An evaluation of three cool-season perennial forages for white-tailed deer and efficacy of milorganite to protect agronomic and ornamental plants from deer damage

I conducted a series of experiments assessing the palatability of deer supplemental forages and repellency of Milorganite on agronomic and ornamental plantings. Durana white clover (Trifolium repens), Regal ladino white clover (T. repens) and MaxQ tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) supplemental food plots were planted in three physiographic regions of Georgia during November 2002. Forage production, seasonal utilization and crude protein levels of these forages were compared during the 2003 and 2004 growing seasons. Throughout the study, Durana and Regal clover had similar forage production and utilization in all regions except during the 2004 growing season when Durana produced more forage than Regal on the Coastal Plain site. The utilization of MaxQ tall fescue was lower than both clovers throughout most of the study. As expected, crude protein levels of the clovers were consistently higher than MaxQ tall fescue throughout the study. In addition to the forage study, I tested the efficacy of Milorganite as a short-term repellant on soybeans (Glycine max) in supplemental food plots in the Piedmont physiographic region and chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum morifolium) in the Ridge and Valley physiographic region of Georgia during the summer of 2003. I then assessed deer browsing intensity for a 5-week period. My data suggest that Milorganite can be used to reduce deer damage on ornamental and agronomic plants, depending on deer densities and amounts of available forage.