August 25, 2025 • 32 mins
Mike Lindahl's journey to founding Domain Outdoors began at the intersection of two passions – competitive golf and a lifelong love of deer hunting. Raised in a family with a 55-year deer camp tradition, Mike started experimenting with food plots two decades ago, absorbing knowledge from experts and developing his own philosophy that would eventually reshape how many hunters approach habitat management.
What makes Domain Outdoors stand out isn't just their catchy product names like "Big Sexy" and "Hot Chick," but their refreshingly honest approach. As Mike explains, they often find themselves helping customers with information instead of selling products, especially when someone might be better off waiting or doing more preparation before planting. This family-owned business prioritizes customer success over profit margins, believing that when hunters succeed, everything else falls into place.
The conversation tackles several misconceptions about food plotting. First, that it requires expensive equipment – most of Domain's customers create successful plots with minimal tools, sometimes just a garden rake and determination. Second, that competing with surrounding agricultural fields is impossible – Mike reveals how strategic planting can fill nutritional gaps and attract deer even when surrounded by corn and beans. And perhaps most surprisingly, that all fertilizers work equally well – Domain's research found that 40-70% of traditional granular fertilizer is wasted, while their liquid alternatives are 6-7 times more effective.
For hunters looking to create their own "whitetail domain," Mike offers practical advice about starting small, choosing the right plants for specific situations, and focusing on sustainable food sources like their "Comeback Kid" clover blend. The real reward comes when customers harvest deer over plots they've created – something Mike describes as the best part of what they do, a celebration of the hard work and dedication that goes into food plot management.
Ready to transform your hunting property? Visit domainoutdoor.com or find their products at major retailers nationwide. Whether you're planting your first plot or improving established ones, their straightforward approach and innovative products can help create the hunting success you've been seeking.
Check us out on Facebook Hunts On Outfitting, or myself Ken Marr. Reach out and Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
this is hunts, an outfitting podcast.
I'm your host and rookie guide,ken mark.
I love everything hunting theoutdoors and all things
associated with it, from storiesto howos.
You'll find it here.
Welcome to the podcast.
Hey, how's it going?
We are very glad to have youlistening to the podcast.
(00:33):
Got another great one for you,as always.
So, liquid fertilizers what'sthe difference between them and
pellet fertilizers?
And what's better?
Is clover underrated in foodplots?
And how do you attract deer tocome and eat at your place with
great egg land all around you?
Well, these questions and morewill be answered by Mike of
(00:55):
Domain Outdoors.
Mike and the boys over at DomainOutdoors are the three H's
humble, honest and helpful inwanting to give you the tools
and products needed to createyour own whitetail domain new,
experienced or curious aboutfood plots.
This is a great episode tocheck out.
I really enjoyed talking aboutthis topic.
I recently, uh, got into makingfood plots last year and was
(01:18):
able to harvest my buck out ofit.
Out of it, uh it.
Honestly, though, working theland and establishing a great
food plot, I like that more thanI did hunting out of there.
Honestly, though, working theland and establishing a great
food plot.
I like that more than I didhunting out of there.
If you guys want to get a holdof us, reach out to myself in
any way.
You can email huntsonoutfittingat gmailcom or follow us on
Facebook, hunts on Outfitting,or find me, ken Marr.
(01:41):
All right, let's talk to Mike.
Yeah, so, mike, I know you'vedone a lot of podcasts before
and all that, but if you couldjust say who you are and where
you're from, and then we'll jumpright into it.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yeah, thanks for having me on Ken Mike Lindahl
here with Domain Outdoor.
We are a family-owned grassrootfood plot mineral fertilizer
company based out of Wisconsin.
Excited to be on the show andchat today perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So, mike, uh, you have a background in golf, is
that right?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
yeah, yeah, yeah, I uh.
I played competitive golfgrowing up and um as a younger
adult and then realized I had along ways to go and everybody
else is way better than peoplethink they are.
And I still love it.
I play golf weekly and it's apassion of mine and my wife's.
But hunting is a passion too,and I was fortunate enough to
(02:37):
kind of land on my feet in thehunting business about 13 years
ago.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So I mean, was that your?
What was your firstintroduction?
I guess to, uh, to food plots?
I mean, was it just you're onthese nice green golf turfs all
the time and you're like youknow.
I uh this interests me, andthen bring that your love of
golf and hunting together, orsince I could walk.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I grew up in a family where my dad really only hunted
with a rifle.
But I fell in love with deercamp at a very young age.
My family's had a deer camp for55 years.
I just kind of fell in lovewith it and had success early on
thanks to how I was raised andhow my family kind of approached
hunting and just kind of gotthe itch.
(03:25):
Then, I would say probably 20years ago, started dabbling with
some kind of DIY food plottingper se on our hunting ground and
from there just kind of was asponge and learned from
everybody I could learn from andworked with some awesome people
and collaborated and I stillwork with a lot of them today on
(03:47):
the growing side and theagronomy side and, um, kind of
you know my passion for deerhunting and for there's
something about seeds andgrowing stuff that if you do it
you understand it's just it hasa whole different impact.
You know, when you put the workin, you plant the seed, the seed
grows, the deer eats the plants.
It's just a kind of a fullcircle part of hunting that
(04:10):
really just stuck with me andit's something that I I love to
do and I have an eye for and,like I said, I've got some
incredible um partners that Iwork with, uh to ensure we've
got the highest quality productavailable and where I was trying
to push the envelope on newstuff.
So it's been a wild ride and Icontinue to learn every day,
(04:31):
which you often do when you'redealing with seeds and Mother
Nature.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I'm curious though too.
So you guys, you're a bit newerat the food plot thing and all
that.
You guys started the company.
Was it four or five years ago?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
now you're saying we started in 20.
Uh, actually it started in 2018, but 2019 is when we kind of
fully went.
Um, people, people started tofind out about us a little bit
and, uh, we've kind of graduallygrown every single year and, um
, continue to grow and expand.
Uh, you know, all across thecountry, very much everything
east of the rocky mountainsi've've been in the food plot
(05:08):
space for going on I want to say12 years now and I've worked
with some, like I said, somegrowers and agronomists and
whatnot that I've, you know,really trusted over the years
and work alongside and help kindof bring our vision to life.
And yeah, well, we've kind ofdone things a little differently
(05:30):
.
You know, we don't take theexpert path.
We kind of more of a learn bydoing, and, you know, listen to
our customer and continue to tryto create products that are
easy to use and effective andhelp solve some of the
challenges that we all face whenwe're planting this day and age
, whether it's a lack ofequipment or shade or poor
(05:52):
weather or whatever it might be.
We kind of try to be flexibleand adapt and help every single
consumer we can through theprocess.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, well, I mean, how important is it for people
to know when building a foodplot?
Is that for guys to realize onesize doesn't fit all?
I mean, they'll read huntingmagazines and watch something on
like, oh, this is what I haveto plant, this is how I do it.
But I mean I'm sure you knowwhere you guys sell to.
It's such a vast variety ofareas and climate and it's it's
(06:22):
it.
Yeah, just one size does notfit all.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, I hope we've done a fairly decent job with
that over the years, becausewe've sure tried to.
I've never been, or we've neverbeen, black and white when it
comes to food plotting.
I think that's a way to look atit.
I've always kind of lived inthe gray space of you know,
there's no such thing as toosmall, there's no such thing as
(06:47):
too big, there's no such thingas you have to do this or you
can't do that.
I think there's a lot ofvariables and what suits you
might be different than whatsuits me, and that's okay.
We'll approach it differentlyand we'll use different seeds
and different ways to get there,but in the end we should both
be successful, and I thinkthat's why we've got 35
(07:10):
different products, and I meanthere's so many different ways
to be successful.
And it frustrates me when I lookout into the space and see
experts or whoever they aretelling people that there's only
one way to do it and this ishow you do it, and if you don't
do it that way, you're wrong.
Um, I think that's a really badway to approach anything.
So, um, so yeah, I mean it's.
I'd say some of the most umrewarding customers are the ones
(07:35):
with the smallest equipment,the smallest food plot and the
ones that you know have success.
From what looks like nothing ispretty pretty fun to, and from
our experience, most of us startwith a garden rake and a couple
hundred square feet food plotand eventually we've got
tractors and acres of food plot.
So the natural progression offood plotting is kind of how it
(07:58):
works.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Well, yeah, exactly I like about you guys too, I've
heard just watching your videosand listen to podcasts and stuff
is the fact that you don't try.
You're trying to sell yourproduct.
Obviously you have a business,but you're not trying to shove
it down people's throats.
And I know there's some othercompanies and stuff that have
like certain feeds and all thatlike well, you got to feed this
if you want to have big bucksand this is going to grow their
(08:20):
rack right out and all that.
I mean you guys are veryupfront and honest and say you
know, some of this stuff mightnot be for you, it might not
work in your area.
I mean, you're not trying tobullshit anybody.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, I mean we, we, we try to take an honest,
straightforward, helpfulapproach.
I mean, there's plenty ofcustomer service calls or emails
we respond to, where,oftentimes, instead of selling
them the product, we providethem the information to do it
correctly.
And that means that, um, maybethey missed their window, they
(08:54):
need to do more prep, they needto do more before they, you know
, buy the seed and, you know,fail.
And where we, you know we, wehelp the customer instead of
making the sale, and that's justkind of how we do things.
Um, the beauty of beingfamily-owned is that you're,
you're on board, you know,you're not as worried about, you
know, um, gross marginpercentages.
(09:15):
You're more worried aboutcustomers being successful and
having a positive experience.
Food flooding's hard enough.
So, um, our job is to, you know, help guide them and help
educate them, and when things goright, everything else takes
care of itself.
But we've never been used carsalesmen.
We never will be.
That's not our approach or howwe do things.
(09:35):
So, right, right, wrong orotherwise, we kind of do it our
own way for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah, yeah, I like that a lot.
And then you know I was lookingat your website and it's really
neat and handy your guys's uhselection chart and how how that
works and just showing like forfeed for food plots if it's an
annual, it's perennial, like allthat.
Could you talk a little bitabout that, like it's fun.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
It's really handy tool it is a handy tool.
Yeah, we're redneck so wecouldn't quite, uh, create a
website where you click on stuffand it brings you here and
there and there.
So we just created a simplechart you can take with you, and
it tries to kind oftroubleshoot Again different
seeds do well in different typesof environments, whether it's
(10:16):
soil environments or sun orshade or parts of the country.
And that chart is kind of ahandy guide that you can print
off and take right with you tothe store, to the field or
wherever you need it, to makesure you're selecting the right
seed for the application.
Whether you're using heavyequipment or you're using a
garden rake, whether it'ssemi-shaded or it's full sun, or
whether you're planting in thespring or the fall, or it's wet
(10:37):
or it's dry, it helps kind oftroubleshoot and that's part of
our job and part of what we loveto do is help people, you know,
avoid some of the pitfalls thatwe've fallen victim to in the
past.
We often make fun of ourselves,whether it's on our podcast or
you know, when we're helpingpeople, that we've we've made
all the mistakes.
You know.
We've, we've done it and wecontinue.
(11:01):
We'll continue to do it.
It's just the nature of it thatour goal is to help you avoid
some of them, and that guide isa really slick way to help a
customer select the rightproduct for the application.
There's still more that goesinto it, obviously, with Mother
Nature and all the things, butthat's a really good start.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yeah, yeah, like I said, it's really handy and neat
.
You know, here's a questionbecause you guys are in
Wisconsin, you're in America'sdairy land.
I'm in where I live here.
It's agriculture land,everywhere A lot of big dairy
farms, and you know they'regrowing these huge fields of
corn and alfalfa and clover.
How do you compete with that?
Like what you know, would yousuggest planting in an area of
(11:42):
really great agriculture that'sgoing to set you apart a bit and
have the deer kind of chooseyou?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, a lot of our customers hunt eggs, whether
it's land they own or land theylease, or land they rent or
their friend's land or whateverit is.
They hunt egg fields Around.
Here it's typically corn andbeans primarily.
You get some alfalfa, butprimarily corn and beans, and we
use it to, you know, to abenefit, and we try to fill the
(12:11):
other gaps.
You know, as a white goat feed.
There's certain percentages oftheir diet that require
different needs.
I mean, no matter how much foodprovided they're still going to
eat.
I think it's like 15 to 20%browse.
Then they need, you know, 10 to15 percent greens and they need
(12:31):
their, their energy sources sothat no matter what you provide
them, they're still gonna makesure they're checking all their
boxes from a nutritionalstandpoint.
And in a country we we try toplay off of, you know what the
customer is dealing with.
So, for instance, on my leasethis year, my farmer's got all
beads.
So what we've done is we'vecreated a couple of little
staging plots on the corners,probably a quarter acre or so,
(12:53):
and we've planted those invarieties of clover and chicory
and a little bit of oats inthere.
So the deer will feed or stagein those in the daylight as they
move into the beans for theevening.
And on the other side of thefarm we've got a seven acre
field that we just turned intofood plots for the first time
this year and our focus therewas later in the year.
Once the beans brown and getharvested there's really not
(13:15):
much in that field for thosedeer to eat.
So we focused on that entireseven acre field for November,
december, january, february food.
So more into your turnips, yourrutabaga, your radishes,
varieties of rye and winterwheat and kind of focused on
late season.
So that's kind of how we stageor plan out a farm in egg
(13:37):
country.
We plan it based off whateverthe farmer's planting in the
gaps.
If there's corn planted, weknow early season is our
opportunity on the food sources.
So we'll plant something toattract deer earlier in the year
Because once the corn isharvested then the deer are
going to flock to that later inthe year.
Like I said, we try to fill thegap and we've had an incredible
(14:00):
amount of success hunting anegg country around wisconsin.
A lot of it is egg country.
So I would say that food plotsare as important an egg, if not
more important, to actually, youknow, have success um than in
other parts of the country.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Okay, yeah, Thanks, that answers my question
perfectly.
So I got to ask too.
A big, sexy, hot, chick sugarmama.
You know it sounds like thelocal strip club lineup.
How did you guys come up withthe name?
It sticks, you know, youremember it right.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, I mean that was , was.
That was kind of the idea.
Um, we knew to in order to, youknow, enter a category that had
been around for a long time andbe a new brand and get, get
recognized.
Um, we had to be different andwe, we were different in every
way we could be.
Um, we're not.
We didn't want to copy, wedon't want to follow anybody
else's path.
We wanted to kind of have ourown, and having some uniqueness
(14:59):
and some some pizzazz, if youwill, was one of our ways.
It's generally kind of who weare too, I mean we, you know,
that's kind of the way we dothings Now, with that said,
every product, whether while ithas its own catchy funny name,
also explains the productperfectly, which is the hardest
(15:20):
part.
Developing products is easierthan naming products, especially
when you've got a track recordlike ours, where you've got 30
products with funny names thatalso kind of match the product.
Like Big Sexy, it's going to bethe biggest, sexiest leaves and
food for you to ever see.
No BS, there's no junk in it.
It's a throw-and-grow that hasno ryegrass.
(15:41):
It's just all high-qualityseeds that are easy to grow.
Green Machine stays green, youknow, long into the fall and
winter Comeback, kid comes backevery year.
Hot Chick is, you know, one ofour fastest ground mixers but
also has chicory in it, soeverything kind of has its you
know wow factor to get yourattention.
And then once they grab the jugand see what's in it and see
(16:05):
the quality of the product andplant it and see the success,
then that was kind of the fullcircle with each product.
But yeah, it becomes more andmore challenging every year to
name the next round.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
I can tell you that yeah, Well, I really like too,
how you guys.
Each product has its owndistinct logo as well.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah, again, we feel like every product deserves its
place, and for a customer, Imean, there's nothing worse than
planting something and havingsuccess in the cash.
I have no idea what I evenplanted.
Life is busy, things are busy,um, you know, everything's so
fast-paced now and um so if we,can you know?
Leave a thought in their headwhether it's a color pattern or
(16:43):
a product name or whatever todraw back to what they're
successful, then we've partiallydone our job, so try to make it
easy and and on the packagingtoo.
I mean really there's so mucheducation on there.
We tell you how to plant it,where to plant it easy.
And on the packaging too.
I mean really there's so mucheducation on there.
We tell you how to plant it,where to plant it, why to plant
it, what's in it.
All the tools you need areright there on the package.
So once you get past the funnynames and all that, there's a
(17:07):
lot of value on that packagingto kind of guide the customer to
make sure that they select theright product and have success.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Oh, absolutely.
It's very, you know,user-friendly.
I mean speaking of food plotsas well.
Do you find that clover isoften overlooked where it's not,
as you know, extravagant as bigturnips and such?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
100%.
Yeah, I would say, maybe notjust overall, but definitely
when you get into fall, peopleoftentimes look at clover as a
you know, spring and summerperennial um provides a bunch of
protein etc.
But they overlook its abilityto handle you know the
environment.
It can handle drought betterthan anything.
(17:48):
It stays green into the falland winter.
I mean up here, come back, kid,if you shovel the snow off the
tree under the snow and thosedeer eat it year-round.
So, yes, we've tried hard toposition it a little bit
differently over the last fewyears, as more of a year-round
food source but also a hunt plot, and try to get more and more
of a person's overall plantableproperty into perennials.
(18:12):
Having a sustainable foodsource is important.
Perennials having a sustainablefood source is important.
So it's one of those thingsthat we continue to try and
educate and drive home theimportance of and I think you
know as we watch Comeback, kidscontinue to be a more and more
popular product.
For us.
One of the best ways to plantit is in the fall here, mixing
(18:35):
it in with our forage oats ormixing in with a one of our
annual mixes, and work really,really good yeah, I mean it's
great that it grows back.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
And then, um, I try to like mine, I try to keep mode
and, uh, you know, as long aswe're not coming into a drought
or something like that, I keepit mode and it grows back.
Well, and it keeps that, thatplant, in the really good
vegetated state the, the deerseem to be.
I mean, they're at it all thetime.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
A hundred percent and in those smaller plots, gosh.
It can really really do a nicejob in handling graze pressure
and typically in small plotsthat's the biggest challenge.
You know, handling grade andfeeding the deer that you have
(19:21):
in a small area.
A forage crop like comebackhitter hot chicks can just keep
coming back if you have to eatit, so it works really well.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, yeah, Do you recommend so say you're starting
a new plot and you're worriedabout soil erosion or something?
Do you guys ever recommendplanting oats just to help with
that, where they're so quickestablishing, just kind of hold
the soil structure together?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
100%.
Our forage oats for us havebecome a huge tool in planting,
just in general.
I mean, they are so fastgrowing that to your point, on a
side hill or an area whereyou're worried about erosion or
anything of that nature, it's ano-brainer.
But also they're just a veryfriendly nurse crop or companion
(20:05):
crop.
Whether you're planting cloversor brassicas or just about
anything, they're a little bitmore friendly than even your rye
or your wheat, just because weuse an oat as a fall food source
, as a companion crop, and then,once it's a companion crop or a
nurse crop, we want to use itin the first year and we want it
(20:25):
to kind of go away in thesecond year once the culvert is
established and it does a reallynice job of that, whereas like
a winter rye it can just keepcoming back, coming back, coming
back.
It can be hard to eradicate itif you want to eradicate it.
So, um, we, I've started to use, you know, oats in most of my
plantings.
Um, and I've said it many timeson videos that it's my favorite
(20:48):
way to establish come back inour long-term perennials is
mixing with oats yeah, yeah,yeah, that's, you know, it's,
it's seems to work great.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Also, a lot of guys who listen to this feel like I
don't know about the food plotand all that, but because they
probably think that they don'thave big enough equipment.
But I mean, I'm sure most ofyour customers probably just
have some simple four-wheelerattachments than they do with 70
, you know, 100 horsepowertractor and drills and all that.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yeah, and I, I, I hope we've done a good job of
showing people that it it can bedone with, you know, little to
no equipment, or you know fourwheelers or really whatever you
have at your disposal.
We've sure tried hard to.
I mean most of the plots weplant are done with small
equipment.
We've done hand hard to.
(21:36):
I mean most of the plots weplant are done with small
equipment.
We've done hand tools.
You know we've done virtuallyeverything but a 70-horsepower
tractor.
We've had to rent a couple bigrigs for some of the big
projects we've done recently.
But I tell you what we've triedhard to, you know, make it as
easy to enter as possible,whether it's you know no-till,
(21:59):
just you know raking it up witha garden rake or using a
walk-behind tiller or afour-wheeler or a ranger with a
disc, small tractors, you nameit.
Most of the plots and most ofthe stuff that we plant and the
customers that we work with areplanting probably an acre or
less.
Small equipment is really allthat's needed or required.
(22:20):
We help walk people through andguide them through whatever
they're dealing with on theirproperty and what they're trying
to accomplish to make sure thatthey're set up correctly from
the start.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love that you guys are sayingturn your property into a
domain, into a domain like youknow.
It's great and it's a loteasier to do than you think.
Really, people, I think, haveit in their head that it's such
a much bigger deal.
I mean, it's work, obviously,but it's doable for any property
owner yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I mean I don't know if I would use the word easy it
does.
It does require a little bit ofwork, a little bit of sweat
equity, yes, but it's 100possible, yeah, without without
any equipment really.
I mean, you have a chainsaw anda weed weed trimmer and a rake,
you know, and you can prettymuch get something started.
And like I said I, I would sayit 99 of 100 times you know,
(23:19):
when a customer, or even myself,gets that first little food
plot started and you see itgrowing and all of a sudden
you're seeing deer you've neverseen before.
Next thing, you know that thingthat turns into a quarter acre
and that turns into a half acre,and then you've got the bug and
things escalate quickly fromthere in a good way.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Well, yeah, and then you guys also sell liquid
fertilizer stuff.
What's the big difference youfind between liquid fertilizers
and then the pellet fertilizers?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Yeah, for sure.
We got into that two years ago.
We've got a great partner whomanufactures it for us.
We work alongside to make surewe're getting what we're looking
for.
And the biggest thing, we'renot trying to not to use
granulars, we're just providinga more efficient resource,
something that acts quicker andthe plant can utilize more of it
(24:10):
.
And once we dug into it andstarted to do the research, it
was actually quite frustrating.
And once we dug into it andstarted to do the research, it
was actually quite frustratingwhen we started to understand
the fertilizers that we wereusing and how much of it was
wasted, even in a perfectenvironment.
Through the testing we did withour manufacturing partner, we
found that, depending on thesoil type, anywhere from 40 to
(24:32):
70% of the granular fertilizerwas wasted.
It dissipated in the soil.
So we were spending ahard-earned money on something
that the plants weren't evenbenefiting from.
So we had to increase the rateso much because we knew that so
much of it was going to getwasted.
Now, when you put the switch toliquid, we have a 3-18-18 and a
25-0-0.
We want to have as few optionsas possible to still cover all
(24:54):
of our bases, and the 3-18-18 iscalled cranked, great for
clovers, great for soybeans,alfalfas, chicories.
The freight train is our 25-0-0.
It's a slow release so it lasts300 days in your soil and feeds
the plant over time.
So the minimum minimal risk ofburning and helps, helps that
plant over time.
And when you mix them togetheryou get a 28 18 18.
(25:17):
So with those two you canpretty much feed any plant
you're going to grow and it'sgoing to be six to seven times
more effective than granularbecause the plant's going to be
able to.
Seven times more effective thangranular because the plant's
going to be able to absorbvirtually all of it.
Um, it can be foliar fed throughthe leaves or it can be sprayed
right on the soil.
Like I said, it's got about a300 day lifespan in the soil to
slowly feed those plants overtime as they need it.
(25:37):
So for us it was two things away more efficient, way less
waste and way easier to apply.
Instead of lugging around, youknow, hundreds and hundreds of
pounds of fertilizer, we'respraying it on Very simple, much
quicker release.
It doesn't take a long time tobreak down and, you know, feed
(26:00):
the plant, it's immediate.
And then on the liquid calciumside, we've got a product called
Elbow Grease that's designed tohelp improve your soil
environment, including pH andthings of that nature.
We've got a calculator on ourwebsite, too that helps you
understand how much to apply toimprove your soil and we're
seeing results in months insteadof years, and it lasts for two
(26:22):
to three years in your soilinstead of lime.
That, while very effective andwe highly recommend it it takes
years to break down and fullyimprove the soil.
So just trying to find ways tocreate a better growing
environment better soil equalsbetter plants and help the
customer do it in a moreefficient manner and an easier
to apply manner.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
All right, yeah, that's awesome.
Okay, that answers my questioncompletely.
You're doing a good jobanswering my questions.
It's great.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
We sure try, we sure try.
I would say, if I don't knowthe answer, I'll just make it up
.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah well, you know, and then I'll accept that as
well, probably if it soundslegit.
But no, that's great.
I've always wondered that youknow the difference between the
two and why, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
I didn't even know until we started to dig into it
about three and a half years agoand it was, like I said,
fascinating and frustrating allat the same time once we started
to get a better understandingof fertilizers.
So the liquids definitelyprovide some major efficiencies.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Oh yeah, but much more.
Yeah, I didn't realize therewas that much waste with the
granular.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
That was the frustrating part.
I didn't realize there's thatmuch waste with the granular.
That was the frustrating part.
I didn't either.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Right, you know, when people harvest deer over their
food plots that you know fromthe seeds that they got from you
guys got the information andeverything, and they send in
their pictures and videos.
I mean, does it make you feellike you know you were there and
part of it each and every time?
I'm sure it's great.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I know you were there and part of it each and every
time.
I'm sure it's great.
I would say it's the best partof what we do.
Yeah, um, I mean when peoplethink of you as, oh, he owns a
food plot company or whatever.
I think people think that wejust hunt all the time, which I
probably hunt less than anybodylistening to this, just because
you know I I'm just sopassionate about work and what I
do that I end up working a lot,which is totally fine, but for
(28:09):
me, like that's the mostrewarding part when you've taken
a customer from, um, you knowfrom start to finish, if you
will, and you you've helpedcreate this lasting memory that
they'll have forever.
Um, that for us and our team,like that that's the icing on
the cake.
You know, once we hit huntingseason, it's many per day of
(28:31):
notes and emails and calls andtexts of you know success, and
it's really fun to be a smallpart of that and we try to share
as many of those successstories as we can, you know,
through our social media outletsand YouTubes and all the things
just to help celebrate that.
Because, like I said earlier,it's not always easy.
Planting food plots takes work,it takes time, it takes energy,
(28:54):
it takes effort.
You're going to fail, you'regoing to succeed.
So we kind of feel like we allwin together when somebody has
success at the end of the dayand harvest a deer and a food
plot that they put their timeand money and effort into.
So it's a big celebrationaround here when it happens.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, like I said, it must be a great feeling each
and every time somebody sendsyou in.
Oh thanks.
You know from having your seedsin the ground and your advice
and what you guys offer on thewebsite and you know when people
are calling and texting you and, yeah, it'd be great.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
It's the best what you guys offer on the website
and you know when people arecalling and texting you and yeah
, be great.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Um, then I want to talk about yeah, yeah, I want to
talk a minute too about uh, youguys beers and bucks podcast.
I like listening to that.
It's interesting.
How did that come about?
Speaker 2 (29:35):
just to help uh explain a bit more on your
domain products, or yeah, so mybrother-in-law and I started
domain and during covid you know, when we were all kind of
everyone was at their own housewe started using Facebook live
on our cell phone, um, so itwasn't even a podcast, just kind
(29:57):
of a Facebook live happy hourand we used as a way to connect
with each other and with friendsand, um, anybody.
So that was I've been five yearsago or longer.
Um, so that's kind of how itstarted and just a way to
connect and socialize and wetalked about hunting, but we
talked about just abouteverything else too, and over
(30:17):
the years it's kind of morphedinto a monthly podcast, slash
live, where you know we just gettogether and talk about
whatever's you know current,like we actually have it tonight
at 7 pm central and it'll bekind of all about fall planting.
We're right in the thick of it.
So, um, it'll be an hour-longconversation about fall planting
(30:37):
and do's and don'ts and anyother rabbit hole we get down,
which is those are.
Those are frequent.
Um, we just have a have a goodtime with it.
I have a lot of regulars thatvisit the show and razz us.
That's typical, a lot ofrazzing going on but we have a
really really good time with itand hopefully provide some
(30:58):
information and education alongthe way.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Yeah, I find it provides some great insights on
getting the food plots in theground and maintaining them and
looking after them.
I know you guys are really busyand I don't want to take up too
much more of your time, sowhere's the best place to uh to
find you guys?
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Yeah, so, um, first of all, I appreciate having us
on Um.
I always enjoy theseconversations and um networking,
connecting with like-mindedpeople.
But you can find us just aboutanywhere you look if we're doing
our job right.
But we've got a website,wwwdomainoutdoorcom, which is a
great place to start.
You can learn about us thereand we can help you kind of get
(31:37):
on your path to food plotting.
And then we're in.
You know a lot of retaillocations across the country,
depending on you know where youlive, whether it's Tractor
Supply or Bass or Cabela's orFleet Farm or Family Farm and
Home or Runnings or L&M or allacross the country, atwoods, if
you're at West, and those aresome of our great partners, plus
(31:59):
probably 1,000 mom-and-popretail locations throughout the
country.
And we've got a dealer locatoron our website.
You can type in your zip codeand it'll tell you what your
closest retailer is.
So we hope you shop local anduse us as a resource and a guide
and education to pick out theright food plot.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Awesome.
Yeah, Mike, thanks again fortaking the time out.
I know this is kind of yourguys' haymaking season sort of
thing, where it is that fall andeveryone's getting those food
plots trying to get them in andget them going.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, it's our favorite time of year.
We call it busy season.
We laugh.
Busy season is about eightmonths of the year now, which
we're more than okay with, andthis one in our part of the
country has been plentiful withrain, so we've been blessed with
rain.
It's been a
this is hunts, an outfitting podcast.
I'm your host and rookie guide,ken mark.
I love everything hunting theoutdoors and all things
associated with it, from storiesto howos.
You'll find it here.
Welcome to the podcast.
Hey, how's it going?
We are very glad to have youlistening to the podcast.
(00:33):
Got another great one for you,as always.
So, liquid fertilizers what'sthe difference between them and
pellet fertilizers?
And what's better?
Is clover underrated in foodplots?
And how do you attract deer tocome and eat at your place with
great egg land all around you?
Well, these questions and morewill be answered by Mike of
(00:55):
Domain Outdoors.
Mike and the boys over at DomainOutdoors are the three H's
humble, honest and helpful inwanting to give you the tools
and products needed to createyour own whitetail domain new,
experienced or curious aboutfood plots.
This is a great episode tocheck out.
I really enjoyed talking aboutthis topic.
I recently, uh, got into makingfood plots last year and was
(01:18):
able to harvest my buck out ofit.
Out of it, uh it.
Honestly, though, working theland and establishing a great
food plot, I like that more thanI did hunting out of there.
Honestly, though, working theland and establishing a great
food plot.
I like that more than I didhunting out of there.
If you guys want to get a holdof us, reach out to myself in
any way.
You can email huntsonoutfittingat gmailcom or follow us on
Facebook, hunts on Outfitting,or find me, ken Marr.
(01:41):
All right, let's talk to Mike.
Yeah, so, mike, I know you'vedone a lot of podcasts before
and all that, but if you couldjust say who you are and where
you're from, and then we'll jumpright into it.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yeah, thanks for having me on Ken Mike Lindahl
here with Domain Outdoor.
We are a family-owned grassrootfood plot mineral fertilizer
company based out of Wisconsin.
Excited to be on the show andchat today perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So, mike, uh, you have a background in golf, is
that right?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
yeah, yeah, yeah, I uh.
I played competitive golfgrowing up and um as a younger
adult and then realized I had along ways to go and everybody
else is way better than peoplethink they are.
And I still love it.
I play golf weekly and it's apassion of mine and my wife's.
But hunting is a passion too,and I was fortunate enough to
(02:37):
kind of land on my feet in thehunting business about 13 years
ago.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So I mean, was that your?
What was your firstintroduction?
I guess to, uh, to food plots?
I mean, was it just you're onthese nice green golf turfs all
the time and you're like youknow.
I uh this interests me, andthen bring that your love of
golf and hunting together, orsince I could walk.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I grew up in a family where my dad really only hunted
with a rifle.
But I fell in love with deercamp at a very young age.
My family's had a deer camp for55 years.
I just kind of fell in lovewith it and had success early on
thanks to how I was raised andhow my family kind of approached
hunting and just kind of gotthe itch.
(03:25):
Then, I would say probably 20years ago, started dabbling with
some kind of DIY food plottingper se on our hunting ground and
from there just kind of was asponge and learned from
everybody I could learn from andworked with some awesome people
and collaborated and I stillwork with a lot of them today on
(03:47):
the growing side and theagronomy side and, um, kind of
you know my passion for deerhunting and for there's
something about seeds andgrowing stuff that if you do it
you understand it's just it hasa whole different impact.
You know, when you put the workin, you plant the seed, the seed
grows, the deer eats the plants.
It's just a kind of a fullcircle part of hunting that
(04:10):
really just stuck with me andit's something that I I love to
do and I have an eye for and,like I said, I've got some
incredible um partners that Iwork with, uh to ensure we've
got the highest quality productavailable and where I was trying
to push the envelope on newstuff.
So it's been a wild ride and Icontinue to learn every day,
(04:31):
which you often do when you'redealing with seeds and Mother
Nature.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I'm curious though too.
So you guys, you're a bit newerat the food plot thing and all
that.
You guys started the company.
Was it four or five years ago?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
now you're saying we started in 20.
Uh, actually it started in 2018, but 2019 is when we kind of
fully went.
Um, people, people started tofind out about us a little bit
and, uh, we've kind of graduallygrown every single year and, um
, continue to grow and expand.
Uh, you know, all across thecountry, very much everything
east of the rocky mountainsi've've been in the food plot
(05:08):
space for going on I want to say12 years now and I've worked
with some, like I said, somegrowers and agronomists and
whatnot that I've, you know,really trusted over the years
and work alongside and help kindof bring our vision to life.
And yeah, well, we've kind ofdone things a little differently
(05:30):
.
You know, we don't take theexpert path.
We kind of more of a learn bydoing, and, you know, listen to
our customer and continue to tryto create products that are
easy to use and effective andhelp solve some of the
challenges that we all face whenwe're planting this day and age
, whether it's a lack ofequipment or shade or poor
(05:52):
weather or whatever it might be.
We kind of try to be flexibleand adapt and help every single
consumer we can through theprocess.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, well, I mean, how important is it for people
to know when building a foodplot?
Is that for guys to realize onesize doesn't fit all?
I mean, they'll read huntingmagazines and watch something on
like, oh, this is what I haveto plant, this is how I do it.
But I mean I'm sure you knowwhere you guys sell to.
It's such a vast variety ofareas and climate and it's it's
(06:22):
it.
Yeah, just one size does notfit all.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, I hope we've done a fairly decent job with
that over the years, becausewe've sure tried to.
I've never been, or we've neverbeen, black and white when it
comes to food plotting.
I think that's a way to look atit.
I've always kind of lived inthe gray space of you know,
there's no such thing as toosmall, there's no such thing as
(06:47):
too big, there's no such thingas you have to do this or you
can't do that.
I think there's a lot ofvariables and what suits you
might be different than whatsuits me, and that's okay.
We'll approach it differentlyand we'll use different seeds
and different ways to get there,but in the end we should both
be successful, and I thinkthat's why we've got 35
(07:10):
different products, and I meanthere's so many different ways
to be successful.
And it frustrates me when I lookout into the space and see
experts or whoever they aretelling people that there's only
one way to do it and this ishow you do it, and if you don't
do it that way, you're wrong.
Um, I think that's a really badway to approach anything.
So, um, so yeah, I mean it's.
I'd say some of the most umrewarding customers are the ones
(07:35):
with the smallest equipment,the smallest food plot and the
ones that you know have success.
From what looks like nothing ispretty pretty fun to, and from
our experience, most of us startwith a garden rake and a couple
hundred square feet food plotand eventually we've got
tractors and acres of food plot.
So the natural progression offood plotting is kind of how it
(07:58):
works.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Well, yeah, exactly I like about you guys too, I've
heard just watching your videosand listen to podcasts and stuff
is the fact that you don't try.
You're trying to sell yourproduct.
Obviously you have a business,but you're not trying to shove
it down people's throats.
And I know there's some othercompanies and stuff that have
like certain feeds and all thatlike well, you got to feed this
if you want to have big bucksand this is going to grow their
(08:20):
rack right out and all that.
I mean you guys are veryupfront and honest and say you
know, some of this stuff mightnot be for you, it might not
work in your area.
I mean, you're not trying tobullshit anybody.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, I mean we, we, we try to take an honest,
straightforward, helpfulapproach.
I mean, there's plenty ofcustomer service calls or emails
we respond to, where,oftentimes, instead of selling
them the product, we providethem the information to do it
correctly.
And that means that, um, maybethey missed their window, they
(08:54):
need to do more prep, they needto do more before they, you know
, buy the seed and, you know,fail.
And where we, you know we, wehelp the customer instead of
making the sale, and that's justkind of how we do things.
Um, the beauty of beingfamily-owned is that you're,
you're on board, you know,you're not as worried about, you
know, um, gross marginpercentages.
(09:15):
You're more worried aboutcustomers being successful and
having a positive experience.
Food flooding's hard enough.
So, um, our job is to, you know, help guide them and help
educate them, and when things goright, everything else takes
care of itself.
But we've never been used carsalesmen.
We never will be.
That's not our approach or howwe do things.
(09:35):
So, right, right, wrong orotherwise, we kind of do it our
own way for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah, yeah, I like that a lot.
And then you know I was lookingat your website and it's really
neat and handy your guys's uhselection chart and how how that
works and just showing like forfeed for food plots if it's an
annual, it's perennial, like allthat.
Could you talk a little bitabout that, like it's fun.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
It's really handy tool it is a handy tool.
Yeah, we're redneck so wecouldn't quite, uh, create a
website where you click on stuffand it brings you here and
there and there.
So we just created a simplechart you can take with you, and
it tries to kind oftroubleshoot Again different
seeds do well in different typesof environments, whether it's
(10:16):
soil environments or sun orshade or parts of the country.
And that chart is kind of ahandy guide that you can print
off and take right with you tothe store, to the field or
wherever you need it, to makesure you're selecting the right
seed for the application.
Whether you're using heavyequipment or you're using a
garden rake, whether it'ssemi-shaded or it's full sun, or
whether you're planting in thespring or the fall, or it's wet
(10:37):
or it's dry, it helps kind oftroubleshoot and that's part of
our job and part of what we loveto do is help people, you know,
avoid some of the pitfalls thatwe've fallen victim to in the
past.
We often make fun of ourselves,whether it's on our podcast or
you know, when we're helpingpeople, that we've we've made
all the mistakes.
You know.
We've, we've done it and wecontinue.
(11:01):
We'll continue to do it.
It's just the nature of it thatour goal is to help you avoid
some of them, and that guide isa really slick way to help a
customer select the rightproduct for the application.
There's still more that goesinto it, obviously, with Mother
Nature and all the things, butthat's a really good start.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yeah, yeah, like I said, it's really handy and neat
.
You know, here's a questionbecause you guys are in
Wisconsin, you're in America'sdairy land.
I'm in where I live here.
It's agriculture land,everywhere A lot of big dairy
farms, and you know they'regrowing these huge fields of
corn and alfalfa and clover.
How do you compete with that?
Like what you know, would yousuggest planting in an area of
(11:42):
really great agriculture that'sgoing to set you apart a bit and
have the deer kind of chooseyou?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, a lot of our customers hunt eggs, whether
it's land they own or land theylease, or land they rent or
their friend's land or whateverit is.
They hunt egg fields Around.
Here it's typically corn andbeans primarily.
You get some alfalfa, butprimarily corn and beans, and we
use it to, you know, to abenefit, and we try to fill the
(12:11):
other gaps.
You know, as a white goat feed.
There's certain percentages oftheir diet that require
different needs.
I mean, no matter how much foodprovided they're still going to
eat.
I think it's like 15 to 20%browse.
Then they need, you know, 10 to15 percent greens and they need
(12:31):
their, their energy sources sothat no matter what you provide
them, they're still gonna makesure they're checking all their
boxes from a nutritionalstandpoint.
And in a country we we try toplay off of, you know what the
customer is dealing with.
So, for instance, on my leasethis year, my farmer's got all
beads.
So what we've done is we'vecreated a couple of little
staging plots on the corners,probably a quarter acre or so,
(12:53):
and we've planted those invarieties of clover and chicory
and a little bit of oats inthere.
So the deer will feed or stagein those in the daylight as they
move into the beans for theevening.
And on the other side of thefarm we've got a seven acre
field that we just turned intofood plots for the first time
this year and our focus therewas later in the year.
Once the beans brown and getharvested there's really not
(13:15):
much in that field for thosedeer to eat.
So we focused on that entireseven acre field for November,
december, january, february food.
So more into your turnips, yourrutabaga, your radishes,
varieties of rye and winterwheat and kind of focused on
late season.
So that's kind of how we stageor plan out a farm in egg
(13:37):
country.
We plan it based off whateverthe farmer's planting in the
gaps.
If there's corn planted, weknow early season is our
opportunity on the food sources.
So we'll plant something toattract deer earlier in the year
Because once the corn isharvested then the deer are
going to flock to that later inthe year.
Like I said, we try to fill thegap and we've had an incredible
(14:00):
amount of success hunting anegg country around wisconsin.
A lot of it is egg country.
So I would say that food plotsare as important an egg, if not
more important, to actually, youknow, have success um than in
other parts of the country.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Okay, yeah, Thanks, that answers my question
perfectly.
So I got to ask too.
A big, sexy, hot, chick sugarmama.
You know it sounds like thelocal strip club lineup.
How did you guys come up withthe name?
It sticks, you know, youremember it right.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, I mean that was , was.
That was kind of the idea.
Um, we knew to in order to, youknow, enter a category that had
been around for a long time andbe a new brand and get, get
recognized.
Um, we had to be different andwe, we were different in every
way we could be.
Um, we're not.
We didn't want to copy, wedon't want to follow anybody
else's path.
We wanted to kind of have ourown, and having some uniqueness
(14:59):
and some some pizzazz, if youwill, was one of our ways.
It's generally kind of who weare too, I mean we, you know,
that's kind of the way we dothings Now, with that said,
every product, whether while ithas its own catchy funny name,
also explains the productperfectly, which is the hardest
(15:20):
part.
Developing products is easierthan naming products, especially
when you've got a track recordlike ours, where you've got 30
products with funny names thatalso kind of match the product.
Like Big Sexy, it's going to bethe biggest, sexiest leaves and
food for you to ever see.
No BS, there's no junk in it.
It's a throw-and-grow that hasno ryegrass.
(15:41):
It's just all high-qualityseeds that are easy to grow.
Green Machine stays green, youknow, long into the fall and
winter Comeback, kid comes backevery year.
Hot Chick is, you know, one ofour fastest ground mixers but
also has chicory in it, soeverything kind of has its you
know wow factor to get yourattention.
And then once they grab the jugand see what's in it and see
(16:05):
the quality of the product andplant it and see the success,
then that was kind of the fullcircle with each product.
But yeah, it becomes more andmore challenging every year to
name the next round.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
I can tell you that yeah, Well, I really like too,
how you guys.
Each product has its owndistinct logo as well.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah, again, we feel like every product deserves its
place, and for a customer, Imean, there's nothing worse than
planting something and havingsuccess in the cash.
I have no idea what I evenplanted.
Life is busy, things are busy,um, you know, everything's so
fast-paced now and um so if we,can you know?
Leave a thought in their headwhether it's a color pattern or
(16:43):
a product name or whatever todraw back to what they're
successful, then we've partiallydone our job, so try to make it
easy and and on the packagingtoo.
I mean really there's so mucheducation on there.
We tell you how to plant it,where to plant it easy.
And on the packaging too.
I mean really there's so mucheducation on there.
We tell you how to plant it,where to plant it, why to plant
it, what's in it.
All the tools you need areright there on the package.
So once you get past the funnynames and all that, there's a
(17:07):
lot of value on that packagingto kind of guide the customer to
make sure that they select theright product and have success.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Oh, absolutely.
It's very, you know,user-friendly.
I mean speaking of food plotsas well.
Do you find that clover isoften overlooked where it's not,
as you know, extravagant as bigturnips and such?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
100%.
Yeah, I would say, maybe notjust overall, but definitely
when you get into fall, peopleoftentimes look at clover as a
you know, spring and summerperennial um provides a bunch of
protein etc.
But they overlook its abilityto handle you know the
environment.
It can handle drought betterthan anything.
(17:48):
It stays green into the falland winter.
I mean up here, come back, kid,if you shovel the snow off the
tree under the snow and thosedeer eat it year-round.
So, yes, we've tried hard toposition it a little bit
differently over the last fewyears, as more of a year-round
food source but also a hunt plot, and try to get more and more
of a person's overall plantableproperty into perennials.
(18:12):
Having a sustainable foodsource is important.
Perennials having a sustainablefood source is important.
So it's one of those thingsthat we continue to try and
educate and drive home theimportance of and I think you
know as we watch Comeback, kidscontinue to be a more and more
popular product.
For us.
One of the best ways to plantit is in the fall here, mixing
(18:35):
it in with our forage oats ormixing in with a one of our
annual mixes, and work really,really good yeah, I mean it's
great that it grows back.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
And then, um, I try to like mine, I try to keep mode
and, uh, you know, as long aswe're not coming into a drought
or something like that, I keepit mode and it grows back.
Well, and it keeps that, thatplant, in the really good
vegetated state the, the deerseem to be.
I mean, they're at it all thetime.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
A hundred percent and in those smaller plots, gosh.
It can really really do a nicejob in handling graze pressure
and typically in small plotsthat's the biggest challenge.
You know, handling grade andfeeding the deer that you have
(19:21):
in a small area.
A forage crop like comebackhitter hot chicks can just keep
coming back if you have to eatit, so it works really well.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, yeah, Do you recommend so say you're starting
a new plot and you're worriedabout soil erosion or something?
Do you guys ever recommendplanting oats just to help with
that, where they're so quickestablishing, just kind of hold
the soil structure together?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
100%.
Our forage oats for us havebecome a huge tool in planting,
just in general.
I mean, they are so fastgrowing that to your point, on a
side hill or an area whereyou're worried about erosion or
anything of that nature, it's ano-brainer.
But also they're just a veryfriendly nurse crop or companion
(20:05):
crop.
Whether you're planting cloversor brassicas or just about
anything, they're a little bitmore friendly than even your rye
or your wheat, just because weuse an oat as a fall food source
, as a companion crop, and then,once it's a companion crop or a
nurse crop, we want to use itin the first year and we want it
(20:25):
to kind of go away in thesecond year once the culvert is
established and it does a reallynice job of that, whereas like
a winter rye it can just keepcoming back, coming back, coming
back.
It can be hard to eradicate itif you want to eradicate it.
So, um, we, I've started to use, you know, oats in most of my
plantings.
Um, and I've said it many timeson videos that it's my favorite
(20:48):
way to establish come back inour long-term perennials is
mixing with oats yeah, yeah,yeah, that's, you know, it's,
it's seems to work great.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Also, a lot of guys who listen to this feel like I
don't know about the food plotand all that, but because they
probably think that they don'thave big enough equipment.
But I mean, I'm sure most ofyour customers probably just
have some simple four-wheelerattachments than they do with 70
, you know, 100 horsepowertractor and drills and all that.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yeah, and I, I, I hope we've done a good job of
showing people that it it can bedone with, you know, little to
no equipment, or you know fourwheelers or really whatever you
have at your disposal.
We've sure tried hard to.
I mean most of the plots weplant are done with small
equipment.
We've done hand hard to.
(21:36):
I mean most of the plots weplant are done with small
equipment.
We've done hand tools.
You know we've done virtuallyeverything but a 70-horsepower
tractor.
We've had to rent a couple bigrigs for some of the big
projects we've done recently.
But I tell you what we've triedhard to, you know, make it as
easy to enter as possible,whether it's you know no-till,
(21:59):
just you know raking it up witha garden rake or using a
walk-behind tiller or afour-wheeler or a ranger with a
disc, small tractors, you nameit.
Most of the plots and most ofthe stuff that we plant and the
customers that we work with areplanting probably an acre or
less.
Small equipment is really allthat's needed or required.
(22:20):
We help walk people through andguide them through whatever
they're dealing with on theirproperty and what they're trying
to accomplish to make sure thatthey're set up correctly from
the start.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love that you guys are sayingturn your property into a
domain, into a domain like youknow.
It's great and it's a loteasier to do than you think.
Really, people, I think, haveit in their head that it's such
a much bigger deal.
I mean, it's work, obviously,but it's doable for any property
owner yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I mean I don't know if I would use the word easy it
does.
It does require a little bit ofwork, a little bit of sweat
equity, yes, but it's 100possible, yeah, without without
any equipment really.
I mean, you have a chainsaw anda weed weed trimmer and a rake,
you know, and you can prettymuch get something started.
And like I said I, I would sayit 99 of 100 times you know,
(23:19):
when a customer, or even myself,gets that first little food
plot started and you see itgrowing and all of a sudden
you're seeing deer you've neverseen before.
Next thing, you know that thingthat turns into a quarter acre
and that turns into a half acre,and then you've got the bug and
things escalate quickly fromthere in a good way.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Well, yeah, and then you guys also sell liquid
fertilizer stuff.
What's the big difference youfind between liquid fertilizers
and then the pellet fertilizers?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Yeah, for sure.
We got into that two years ago.
We've got a great partner whomanufactures it for us.
We work alongside to make surewe're getting what we're looking
for.
And the biggest thing, we'renot trying to not to use
granulars, we're just providinga more efficient resource,
something that acts quicker andthe plant can utilize more of it
(24:10):
.
And once we dug into it andstarted to do the research, it
was actually quite frustrating.
And once we dug into it andstarted to do the research, it
was actually quite frustratingwhen we started to understand
the fertilizers that we wereusing and how much of it was
wasted, even in a perfectenvironment.
Through the testing we did withour manufacturing partner, we
found that, depending on thesoil type, anywhere from 40 to
(24:32):
70% of the granular fertilizerwas wasted.
It dissipated in the soil.
So we were spending ahard-earned money on something
that the plants weren't evenbenefiting from.
So we had to increase the rateso much because we knew that so
much of it was going to getwasted.
Now, when you put the switch toliquid, we have a 3-18-18 and a
25-0-0.
We want to have as few optionsas possible to still cover all
(24:54):
of our bases, and the 3-18-18 iscalled cranked, great for
clovers, great for soybeans,alfalfas, chicories.
The freight train is our 25-0-0.
It's a slow release so it lasts300 days in your soil and feeds
the plant over time.
So the minimum minimal risk ofburning and helps, helps that
plant over time.
And when you mix them togetheryou get a 28 18 18.
(25:17):
So with those two you canpretty much feed any plant
you're going to grow and it'sgoing to be six to seven times
more effective than granularbecause the plant's going to be
able to.
Seven times more effective thangranular because the plant's
going to be able to absorbvirtually all of it.
Um, it can be foliar fed throughthe leaves or it can be sprayed
right on the soil.
Like I said, it's got about a300 day lifespan in the soil to
slowly feed those plants overtime as they need it.
(25:37):
So for us it was two things away more efficient, way less
waste and way easier to apply.
Instead of lugging around, youknow, hundreds and hundreds of
pounds of fertilizer, we'respraying it on Very simple, much
quicker release.
It doesn't take a long time tobreak down and, you know, feed
(26:00):
the plant, it's immediate.
And then on the liquid calciumside, we've got a product called
Elbow Grease that's designed tohelp improve your soil
environment, including pH andthings of that nature.
We've got a calculator on ourwebsite, too that helps you
understand how much to apply toimprove your soil and we're
seeing results in months insteadof years, and it lasts for two
(26:22):
to three years in your soilinstead of lime.
That, while very effective andwe highly recommend it it takes
years to break down and fullyimprove the soil.
So just trying to find ways tocreate a better growing
environment better soil equalsbetter plants and help the
customer do it in a moreefficient manner and an easier
to apply manner.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
All right, yeah, that's awesome.
Okay, that answers my questioncompletely.
You're doing a good jobanswering my questions.
It's great.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
We sure try, we sure try.
I would say, if I don't knowthe answer, I'll just make it up
.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah well, you know, and then I'll accept that as
well, probably if it soundslegit.
But no, that's great.
I've always wondered that youknow the difference between the
two and why, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
I didn't even know until we started to dig into it
about three and a half years agoand it was, like I said,
fascinating and frustrating allat the same time once we started
to get a better understandingof fertilizers.
So the liquids definitelyprovide some major efficiencies.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Oh yeah, but much more.
Yeah, I didn't realize therewas that much waste with the
granular.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
That was the frustrating part.
I didn't realize there's thatmuch waste with the granular.
That was the frustrating part.
I didn't either.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Right, you know, when people harvest deer over their
food plots that you know fromthe seeds that they got from you
guys got the information andeverything, and they send in
their pictures and videos.
I mean, does it make you feellike you know you were there and
part of it each and every time?
I'm sure it's great.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I know you were there and part of it each and every
time.
I'm sure it's great.
I would say it's the best partof what we do.
Yeah, um, I mean when peoplethink of you as, oh, he owns a
food plot company or whatever.
I think people think that wejust hunt all the time, which I
probably hunt less than anybodylistening to this, just because
you know I I'm just sopassionate about work and what I
do that I end up working a lot,which is totally fine, but for
(28:09):
me, like that's the mostrewarding part when you've taken
a customer from, um, you knowfrom start to finish, if you
will, and you you've helpedcreate this lasting memory that
they'll have forever.
Um, that for us and our team,like that that's the icing on
the cake.
You know, once we hit huntingseason, it's many per day of
(28:31):
notes and emails and calls andtexts of you know success, and
it's really fun to be a smallpart of that and we try to share
as many of those successstories as we can, you know,
through our social media outletsand YouTubes and all the things
just to help celebrate that.
Because, like I said earlier,it's not always easy.
Planting food plots takes work,it takes time, it takes energy,
(28:54):
it takes effort.
You're going to fail, you'regoing to succeed.
So we kind of feel like we allwin together when somebody has
success at the end of the dayand harvest a deer and a food
plot that they put their timeand money and effort into.
So it's a big celebrationaround here when it happens.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, like I said, it must be a great feeling each
and every time somebody sendsyou in.
Oh thanks.
You know from having your seedsin the ground and your advice
and what you guys offer on thewebsite and you know when people
are calling and texting you and, yeah, it'd be great.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
It's the best what you guys offer on the website
and you know when people arecalling and texting you and yeah
, be great.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Um, then I want to talk about yeah, yeah, I want to
talk a minute too about uh, youguys beers and bucks podcast.
I like listening to that.
It's interesting.
How did that come about?
Speaker 2 (29:35):
just to help uh explain a bit more on your
domain products, or yeah, so mybrother-in-law and I started
domain and during covid you know, when we were all kind of
everyone was at their own housewe started using Facebook live
on our cell phone, um, so itwasn't even a podcast, just kind
(29:57):
of a Facebook live happy hourand we used as a way to connect
with each other and with friendsand, um, anybody.
So that was I've been five yearsago or longer.
Um, so that's kind of how itstarted and just a way to
connect and socialize and wetalked about hunting, but we
talked about just abouteverything else too, and over
(30:17):
the years it's kind of morphedinto a monthly podcast, slash
live, where you know we just gettogether and talk about
whatever's you know current,like we actually have it tonight
at 7 pm central and it'll bekind of all about fall planting.
We're right in the thick of it.
So, um, it'll be an hour-longconversation about fall planting
(30:37):
and do's and don'ts and anyother rabbit hole we get down,
which is those are.
Those are frequent.
Um, we just have a have a goodtime with it.
I have a lot of regulars thatvisit the show and razz us.
That's typical, a lot ofrazzing going on but we have a
really really good time with itand hopefully provide some
(30:58):
information and education alongthe way.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Yeah, I find it provides some great insights on
getting the food plots in theground and maintaining them and
looking after them.
I know you guys are really busyand I don't want to take up too
much more of your time, sowhere's the best place to uh to
find you guys?
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Yeah, so, um, first of all, I appreciate having us
on Um.
I always enjoy theseconversations and um networking,
connecting with like-mindedpeople.
But you can find us just aboutanywhere you look if we're doing
our job right.
But we've got a website,wwwdomainoutdoorcom, which is a
great place to start.
You can learn about us thereand we can help you kind of get
(31:37):
on your path to food plotting.
And then we're in.
You know a lot of retaillocations across the country,
depending on you know where youlive, whether it's Tractor
Supply or Bass or Cabela's orFleet Farm or Family Farm and
Home or Runnings or L&M or allacross the country, atwoods, if
you're at West, and those aresome of our great partners, plus
(31:59):
probably 1,000 mom-and-popretail locations throughout the
country.
And we've got a dealer locatoron our website.
You can type in your zip codeand it'll tell you what your
closest retailer is.
So we hope you shop local anduse us as a resource and a guide
and education to pick out theright food plot.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Awesome.
Yeah, Mike, thanks again fortaking the time out.
I know this is kind of yourguys' haymaking season sort of
thing, where it is that fall andeveryone's getting those food
plots trying to get them in andget them going.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, it's our favorite time of year.
We call it busy season.
We laugh.
Busy season is about eightmonths of the year now, which
we're more than okay with, andthis one in our part of the
country has been plentiful withrain, so we've been blessed with
rain.
It's been a
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