How to Use AI to Perfect Your Food Plot

 

How to Use AI to Perfect Your Food Plot

By PJ DelHomme

Food plots have become essential for wildlife management, particularly for hunters looking to attract and sustain healthy animal populations. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), creating the perfect food plot has become more science than guesswork. The days of spray and pray are gone. This article explores how you can leverage AI to optimize your food plot planning and execution. Be sure to watch our latest SMART Tips and Tricks video series, which has a great video outlining step-by-step how to use AI in your food plot planning.

Before we dive in, let’s talk about how AI works. Chances are, you’ve already experienced AI in your daily life. Google Maps uses it to optimize your commute. Netflix uses it to suggest movies that you might like. And your email filters use it to keep spam at a minimum. AI even uses what is called a chatbot, which is a computer program designed to simulate conversation with a human. Ask the chatbot a question, and it responds.

Without getting too far into the weeds on how AI works, just know that AI processes large amounts of data and recognizes patterns to make predictions and solve problems. AI learns from experience, adjusting its answers based on successes and failures to improve over time. If you’re still skeptical, we can’t blame you. It’s a relatively new technology that isn’t always accurate. Even so, let’s use AI to create the ultimate food plot. Maybe you’ll be convinced when you see that wall hanger on your trail camera next fall.

Using AI-Integrated Programs

Several software programs now incorporate AI to help land managers create customized food plots. One example is the Smart Mix calculator, which uses AI algorithms to generate tailored seed mixes based on your property’s specific characteristics and your management goals. In all honesty, it sounds more complicated than it is. Let’s walk through it.

How to use Smart Mix

1. Go to SmartMix and create a free account
2. Follow the online prompts to input detailed information about your property, including location, number of acres, soil type, and climate conditions.
3. Specify your management goals, such as attracting deer and turkeys or providing year-round forage.

The AI program then processes this information to recommend an optimal seed mix and fertilizer application tailored to your unique situation. Keep in mind that this process costs nothing. You can learn a lot by just plugging in your info. If you purchase the mix, the program will show you the cost per pound and acre. If you like it, pay up, and have it shipped to your house.

How to Use ChatGPT or other AI Programs

If you want to show your kids how tech-savvy you are, you can use a free AI program like Chat GPT to provide results similar to those of the SmartMix application. Think of ChatGPT as your know-it-all uncle and have a conversation with it. Ask it questions. Then, ask follow-up questions to help refine the answer. Be warned, it sometimes makes things up to sound smart. Other free AI programs like Perplexity and Claude might better suit your needs. You can use the AI chatbots in any of these programs to create custom food plot plans. Here’s how to approach this:

1. The first info you will need is your soil sample results. This will take some time, so get that done ASAP. You can send in a sample to a place like the Whitetail Institute or contact your local Extension Service.
2. Once you have your soil sample results, create a free account with any of the AI programs listed.
3. In the search bar, clearly state your goals and property details. (See the example below).
4. Provide specific information about your location, plot size, and environmental conditions.
5. Include soil sample results and any limiting factors (e.g., drought-prone area, no irrigation).
6. Ask for recommendations on seed mixtures, planting ratios, and fertilizer applications.

Here’s an example of what you can input into the search bar:

“I’m planting a food plot in South Dakota near Piedmont. It’s a two-acre plot on a wooded ridge. I’d like to plant in late spring to provide forage for deer and turkeys. The area is prone to drought, and I can’t irrigate. My soil sample shows [enter specific pH and nutrient levels here]. Can you recommend a seed mixture and ratios for two acres that meet my goals? Also, what fertilizer and lime should I apply?”

The AI program will then generate recommendations based on this information, suggesting a mix of grains, brassicas, clover, chicory, sorghum, and sunflowers to provide year-round nutrition and cover for various wildlife species.

If you have no experience with AI and chatbots, it will initially seem overwhelming. Remember that using it has several advantages, including custom recommendations, increased efficiency, and reduced cost.

At the same time, there are some things to remember about AI. First, it’s not perfect. Always cross-reference its answers with local expertise (neighbors, feed stores, county extension offices, etc). Keep on top of your soil testing to monitor nutrients. AI can’t dig holes and send away soil samples…yet.

Like it or not, AI is here to stay. It’s revolutionizing everything from medical treatments to accounting. Food plots and land management aren’t immune. Whether using specialized AI-integrated programs or leveraging general AI chatbots, this technology can help you create optimized food plots for your specific property and wildlife management goals.

Watch Land Management – How to Improve Your Hunting Property

PJ DelHomme writes and edits content from western Montana. He runs Crazy Canyon Media and Crazy Canyon Journal.