Andy,

While in college, I remember learning about Liebig’s Law of the Minimum. It’s simply a principle developed in the early 1800’s that states “growth is controlled not by the total of resources available, but by the scarcest resource (limiting factor).”

As an illustration, a plant could be attempting to grow in an area that had ample nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K). However, if there is no iron available, the plant will not be very productive. Iron is required to form chlorophyll (for photosynthesis). Therefore, even though the plant has access to all the N, P, and K (macronutrients or nutrients that are required by plants in a high volume), its growth will be severely limited because trace amounts of iron are not available.

Many food plot farmers only test the soil in their plots to determine how much N, P, and K are available. For a few more dollars good labs, like Waters Ag, will test for the macronutrients (N, P, and K) and the most critical micronutrients also. Even fewer food plot farmers use a fertilizer that includes the most critical micronutrients. That is one reason (among many) that I use Antler Dirt.

Remember that plants are only nutrient transfer agents. If the nutrients aren’t available to the plant, they can’t be transferred to the deer. The productivity of deer (antlers and fawns, among other measures) can be limited due to the lack of trace elements. I refer to Liebig’s Law of the Minimum as the “low hole in the bucket.” As a manager, I can plug several holes, but if I don’t plug the lowest hole, the deer herd can’t express its full potential. The best deer managers constantly strive to plug the lowest hole.

Yes, I always direct my limited food plot budget to correcting the pH before spending resources on other limited nutrients. pH is often a low hole in the food plot bucket!

Growing Deer together,

Grant