on historic data going back to 2004, common values for a variety of common forages across the US are as follows:

Soy Beans                                                 Alfalfa                                        Brassicas             

1-1.6% Calcium                                1.1-1.6% Calcium                           0.9-2.2% Calcium

0.24-0.4% Phosphorus                  0.26-0.4% Phosphorus               0.21-0.55% Phosphorus

7-11ppm Copper                          6.3-13.7ppm Copper                       2.9-8ppm Copper

41-103ppm Manganese             11.3-81ppm Manganese             23-153ppm Manganese

17-46ppm Zinc                                  1.7-54ppm Zinc                             0-196ppm Zinc

These numbers show the range that can be seen in these key minerals in common forage planted for deer.  Levels can only get so high before they become toxic to plants and decrease the quality of the forage so there is a delicate balance between providing as much nutrition to deer as possible while not hurting the plant.  Testing can show deficiencies and allow you to supplement the plant with the needed nutrients to then supplement deer that feed on the forage.  Are you ever going to get to the same nutrient levels of the best antler building feeds like deer farms?  Probably not but we can increase the key nutrients in the soil and by foliar application to get closer to those optimal levels.