Interesting read. Being in East Central Kansas I've never though about a "food plot". In fact, I'm not aware of anyone around here who cultivates one.
We live on 6 acres, residential homes nearby, also many open acres of farm ground with usually soybeans, corn or hay fields. We have deer all around here. They come up in the yard and get pear falls from the pear trees in our yard, and neighbors pear, apple trees.
25 miles south have 47 acres with some hay ground and the rest timber with creek running year around. Only one home on section of land, and it's exactly opposite our property. Across the road is beans, milo or grass depending on the year.
I think the entire country side is a food plot! We have guys coming up from Mississippi just to hunt deer.
Last few years turkey numbers are down, from what I see, but I've seen three groups of 100 or more birds in a field at one time. I was setting in my truck eating lunch and wondering what was the "black" masses in the harvested wheat field across the road. They were just grazing, too many to count, and stayed for I don't know how long....I went back to work.
I always figured the body shops had lobbyist attending all governmental meetings working at keeping deer populations high to keep them in work!!