Because of where I hunt here in CT we are allowed food plots and so I put in the sweat and blood to clear by hand a little more than 1/8th acre food plot. I put clover and alfalfa in it and it was growing well. this past week we had three inches of rain in 4 hours I checked my plot today and it is covered in pine needles and you could see where the water had run through the plot. So is it in my best interest to clear off the pine needles or is this plot done for?
As long as the plot wasn't underwater for more than a couple days, or that water didn't run over it like a river you are probably fine. I see areas of farm fields that end up underwater at some point almost every year, if they were not getting production from them, they wouldn't pay to seed it. I would probably try to get the pine needles off though.
I'd also get rid of the needles as best you can. Not sure what is in pine needles but I literally can't get any grass to grow w/in 8-10' around the spruce trees in my back yard. It's not the shade as the other trees don't have any problem.
If the needles are very thick they will act as mulch and block any light that can get to the surface below. Let it dry out and see what you have. You might be able to go over it with a mower or a blower to get them off of there.
