The Pros and Cons of Corn and Soybeans

Nowadays, there seems to be hundreds of choices when it comes to food sources for managing whitetail on a piece of property. Year after year, new companies pop out of the woodwork offering "The Best Food Plot Seed For Growing Big Bucks" or "The Best Bang For Your Buck Food Plot Seed."

There are so many choices when it comes to food plots and food sources for deer, but two tried and true types of food still hold the rank of the best food for whitetail: Corn and Soybeans. The age-old question though, is which one reigns supreme?

Listen to the full discussion: 

 The Pros and Cons of Corn

Corn is hands down the food source of choice when it comes to whitetail deer. They will choose corn over most other types of food 9 times out of 10, but it has its drawbacks.

Pros:

• Corn attracts deer from all over when the temps start dropping
• Standing corn provides great bedding cover
• Corn is high in protein and other nutrients necessary for deer growth and development
• Standing corn allows for cleaner access when walking into a stand
• A combine mowing through a row of standing corn is like a dinner bell for any deer in the immediate area

Cons:

• Deer don't start consistently hitting cornfields for food until a couple of weeks into the season
• The sea of corn rows makes putting eyes on deer in the field next to impossible
• You have to cut shooting lanes in standing corn if you want to shoot the field
• The upfront cost is more than a traditional food plot
• You have to have a decent chunk of land if you want to be THE destination food source

The Pros and Cons of Soybeans

It is hard to beat soybeans as a destination food source. In the warm season and extreme cold, deer will flock to bean fields from all over, but they have drawbacks as well.

Pros:

• Standing soybeans are a great food source for the early season and late season
• You can shoot the entire bean field without mowing anything down
• Soybeans are really high in protein and other nutrients necessary for deer growth and development while in velvet
• Green soybeans offer enough height for bedding cover but aren't too high to limit visibility.
• A combine mowing through a row of soybeans is like a dinner bell for any deer in the immediate area

Cons:

• Deer will hit green soybean fields but will shift as soon as they turn brown
• You have to wait for a cold snap in the latter part of the season for deer to start hitting standing beans
• Once the beans are cut in the late season, deer will start transitioning to cut corn fields
• They do not provide enough cover for clean access to a stand along a field edge
• You have to have a decent chunk of land if you want to be THE destination food source 

Conclusion:

Both corn and soybeans are great destination food sources for your farm and are great locations for gathering trail camera data, but if you had to pick one, corn is king. Soybeans are a great attractant for deer, but they are ignored from the time they turn brown in September/October until a drastic cold front hits in the late season. Corn on the other hand attracts deer all season long for food, bedding, and security cover. 

Destination food sources are great to have if you have the acreage for them, but a balanced approach to food on your farm will yield greater results. Mixing corn and/or soybeans with some type of green food like a brassica, clover, or winter wheat will provide a greater variety of food to last the entire season for your deer heard.

Adding small food plots with these green food sources in between bedding and destination food sources can be deadly for getting a shot at your target buck in the daylight.

Written by: Lucas Jones