Ragweed is great for deer

BROOKHAVEN — Lincoln County residents may start to notice more and more ragweed growing in disturbed areas. The plant is a great protein source for deer as they enter a crucial time of the year.

Mississippi’s white-tailed deer population faces two high stress periods. The first is in late summer when plants start to lose nutritional value while does need minerals for nursing and bucks need quality food for antler growth. The second stress period comes in late winter.

Active management of native vegetation can help deer meet nutritional needs while food plots supplement the natural food deer find. Deer are ruminants and feed on a “variety of leaves, stems, and buds of shrubs and trees, lichens, mushrooms, vines, cultivated crops, and hard (acorns) and soft (fruits) mast,” according to Mississippi State Extension Service.

Forbs, flowering herbaceous plants, make up 40 percent of a deer’s diet this time of year. Ragweed is one of several native forbs you can find this time of year. The warm season annual forb can grow to three to six feet tall. It grows in colonies and spreads by seeds. The seeds stay active in the seed bank for a while and germination occurs often after fire or soil disturbance.

Little yellow flowers can be found on the ragweed from August to November while the seeds are beak shaped nutlets and can be found from September to December. Ragweed is high in deer preference and protein content.

Take the cool break this weekend to walk around your property and look for ragweed and other herbaceous plants. If you don’t see any then it may be time to manage the habitat with disturbance practices such as disking or prescribed fire.

If you are interested in learning more about habitat management on private lands visit MDWFP.com to schedule a private land site visit with MDWFP biologists.

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